Hubbard Scores Career-High 27 Points at UT Arlington

ARLINGTON, Texas — Abilene Christian senior Bradyn Hubbard scored the most points in his time in Division I basketball, but the Wildcats could not complete a comeback in an 82-72 road loss to UT Arlington in WAC play on Saturday.

Hubbard poured in 27 on 8-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc. The performance continues a prolific stretch in which Hubbard has scored 20+ in four of the past five games to give him seven total for the season. Hubbard dropped 35 three separate times as a sophomore in junior college at Connors State (Okla.). The Tulsa-native now has 1,987 points for his entire college career.

Unlike Thursday's 84-80 victory at Tarleton State, the Wildcats played from behind the Mavericks for nearly the entire game. UTA pushed its lead to a game-high 14 with 2:51 left in the first half. ACU scored the final six points of the frame to trail 37-29 at intermission.

The Cats scored the first five points of the second half as well to further trim the deficit to three when Hubbard nailed a 3-pointer off a Cade Hornecker assist. ACU clawed within three on five separate occasions, but could not climb in front in the second half as UTA went on an 8-1 run to lead 61-48 at the 9:44 mark.


STAT PACK

• ACU has shot at least 50% from the field in six of its last seven halves, including 57% (12-of-21) in the second half at UT Arlington.
• The Wildcats' field goal percentage of 51.1% is the best any team has shot against the Mavericks this season.
• Saturday was the first time ACU has lost when Hubbard scored at least 20 points. The Wildcats were 6-0 coming into the game.
• Rich Smith handed out a season-high eight assists and pushed his double-digit scoring streak to five straight games with 15 points. Smith has now scored at least 10 points in 25 career games, including 12 at ACU.
• The Wildcat point guard is averaging 17 points per game during WAC play, which was ranked 6th best in the league coming into Saturday.
• With a team-high five rebounds in his 125th college game, Joseph Venzant now has exactly 600 boards for his career. 
• ACU struggled on the glass, securing a season-low 20 rebounds against a UTA team which averages nearly eight more rebounds per game than its opponent (ranked 34th in NCAA).
• On Thursday at Tarleton State, the Wildcats won for the first time this season when scoring fewer bench points than their opponent. They were outscored 33-14 off the bench by UTA and could not replicate the result.
• This is the first time in 2025-26 that ACU has lost when: shooting better than 50% FG (now 5-1), shooting better than their opponent (now 7-1), and scoring at least 70 points (now 9-1). 
• ACU used the same starting lineup of Hubbard, Smith, Venzant, Hornecker and Cbo Newton for the fourth straight game.

UP NEXT

The Wildcats return to Moody Coliseum for the Welcome Back Bash, presented by United Supermarkets against California Baptist on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Tickets are now sale now!

CBU was voted as the preseason favorite to win the WAC, but lost its first three conference games. The Lancers have rebounded to win their last two, including a 58-55 nail-biter over Southern Utah on Saturday.

After the CBU game, ACU will fly to Cedar City, Utah, to face Southern Utah on Saturday, Jan. 17. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m. CT.