CEDAR CITY, Utah – The ACU Wildcats completed a two-game sweep in Utah on Saturday with an 84-70 win over Southern Utah at the America First Event Center.
The Wildcats beat Utah Tech, 86-72, Thursday night, and, coupled with Saturday night's win, the Wildcats are now 11-13 overall and 3-6 in the Western Athletic Conference. Southern Utah is now 10-14 and 2-8 after the loss to ACU.
ACU won the two games in Utah without trailing over the combined 80 minutes of play. Saturday night, the ACU defense allowed Southern Utah to shoot just 30.8 percent from the floor (8 for 26), which turned into a 51-32 Wildcat lead at halftime. ACU's second-half lead ballooned to as many as 29 points (73-44) on a 3-pointer by Hunter Jack Madden with 10:01 left before the Wildcats settled for the 14-point win.
Perhaps the most important thing during the Wildcats' road trip was Madden rediscovering his shooting touch. He poured in a game-high 22 points Saturday and hit 7 off 11 shots, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range. After going 10 straight games without scoring in double figures, Madden scored 18 and 22 points, respectively, in ACU's two wins this week.
He hit 13 of 21 shots from the field (61.9 percent), including 8 of 14 from 3-point range (57.1 percent), averaging 20.0 points per game in the two road wins.
Bradyn Hubbard had 17 points and three rebounds, while Dontrez Williams scored 12 points of 5 of 9 shooting. Leo Bettiol and Rich Smith added 11 apiece, and Smith went for five rebounds and seven steals in 30 minutes.
The Wildcats return to Moody Coliseum next week to play three straight home games: next Thursday at home against Seattle, one week later (Feb. 20) against Southern Utah, and on Saturday, Feb. 22, at home against Utah Tech.
