ABILENE – Abilene Christian hosts Utah Tech and Southern Utah this week in a pair of games that could vault the Wildcats upward in the standings if they can get the victories.
The Cats host Utah Tech at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Southern Utah at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
ACU comes into the contest at 7-11 overall and 2-5 in the Western Athletic Conference.
Utah Tech is 7-11 overall and 3-4 in the Western Athletic Conference after an 84-71 loss to Utah Valley on Saturday.
The Thunderbirds are 6-12 this season with a 1-6 conference mark after an 83-76 loss at California Baptist on Saturday. SUU plays at Tarleton State on Thursday.
ACU Storylines
Big Opportunity: This week's home games against Utah Tech and Southern Utah are big opportunities to jump into the top eight in the WAC. Utah Tech is eighth and one game ahead of the Wildcats in the standings while SUU is 1-6 in the league and a game behind ACU.
On the Line: Abilene Christian continues to be among the nation's leaders in getting to the free throw line. The Wildcats averaged 17.7 made free throws per game (19th in the NCAA) and 24.3 attempts (17th). The WAC is pretty good about attacking the basket and drawing fouls and those ACU numbers are only fourth in the league.
Get That Ball Back: ACU is a defensive-minded team and is 19th in the NCAA in forcing turnovers with an average of 15.78 per game.
True Point Guard: Kavion McClain is establishing himself as one of the WAC's top pass-first point guards. He is third in the league with 3.7 assists per game and also third at 1.76 assists per turnover margin.
Scoring Threats: ACU is led in scoring this season by
Ali Abdou Dibba at 15.6 points per game, followed by
Airion Simmons at 13.4 and
Hunter Jack Madden at 12.3. Simmons leads the team in rebounding at 6.4 per game.
Home Cats: In seven home games this season, ACU is 4-3. Ali Dibba averages 17.4 points per game, followed by
Airion Simmons at 13.7,
Hunter Jack Madden at 11.7 and
Leonardo Bettiol at 10.3.
Airion Simmons averages eight rebounds and two steals when he plays in Moody Coliseum. ACU forced 19.67 turnovers per game in the seven home games this season.
Trends: Ali Abdou Dibba leads the Cats with 17.3 points over the last three games.
Airion Simmons is averaging 15.1 points and 7.4 rebounds in the previous three contests.
Hunter Jack Madden has averaged 12.9 points and 3.3 assists in the last three games.
Last Game: Coming off a series of road setbacks and a few players down, Abilene Christian rose to the occasion at home, taking a 78-67 win over Texas-Arlington in Moody Coliseum.
Airion Simmons and
Ali Abdou Dibba scored 23 points apiece and
Hunter Jack Madden added 18. Simmons hit both of his three-point attempts and blocked a couple of shots after ACU turnovers for good measure.
History with Utah Tech: ACU is 3-0 against Utah Tech, including an 81-76 win in Abilene last season. ACU got 19 points from
Ali Abdou Dibba and 17 from
Leonardo Bettiol in last season's win. Noa Gonsalves had 16 points for UT in that game.
Scouting Utah Tech: Utah Tech is 7-11 overall and 3-4 in the Western Athletic Conference after an 84-71 loss to Utah Valley on Saturday. Noa Gonsalves leads the Trailblazers at 12.1 points per game. He is a 40-percent three-point shooter. Tanner Christensen averages 11.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. He carries a 54.5 percent field goal percentage.
History with Southern Utah: ACU and Southern Utah met for the first time last season with Southern Utah getting a 74-72 win in Abilene. Six Wildcats hit double-figures in that game, led by
Cameron Steele at 16 points.
Ali Abdou Dibba had10. Southern dominated the backboards for a 41-24 rebound advantage last season.
Scouting Southern Utah: The Thunderbirds are 6-12 this season with a 1-6 conference mark after an 83-76 loss at California Baptist on Saturday. SUU plays at Tarleton State on Thursday. Dominique Ford leads Southern Utah at 16.5 points per game. He leads the team with a .347 three-point shooting percentage. Parsa Fallah leads the WAC with his 58 percent field goal shooting. He averages 14.2 points and 6.6 rebounds.
