PROVO, Utah - Less than 72 hours after walking off the home court of the country's number one ranked team, having just put together a valiant, hard-nosed effort against unbeaten Arizona, the ACU men's basketball team did it again on Friday. The Wildcats controlled the first half and gave No. 10 BYU everything it could handle before falling late, 85-67 at the Marriott Center.
ACU led for 11:19 of the first half, matching the Cougars blow-for-blow and forcing 12 turnovers -- the Wildcats' highest total for a single half this season. Five consecutive points by
Joseph Venzant -- a pair of free throws, and then a made three-pointer -- pushed ACU out to five-point edge, its largest lead of the night.
For the third straight game
Cbo Newton led ACU in scoring. On Friday he finally got over the hump of 17 points, which he'd reached four separate times, and set a new career-best with 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Newton also tied his career-high with four of ACU's seven steals.
"I'm super proud of our guys," fifth-year head coach
Brette Tanner said in his postgame interview with
Grant Boone on the ACU Sports Network. "I thought we did everything other than come up with some loose balls. If we come up with some loose balls it is a whole different ball game. That's where this team still has to grow, but what I'm excited about is our guys are disappointed.
"You're playing the number 10 team in the country and they feel like they had a chance to win."
At the 14:51 mark of the second half, the Wildcats trailed the Cougars 54-42. But then ACU went on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes, and pulled within two points of the lead. BYU followed by scoring 13 straight and pushed its advantage out of reach.
"The guys just had belief. We talk about -- Mark 9:23," said Tanner, referencing the passage where Jesus tells the father of a demon-possessed boy, 'Everything is possible for one who believes.'
"I know it's not talking about a basketball game, but it's our mantra. It's in our locker room. We say it every day. Those guys were talking about it at halftime. We're going home tonight with our heads held high on national television showing everyone what Abilene Christian is all about."
Bradyn Hubbard poured in 12 points to give him exactly 500 for his ACU career. He is closing in on 2,000 total points as a college player including his two seasons at Connors State (Okla.). Point guard
Rich Smith tied his season-high of six assists.
BYU was led by projected NBA Lottery Draft Pick A.J. Dybantisa, who finished with 35 points, six rebounds, four assists, and drew 13 fouls while committing none himself.
This week presented the most challenging road trip in ACU history. The Wildcats played No. 1 Arizona on Tuesday, and stayed within arms' reach. Then, three days later, the Wildcats were in Utah to face another Top 10 squad. It had been four years since ACU played a Top 10 team.
ACU forced both Arizona (19) and BYU (18) into committing a season-high amount of turnovers, especially impressive considering the Cougars were the top 15 in the NCAA in fewest turnovers committed per game at 9.5. ACU scored its most points off turnovers (among Division I opponents) of the season versus BYU with 18.
Up Next
ACU heads south to Houston for a Monday afternoon clash at Texas Southern (1-8, SWAC). Tipoff is at 4 p.m. and will be streamed on the Texas Southern YouTube channel, and on the ACU Sports Network.
The Wildcats defeated the Tigers 69-65 in Dec. 2024 in Abilene.
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