ABILENE - The ACU Wildcats delivered an eye-popping result to the rest of the Western Athletic Conference with Saturday's 85-68 win over first-place Utah Valley.
The victory pushes ACU to 1-1 in the conference and 9-6 overall, while the Wolverines dropped to 2-1 in the WAC and had their seven-game winning streak snapped. UVU came into the game with a NET ranking of 53 -- the best in the WAC.
Bradyn Hubbard had his second double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds. The reigning WAC Player of the Week also had six assists and three steals.
The Wildcats had their best offensive performance of 2025-26 with a season-high 54% field goal percentage. Those buckets were created by head coach
Brette Tanner's trademark pressure defense. ACU forced 22 turnovers which directly resulted in 21 points -- both season-high totals.
Conversely, ACU took of the ball themselves, with just ten turnovers versus a Utah Valley defense that ranked 41st nationally in turnovers forced, and 23rd in steals per game.
STAT PACK
- Four Wildcats scored in double-figures, including Rich Smith who's 13 points marked his third straight game scoring at least ten.
- Smith's team-high seven assists also give him ten games for the season with 5-plus dimes.
- Joseph Venzant had a season-high 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
- Two days after being shutout against Utah Tech, Cbo Newton bounced back with 11 points and was also 5-of-7 from the field.
- Bradyn Hubbard has now scored in double figures in 30 of his 46 games at ACU.
- The Wildcats dished out 18 assists, their highest total against a Division I opponent this season.
- ACU is now 7-1 when holding teams under 70 points, and 8-0 when they score at least 70 points.
- Saturday was ACU's first win over Utah Valley since the 2022 WAC Tournament, halting a six-game slide.
UP NEXT
ACU takes a roadtrip down Interstate 20 for a pair of games -- first, at Tarleton State on Thursday at 7 p.m., and then at UT Arlington on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Texans (11-5, 2-1) started the WAC slate with wins over UTA and California Baptist and a loss to Utah Valley. In addition to their loss to Tarleton State, the Mavericks (9-5, 1-1) beat CBU and had a late game Saturday at Southern Utah.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
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