The offensive woes continued for the men’s basketball team against Northwestern as they shot just 37 percent in the Wildcats 84-66 loss on Saturday. The game gives ACU a 7-15 overall record, and a dismal 1-7 Southland Conference record.
“We got in a hole early on but were able to bounce back and make it a close game at halftime,” head coach Joe Golding said. “Second half though, we turned it over twenty times and we couldn’t get as many stops.”
ACU shot well beyond the arc, sinking 12-23 three-point attempts. The team was also 12-14 from the charity strike, but committed 20 turnovers, off of which NSU converted 31 points. In the past three games, ACU has averaged nearly 20 turnovers a game, and teams are averaging 26 points off of those turnovers.
“In the past six games since we’ve lost H [Harrison Hawkins] and LD [LaDarrien Williams] we’ve had 45 assists and 110 turnovers,” Golding said. “It’s tough with our personnel right now, but if we can limit the turnovers, then it keeps us in games and prevents us from hindering ourselves.”
The Wildcats fell behind early in the game, down 15-0, but rallied to finish the first half strong, trailing 42-35 at halftime. Sophomore guard Parker Wentz contributed 17 of his 18 points in the first half, shooting 5-7 from three-point range.
“They ran a zone that allowed me and the rest of the guys to find some holes,” Wentz said. “We have to take care of the ball better though.”
The Demons came out in the second half firing on all cylinders, going on an early run to push their lead back to double digits. Over the span of 12 minutes, NSU continued to push the lead behind a 22-9 run that essentially ended the contest.
“They get the majority of their points from running the ball in transition so we thought if we were able to keep them in the half court, we’d have a shot,” Golding said.
Junior guard Rafael Farley had his best game of the season, finishing with 18 points on 6-8 three-point shooting. He also added six rebounds and two steals. Sophomore forward James Pegues added 12 points along with three steals.
Northwestern was led by the continued shooting streak of senior guard Brison White, as he finished the game with 28 points on 11-14 shooting. Twenty-eight points is the highest ACU has given up to a single opposing player this year.
The Wildcats will look to bounce back from the losses and play against Houston Baptist on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Moody Coliseum. The game will be a whiteout, and 250 ACU white T-shirts will be handed out before the game.
“I’ve been really impressed with our student body,” Golding said. “The guys really get a boost from that and I really appreciate what they’ve been trying to do this year. It’s nice to see some of that tradition coming back.”
