LAS CRUCES, New Mexico – ACU shot better than 70 percent from the floor and lived at the free throw line in the second half Wednesday night as the Wildcats dominated the final 20 minutes in a 78-70 win over New Mexico State at the Pan American Center.
ACU trailed 30-27 at halftime but opened the second half on a 19-7 run that was sparked by
Hunter Jack Madden, who hit three 3-pointers in the run, and one turned into a four-point play when he was fouled on the third of those three 3-pointers. Madden's 3-pointer at the 16:28 mark gave the Wildcats a 38-36 lead, and they would not trail again.
Madden's four-point play with 14:49 left in the game gave ACU a 42-36 lead.
Quion Williams had five points in the run, and
Leonardo Bettiol and
Bradyn Hubbard had two points.
New Mexico State trimmed ACU's lead to 46-42 with 12:04 to play, but Williams scored on a second-chance layup at 11:20 to push the lead back to 48-42. After Jaden Harris missed a 3-pointer for the Aggies, Williams grabbed the defensive rebound and moved the ball ahead to
Yaniel Rivera, who buried a 3-pointer – his only bucket of the night – to make it a 51-42 lead with 11:01 left in the game.
Each time the Aggies tried to make a run at the Wildcats, Madden responded by hitting a 3-pointer at the 8:20 mark to push the lead back to 56-47. He then buried two free throws after New Mexico State head coach Jason Hooten was assessed a technical foul with 4:22 left, increasing ACU's lead to 63-55. Madden hit two more free throws at 4:09 to make it 65-55 and then hit a jumper in the paint with 3:38 to play, pushing ACU's lead to 67-55.
ACU clinched the game at the free-throw line in the final 2:12, hitting 9 of 12 shots from the charity stripe. With 1:35 left, Bettiol was fouled while going for an offensive rebound, and Hooten was assessed another technical foul and ejected. Bettiol made his two free throws, and Madden sank the two technical free throws, increasing the Wildcats' advantage to 74-60. Despite a late flurry by the Aggies, Williams closed it out by hitting 4 of 6 free throws in the final 70 seconds.
The Wildcats – who only made 10 of 27 field-goal attempts in the first half – torched the nets in the second half, making 13 of 18 shots (72.2 percent), including 5 of 7 from 3-point range (71.4 percent). ACU was 5 of 6 at the free throw line in the first half but made a living there in the second half, making 20 of 29 free throw attempts and outscoring the Aggies by 12 points at the line in the final 20 minutes.
Madden led all scorers with 24 points on 6 of 10 shooting (5 of 8 from 3-point range), while Williams had 20 points, eight rebounds, and three assists in 31 hard-working minutes. Bettiol added 16 points and four rebounds for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats wrap up a six-game road swing Monday night in Waco when they take on 15th-ranked Baylor, which lost Wednesday night to two-time defending national champion UConn, 76-72, in Storrs, Connecticut. The Wildcats (6-3 overall and 3-2 on the current road swing) and Bears (5-3) will start at 7 p.m. at Foster Pavilion.
