STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Fifty hours after finishing a boxing match disguised as a college basketball game, Abilene Christian and Tarleton State tipped off against one another again and needed more regulation this time. The Texans ended up prevailing over the Wildcats 65-62 in overtime on Monday night.
ACU previously clinched the regular season series by winning the first two meetings -- Jan. 10 in Stephenville, and last Saturday in Abilene. The game was originally scheduled for Jan. 24, but was postponed twice by an icy winter storm which made traveling nearly impossible.
Unlike the most recent game, which the Wildcats won 73-59, it was ACU playing with the lead for the majority of the game. A 7-0 Tarleton State run put the Texans ahead 55-52 with less than 2:00 to play. ACU again trailed by three with 0:14 left when TSU decided to foul to prevent the Cats from attempting a tying 3-pointer. Ballhandler
Rich Smith was bumped into
Bradyn Hubbard, and the collision sent both ACU seniors to the floor. Smith took an extended time to get up, and head coach
Brette Tanner selected
Joseph Venzant to take the two waiting free throws. Venzant, who was 24-of-29 at the line in WAC play entering Monday, calmly sank both shots.
Following another foul sequence in which the Texans went 1-for-2 at the stripe, Hubbard tied the game with his 23rd and 24th points of the game to go to overtime.Â
In the extra session Vezant took away a poor TSU pass inside, and
Cbo Newton drove to the cup with a hanging bucket to tie the score at 62-all with 0:38 remaining. The Texans' Jordan Mizell, who finished with a career-high 18 points, then converted an and-1 to put TSU back ahead by three. Smith decided to sprint for a quick two points, but was unsuccessful and the horn sounded to end ACU's chances.
STAT PACK
- Bradyn Hubbard scored 24 points, marking the 100th game of his college career in which he scored in double figures. Hubbard wound up two rebounds shy of a double-double.
- The performance pushed Hubbard to 10th place for most points in a single-season in ACU's Division I record book. He now has 418 points during the 2025-26 campaign.
- Struggles at the free throws hurt ACU as they went 14-of-25 (56%) at the line.
- Cbo Newton chipped in 14 points, while Rich Smith had12 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
- Cade Hornecker snagged 10 rebounds for the second time this season.
- ACU led 26-22 at halftime, which was the fewest points given up to an opponent in any half this year.
- The Wildcats set a new season-high with 15 steals. They converted 19 Tarleton State turnovers into 19 points.
- ACU also broke its highwater mark for the season by winning the battle of the boards by 14 (42-28).
UP NEXT
ACU (12-14, 4-9) returns to Moody Coliseum for its penultimate home game, hosting Southern Utah on Saturday, Feb. 21. Tipoff is at 3 p.m. with coverage on ESPN+ with
Grant Boone and Ron Holmes.
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