After suffering their first loss to Pepperdine, the Wildcats bounced back with an 83-68 win over Campbell University in Moody Tuesday evening and improved to 8-1 on the season.
Despite redshirt junior guard B.J. Maxwell sitting out from an injury and Jaylen Franklin fouling out in the game, four different Wildcats reached double-digit scoring.
Senior forward Hayden Farquhar said his team has players always ready to step up and produce.
“When you have a bench that’s as deep as ours, it’s really good because every night will be different,” Farquhar said. “One man will step up one night and the next night could be someone totally different. Our team is so good and so unselfish because everyone gets their turn each game.”
ACU welcomed the nation’s leading scorer in Campbell’s Chris Clemons with an average of 32.1 points per game. In 37 minutes of play, the Wildcats held Clemons under his average with 26 points.
Neither team’s lead broke three points for most of the first half until the Wildcats went up 26-22 at the 5:53 mark. ACU extended its lead and went into halftime up 36-28.
The Wildcats came out of the gate hot in the second half with an 8-0 run in the first two minutes to go up by 16 points. They worked their lead up to 19 points at the 7:52 mark, but allowed a 9-0 run by Campbell, making the score 65-55. The men didn’t let them back in the game, however, and stayed in a comfortable until the end.
Head coach Joe Golding said his team performed well after having little time to prepare.
“I’m proud of the guys,” Golding said. “It was a tough turnaround, we had only two days to prepare after getting in on Sunday evening. Our team got a tough win and I’m proud of them for getting it.”
Junior guard Trey Lenox replaced Maxwell as a starter for the night and scored all 11 of his points in the second half. Redshirt junior center Jalone Friday led the team in scoring with 19 points, while junior guard Payten Ricks followed behind with 18 and senior forward Jaren Lewis had 11.
ACU limited itself to 11 turnovers, while the Camels doubled their count to 22. The Wildcats improved its shooting from the Pepperdine loss and hit 27 of 48 shots (56.3 percent) and seven of 14 three-pointers (50 percent).
After the game against Campbell, ACU has four remaining non-conference games against Schreiner, Texas Tech, Southeast Missouri State and McMurry before starting conference in January.
The men’s next matchup with Schreiner will be Saturday in Moody at 10:30 a.m., just before the women host the SEC’s Arkansas Razorbacks. Coverage of the game will air on 98.1 FM.
