ABILENE - With 11 seconds on the clock in overtime and his team down by a point, ACU senior
Hunter Jack Madden wanted the pressure on himself.
"He looked over and said, 'Give me the ball,'" ACU head coach
Brette Tanner said. "I'm not going to lie I thought about it. I wasn't sure. There were other guys who had better mismatches, but I thought to myself, 'This dude's been here for three years. He's given everything he's had. We've got one opportunity. Let's give him the ball.'"
Madden dribbled left, then inside and split three defenders before being fouled as he leaned toward the bucket with 2.4 seconds remaining.
The Australian, who has been an integral part of the Wildcats since he transferred to ACU for the 2022-23 season, sank his first free throw to tie the game, then withstood a timeout by Grand Canyon, and drilled the second shot to lift the Wildcats to an 82-81 victory over the Lopes in Saturday's regular season finale.
"To step up to make free throws like that, you couldn't have wrote a better story for the end of his career in Moody Coliseum," said Tanner.
Madden entered Saturday as a 91% free throw shooter. His percentage would lead the WAC, and be in the top 10 of Division I, if Madden qualified for the rankings. His average of 2.0 FT made per game are just below the required 2.5 makes.
Leonardo Bettiol and
Colby Tanner joined Madden as seniors recognized prior to the last home game of the 2024-25 season. Madden led ACU with 17 points while Bettiol fought through foul trouble to add 12.
"This team has struggled when adversity hits to find our way," said Tanner. "Give Grand Canyon credit because they never shut down. We kept taking blows and blows and blows and we bounced back. For the first time, in my opinion, for 40 minutes we did not allow the adversity to affect us."
The Wildcats (16-15 overall, 8-8 in the WAC) came out of the gate with a strong first half.
Yaniel Rivera's 3-pointer at the 5:21 mark brought the crowd to its feet to give ACU an 11-point edge - its largest lead of the afternoon.
GCU finished the first half on a 7-0 run to knot the game 44-all at the break and then held control for much of the second half. But, the Wildcats used an 18-6 run to retake the lead before being tied 74-74 at the end of regulation.
Despite going 1-for-7 from the field in OT, ACU drilled all 6 of its free throw attempts - including Madden's final two - and it was good enough to beat the second-place Lopes.
The victory pushes the Wildcats to the No. 4 seed in the WAC Tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
"It's a big-time win going into the conference tournament. That's why it's so exciting," said Tanner. "It is very rare for you to have seniors who have been in your program for three and four years. That's what these guys have done. I am really happy to send them out that way."
ACU will play No. 5 seed Seattle U on Thursday, March 13 at 8 p.m. CT (6 p.m. PT local time) in the WAC quarterfinals. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and on the radio at 101.7 FM The Patriot.
WATCH: Brette Tanner postgame press conference vs. Grand Canyon
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