This afternoon at 4 p.m., the men’s basketball team will take on the Texas A&M Kingsville Javelinas in Moody Coliseum. The Wildcats in a race with Angelo State for the eight and final position in the LoneStar Conference tournament that will be held in Allen, Texas in less than two weeks.
“(This game) will be the most important thing we do all year.” Point guard Kendall Durant said. “It is going down to the wire now and we have to play our best basketball.”
In the last matchup between the Javelinas and the Wildcats, ACU got the short end of the stick and ended up losing 72-59 on the road. A&M Kingsville dominated on the defensive end, holding ACU to just 37 percent shooting and did not allow anybody wearing a purple jersey to score more than twelve points.
“Like any team we are more comfortable at home.” Durant said. “(Scoring) won’t be a problem for us at all. If we play hard buzzer to buzzer we will leave with a comfortable victory.”
Despite the ‘Cats shooting woes in the last matchup, ACU was able to lock down every player on the Texas A&M Kingsville roster except Ashton Brown, who dropped twenty-five points in front of his home crowd back in January.
“I expect our coaches will mix it up on (Brown.)” Senior Ben Warton said. “We want to give him some different looks and make it tougher to score. With guys like that, it’s hard to completely stop him but we will definitely try to get him out of rhythm early.
The Wildcats have their hearts set on visiting Allen the first weekend in March, and they know that winning at home is crucial if they want to achieve their goals.
“We have to protect our home court.” Head Coach Joe Golding said. “If you want to get to Allen, you have to be able to win your games at home in this conference.”
ACU has not made the LoneStar Conference tournament since 2008, which means that only the seniors have tasted post-season play at the college level. The Wildcats are hungry for a win today in order to help secure a tournament bid.
“We talk about it every day.” Forward Dosh Smith said. “We want to find a way to get to Allen. That is our only goal, it’s what we play for.”
