ABILENE – The power may have been out at Moody Coliseum but Abilene Christian electrified its faithful fans with an 82-60 win over Utah Tech at crosstown host McMurry on Thursday.
Leonardo Bettiol had an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double for the Cats and
Airion Simmons hit nine of 10 free throws on his way to a 17-point night.
ACU blew the game open with a 20-0 run in the second half.
The game itself was made possible by a flurry of behind-the-scenes work when a localized power outage made Moody Coliseum unavailable.
"Straight off the bat we have to thank Paul Wier, Sam Ferguson, Zack Lassiter and all of the ACU administration for getting this facility for us," said ACU Head Coach
Brette Tanner. "Super grateful to McMurry for letting us play here and both basketball coaches for making their locker rooms available. And (Utah Tech) Coach Judkins – what a class act. He didn't even hesitate. We also have to say thanks to the students and Abilene fans for coming over and making this a great experience. This was what it's supposed to be like."
Utah Tech got two early blocks but Tanner encouraged the team to keep going inside and the Wildcats ended up with a 40-point night in the paint.
The Blazers got out to an 8-3 lead but ACU would take the lead on a
Hunter Jack Madden basket with 6:45 left in the first half. The Wildcats never trailed again and led 39-32 at the half.
"I think it was a tight game," said Tanner. "In the first half we were struggling to score a little bit I thought. Our defense kept us in it at the start. And then we locked up pretty well the last 15 min of the first half. We hit some shots. And we spread the game out a little bit."
Tech got as close as four points early in the second half but the Wildcats used the 20-0 run to take a 65-40 lead with 8:27 remaining in the game.
Seven Wildcats contributed points in that spree, led by Bettiol with five. The Wildcats' defense forced three turnovers and held UT to 0-6 shooting from the field during the decisive run.
"We've been talking and working and watching film defensively and talking about how we need to shrink the floor and do a better job. And for two games in a row now, we've gotten better, and we have not lost our mindset from day one. Trust the process."
For the game, ACU forced 20 turnovers and turned those into 31 points.
Ali Abdou Dibba and Madden joined Simmons and Bettiol in double-digit scoring with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Dibba had five steals on the night and Simmons came up with seven rebounds.
The Cats shot a tidy 52 percent from the field and 82 percent from the free-throw line. ACU outscored Utah Tech 18-13 on three fewer attempts.
ACU hosts Southern Utah at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
