ABILENE – Abilene Christian finishes off the regular season this week with home games at 7 p.m. on Thursday against Seattle and 3 p.m. on Saturday against Utah Valley.
ACU is 14-15 overall and 9-9 in the Western Athletic Conference and could be seeded anywhere from sixth to eighth in next week's conference tournament.
Seattle is 18-11 overall and 11-7 in the WAC after an 82-62 loss at home to UT-Arlington on Feb. 29.
Utah Valley is 14-15 on the season and 9-9 in the WAC heading into Thursday's game at Tarleton State.
ACU Storylines
STREAKING: ACU has won its last six games with road victories at UTRGV, Stephen F. Austin, Southern Utah and Utah Tech, as well as home wins against California Baptist and Grand Canyon. Utah Valley is the last team to get a win over the Wildcats.
Ali Abdou Dibba averages 17 points to lead the Cats during the streak.
HOT LEO: Leonardo Bettiol averaged 20 points and 6.5 rebounds in ACU's two road wins in Utah. He shot 64 percent from the field. Bettiol, who entered the week averaging 8.5 ppg, had a season-high 17 at SUU before breaking that personal best with 23 at Utah Tech in a win that clinched a playoff berth for ACU in its sixth consecutive victory.
SENIOR MOMENT: ACU will recognize its graduates and seniors on Saturday:
Immanuel Allen, Aidon Igiehon,
Hunter Jack Madden,
Airion Simmons and
Cameron Steele.
1400: Simmons enters the week with 1390 career points. Simmons would join Jaren Lewis (1580) and
Jaylen Franklin (1450) as the third Wildcat in the DI era to reach 1400 career points.
WINNING STATS: In ACU's 14 wins this season, the Wildcats average 80.1 points and allow 69.1, shoot 48.5 percent from the field and hold opponents under 27 percent from three-point range. The defense forces 14.4 turnovers and the Cats out-rebound their opponents 36 to 34. Dibba averages 17.3 points, Madden gets 14.4 points per game, Simmons contributes 12.9 points and Bettiol gets 10.4 points per game in ACU wins this season. Simmons gets 7.1 rebounds, Madden averages 1.4 steals and
Kavion McClain gets four assists and 1.3 steals per ACU win this season.
HOME CATS: ACU is 7-5 at home this season and beat Grand Canyon in its most recent home game, 79-73. Dibba averages 16.2 points, Simmons is at 14.5 and Madden averages 11.,3 points per game in home games this season.
AGAINST THE WAC: ACU is 9-9 against the WAC after winning its sixth consecutive game on Saturday. Dibba averages 16.1 points and 1.7 steals in WAC games. Simmons gets 13.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game and Madden averages 12.6 points against the league.
TURN IT OVER: Abilene Christian leads the WAC and is 46th in the NCAA in turnover margin at 2.6. The Cats are 19th nationally, forcing 15.1 turnovers per game. The Wildcats are 57th in the nation with 7.9 steals per game. Dibba leads ACU with 1.32 steals per contest.
AT THE LINE: ACU is 28th in the NCAA with 23 free throw attempts per game and 23rd with 16.9 made free throws per game.
Hunter Jack Madden is fourth in the WAC with his 81.1 free throw percentage.
SCORERS: Dibba leads the Wildcats with 15.4 points per game, followed by Simmons at 13.3 and Madden at 12.4.
HISTORY WITH SEATTLE: The Wildcats lost at Seattle earlier this season, 75-52.
JV Seat led ACU with nine points and the Cats shot 25 percent from the field. Seattle out-rebounded the Wildcats 51-34. Alex Schumacher and John Christofilis had 14 points each for the Redhawks.
SCOUTING THE REDAWKS: Cameron Tyson leads SU with 18.2 points per game and is the WAC leader in three-point field goal percentage at 38.6. He averages 3.27 three-pointers per game. Schumacher and Christofilis both average 13.4 points per game. Schumacher leads the WAC with 4.8 assists per game.
HISTORY WITH UTAH VALLEY: Utah Valley is the last team to beat ACU, winning in Orem, 74-45. Dibba came off the bench to lead the Wildcats with 17 points. Ethan Potter had 20 points to lead the Wolverines.
SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES: The Wolverines lost last Saturday at home to UT-Arlington 78-65. Caleb Stone-Carrawell leads UVU at 11.7 points per game and Drake Allen averages 11.3 points, 4.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Trevin Dorius leads the WAC with 1.9 blocked shots per game.
LAST GAME: The Wildcats won their fourth consecutive road game after trailing at halftime. Bettiol had his best game of the season with 23 points and five of his teammates also reached double figures in the scoring column.
Ali Abdou Dibba had 17 points, followed by
Hunter Jack Madden with 12,
Kavion McClain with 11 and
Airion Simmons with 10.
