PROVO, Utah - The ACU men's basketball had gone four years without playing a Top 10 opponent. On Friday, the Wildcats will play their second in a four-day span.
ACU continues the program's toughest road trip by facing No. 10 Brigham Young on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast nationally on TNT and truTV, and streamed on HBO Max with Brian Anderson, Grant Hill and Andy Katz on the call. Fans can also listen to the Voice of the Wildcats
Grant Boone on
the ACU Sports Network.
The Wildcats are coming off a 96-62 loss at No. 1 Arizona on Tuesday in Tucson, Ariz.
Cbo Newton scored 17 points for the second straight game to again lead ACU in scoring and tie his career-high mark. Newton also set a new career-high with seven made field goals. The Wildcat defense, given the green light to take more chances by coach
Brette Tanner, forced 19 turnovers -- the most Arizona has committed this year, and the most ACU has forced against a Division I opponent. ACU scored 15 points off those 19 turnovers.
Christian Alston and
Joseph Scott each had three steals to set new respective career-highs.
BYU (10-1) enters Friday with one of the best defenses in the country -- limiting opponents to just 65 points per game on 39% shooting. Highly-touted freshman A.J. Dybantsa leads BYU with averages of 21 points and 7 rebounds. The 2025 McDonald's All-American was the consensus top high school recruit in the class of 2025. The Cougars' lone loss was by two points to No. 3 UConn on Nov. 15.
This week's games against Arizona and BYU -- who have a 20-1 combined record between them -- have brought added attention and exposure to ACU. Even if the results are not particularly favorable to the Wildcats, the university's story is being told which coach Tanner has embraced sharing with as many people as possible.
"We're Abilene
Christian University, we don't run from that. That's who we are," said Tanner. "These guys come because of their faith, not just because of basketball. They want to grow in their faith and it's what we do."
ACU's matchup against BYU will be its first on the Turner family of TV networks since the Wildcats' famous March Madness run in 2021 with the win over Texas, and the round of 32 game against UCLA.
After Friday's game the Wildcats will fly back to Abilene and just a day or so to recoup before they drive to Houston for a game at Texas Southern on Monday to finish their nonconference schedule.
Â
