ABILENE — The ACU men's basketball team set two season-highs with 10 made 3-pointers, and 28 points off turnovers but it wasn't enough as the Wildcats lost to Utah Tech 76-70 on Thursday night at Moody Coliseum.
A late barrage of steals forced nine points off turnovers in final 1:50 of the game, however the Trailblazers answered each time the Cats clawed within a couple of possessions.
ACU trailed 42-31 at halftime but then used an 8-0 run early in the second half to cut the deficit to three. Utah Tech turned the tide with a 10-0 tear of its own before the seesaw swung back the Wildcats' way thanks to nine unanswered points. Trailing 54-50 with 8:10 to play and the crowd of 1,261 -- the second-largest turnout of the season -- energizing the arena, ACU then allowed another 10-0 Trailblazer run and could only inch as close as five points in the waning seconds.
The Wildcats forced 21 turnovers and tied a season-high with 14 steals.
Yaniel Rivera poured in a game-high 18 points behind four 3-pointers, which ties his season-best set in a win at Pepperdine on Dec. 2.
STAT PACK
- It was the second time Rivera has been the Wildcats' leading scorer this year. The junior scored 19 points at Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 14.
- In his 40th start as a Wildcat, point guard Rich Smith had five assists -- giving him 21 such games in his time at ACU. He passed Hunter Jack Madden for 9th place in most Division I career assists with 192. Tobias Cameron (8th place, 195) and Payten Ricks (7th place, 203) are next in line.
- Smith had his streak of double-digit scoring games end at seven on Thursday. He finished with six points, but did grab a team-high eight rebounds.
- Cbo Newton returned to the lineup and chipped in 14 points. It was his best output since Dec. 19 when he scored 23 at BYU.
- Bradyn Hubbard struggled from the field, but still managed 12 points to give him 94 double-figure scoring games in his college career.
- The loss bucked a pair of trends: before Thursday, the Wildcats were 2-0 when forcing 20+ turnovers, and 4-1 when scoring 18 or more points off turnovers.
UP NEXT
ACU (10-10, 2-5) host Southern Utah (7-15, 3-6) on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Thunderbirds lost on Thursday night to UT Arlington, 80-61.
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