By Joshua Parrott, Sports Writer
The similarities between ACU guard Rodney Lee and Texas A&M-Kingsville guard William Brown are scary.
Both lead their respective teams in scoring and rank among the top three in the Lone Star Con-ference in scoring, with Lee scoring 20.1 point per game (second in LSC) and Brown at 19.8 points per game (third in LSC).
Both have had unbelievable scoring efforts already this season, including Lee’s 38-point outburst Nov. 26 at St. Edward’s and Brown’s 45-point scoring exhibition Dec. 3 against Houston Baptist.
Both players even came down with the flu in January.
Now both junior guards bring their explosive offensive games to life in Saturday’s LSC South Division matchup between the Wildcats and Javelinas at 4 p.m. in Steinke Center.
The Wildcats, 11-8 overall and 2-3 in LSC South play, are coming off a Jan. 30 road victory over Midwestern State, 82-71. ACU played Texas A&M-Commerce Thursday night in Commerce, but results were unavailable at press time.
Lee said Thursday’s game in Commerce and Saturday’s game in Kingsville are critical if the Wildcats want to make it to the LSC tournament.
“We try not to look ahead, but we need those two games to remain in the run for conference,” said Lee, whose 29 point-effort against Midwest-ern State was his third-highest scoring game of the season. “All the games from here on out we need to win.”
Lee added that his last scoring effort had more to do with the team running the offense efficiently and getting him the ball when he is open.
“We were running our motion offense and I was getting some great screens,” Lee said. “I had the same shots the game before [a three-point win at Angelo State], but they just didn’t go down. It’s a lot easier to hit shots when you’re wide open.”
Junior guard Ryan Coleman said this season has shown parity in the LSC.
“Winning two in a row we now have the confidence we need to play well,” said Coleman, who is averaging 6.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals a game. “Anyone is beatable in conference.”
ACU is fourth in the LSC in team scoring but last in scoring defense. The Javelinas are the LSC’s best at stopping the 3-point shot, keeping their opponents to a measly 29 percent from beyond the arch. The Wildcats are second in the LSC in 3-point shooting percentage, draining more than 40 percent of their shots from outside.
After Saturday’s game in Kingsville, the Wildcats come home to Moody Coliseum for a three-game homestand, starting Feb. 11 against Angelo State, Feb. 13 against Texas A&M-Kingsville and Feb. 15 against Texas A&M-Comm-erce.
