ABILENE – Abilene Christian continues its season with a trip to Stephenville on Tuesday for the Lou Henson Classic in the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament (CIT).
The Cats play Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 8 p.m. on Tuesday after Tarleton State plays Texas Southern (16-16).
The winners advance to the finals at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
"We are thankful to the CIT for giving us an opportunity to extend our season," said ACU Head Coach
Brette Tanner. "The way this team finished the season they deserve the chance to experience post-season play. I have no doubt this will help us carry some momentum into the off-season."
ACU enters the tournament at 15-17. The Islanders come in at 21-11 after an 81-73 loss to Nicholls in the Southland Conference Tournament. Texas Southern is 16-16 after falling to Grambling in the SWAC finals. Tarleton State is 23-9 after its WAC semifinal loss to UT Arlington, 87-84.
ACU Storylines
Last Time
- ACU last competed in a post-conference tournament invitational in 2021-22.
- The Cats defeated Troy 82-70 and Ohio 91-86 before falling to Middle Tennessee 85-69.
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Cameron Steele averaged 16.7 points,
Airion Simmons averaged 12.7 points and
Immanuel Allen got five points per game in those three games.
Body of Work
- This will be the 16th meeting between ACU and the Islanders. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and ACU last met when both teams were in the Southland Conference in the 2020-21 season.
- The Wildcats swept the series that season, winning 82-69 in Corpus and 83-55 in Abilene. The Cats have won the last six meetings in the rivalry.
Old Timers
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Airion Simmons and
Cameron Steele both had seven points the last time ACU and TAMU-CC met in 2021.
Against the Field
- ACU has never played Texas Southern and is 39-43 all-time against Tarleton State.
Very Neutral
- ACU is 2-2 on neutral courts this season with a 2-1 mark in the Virgin Islands and the loss to Stephen F. Austin in the WAC Tournament.
- The Wildcats have shot 38.5 percent from three-point range on neutral courts this season.
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Ali Abdou Dibba leads the team with 14.5 points per neutral-court game, followed by
Hunter Jack Madden at 14 and
Airion Simmons at 13.
Trending
-The Wildcats in the last three games are shooting 44 percent from the field and have forced 13.3 turnovers per game.
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Ali Abdou Dibba, over the last three games, leads the team with 16 points per game and
Leonardo Bettiol is getting 10 points and seven rebounds.
Hunter Jack Madden is averaging 11.7 points and
Airion Simmons is getting nine points and eight rebounds per game.
Winning Numbers
- The Wildcats shot 48.1 percent from the field in the 15 games they won this season.
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Ali Abdou Dibba averages 17 points, followed by
Hunter Jack Madden at 14.3,
Airion Simmons at 12.5 and
Leonardo Bettiol at 10.4 in ACU wins.
Cats by the Numbers
- The Wildcats led the WAC and are 46th in the NCAA with a 2.3 turnover margin and 20th in the NCAA with 14.94 turnovers forced per game.
- The Cats also make 16.7 free throws per game, which is 29th in the NCAA.
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Ali Abdou Dibba leads ACU at 15.5 points per game, followed by
Airion Simmons at 12.8 and
Hunter Jack Madden at 12.3.
Last Game
- ACU lost on a buzzer-beater, 60-57, to Stephen F. Austin in the WAC Tournament last week.
- Ali Dibba led the Wildcats with 18 points, followed by
Hunter Jack Madden and
Leonardo Bettiol with 12 each.
Airion Simmons had six points and a team-leading eight rebounds. Madden had six assists and two steals.
Scouting TAM-CC
- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is third in the NCAA with 34.97 bench points per game.
- The Islanders are 14
th nationally at 40.12 rebounds per game and top 20 nationally in turnovers forced per game, fastbreak points, rebound margin and three-point percentage defense.
- Garry Clark leads the Islanders at 13.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
