MALIBU, Calif. - The Abilene Christian men's basketball team takes on fellow Church of Christ college Pepperdine on Tuesday night. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. CT.
ACU (5-3) comes into the game fresh off an 87-55 win over Jarvis Christian last Friday. Two Wildcats recorded double-doubles in the lopsided victory:
Bradyn Hubbard (25 points, 10 rebounds), and
Zy Wright (17 points, 11 rebounds). Hubbard's 25 points were just shy of his ACU-high of 26. It was the 39th double-double of his college career. Wright made hsi second start as a Wildcat, and shot 6-of-8 from the field. His 11 rebounds marked just his fourth time with ten-or-more in a single game. The win was No. 75 of head coach
Brette Tanner's career.Â
Tuesday's game begins a difficult December with just one home game on the schedule. ACU hosts New Mexico State on Saturday at 3 p.m. As of Monday, the Aggies sported a 6-0 record, while the following two opponents are ranked in the top ten with Arizona at No. 2 and BYU at No. 9.
ACU has not played in California often with just an annual trip to Riverside, Calif., to play WAC member California Baptist over the last few years. The Wildcats last won a game in the Golden State in Feb. 2023.
Pepperdine (3-5) and ACU have squared off four times before -- twice in the mid-1980s, and then a home-and-home series in 2018 and 2019. The Waves beat the Cats in Pepperdine on Dec. 1, 2018, and then squeaked by in Abilene on Nov. 16, 2019. ACU defeated Pepperdine during the 1984-85 season, 93-89.
The Wildcats are 21st in the NCAA in steals per game at 10.4 on average, and 15.75 turnovers forced per game which ranked 47th in the nation.Â
Catch the action on ESPN+, and on the ACU Sports Network with
Grant Boone beginning at 7:45 p.m. CT.
Â
