ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats finish a quick three-game homestand this week with games against Tarleton State and Texas-Arlington at Moody Coliseum.
The Wildcats will host Tarleton State at 7 p.m. Thursday before playing the Mavericks at 3 p.m. Saturday. ACU enters the final two games of the homestand after a 60-54 loss to Cal Baptist last Saturday. The Wildcats are 8-11 overall, 0-4 in the Western Athletic Conference, and have lost six straight going into Thursday night's game.
This week's games will air on ESPN+ (ACU vs. Tarleton State, ACU vs. UT-Arlington) and be broadcast on 101.7 FM The Patriot.
ACU's leading scorer is Quion Williams, who averages 14.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Leo Bettiol averages 13.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per contest.
Tarleton is 8-12 overall and 3-2 in the WAC after splitting a pair of games last week. The Texans beat Cal Baptist, 67-57, last Thursday in Stephenville before suffering an 88-64 loss at Grand Canyon last Saturday. The Texans have five players averaging double figures on the season, led by 6-7 sophomore guard Bubu Benjamin (15.5 ppg) and 6-8 freshman forward Keitenn Bristow (13.6 ppg). The Wildcats and Texans have split the last eight games, with Tarleton winning the previous four contests against the Wildcats.
The Mavericks are 7-11 overall and 0-4 in the WAC but have lost their four conference games by 22 points. Like ACU, their first three conference games were on the road, and they lost at Tarleton State (77-74), Utah Tech (74-62), and Southern Utah (73-68) before playing their first home game last Thursday, 85-83, to Utah Valley in double-overtime.
UTA is led by two transfers: 6-10 forward Lance Ware from Villanova (14.2 ppg) and 6-2 guard Jaden Wells from Central Oklahoma (12.8 ppg). The Wildcats and Mavericks split two games last year, but ACU leads the series 3-1 since the two teams became members of the WAC (ACU won both games in 2022-23).
