The Wildcats returned to action for a new season Tuesday night with a resounding, 90-39, victory over Arlington Baptist Patriots.
Redshirt Junior center Kolton Kohl set a career high in points, leading ACU with 21 points on 10-13 shooting and five rebounds.
Kohl said it was great to get back on the court for the first team this season.
“It’s just setting the tone for the rest of the season. We set up dominance early and just took it one step at a time.”
The Wildcats jumped out to an 18-0 lead with 10:22 left in the first half, while the Patriots missed its first 12 shots in regulation. Arlington Baptist closed the first half shooting a dismal 5-26 (19.2%) from the field.
13 different Wildcats scored in the winning effort Tuesday. Sophomore forward Clay Gayman scored 14 points off the bench for a new career high.
As a team, ACU shot 36-75 (48%) while posing a solid defensive performance, forcing 28 turnovers. That helped translate over to offense, scoring 33 points off turnovers.
Head coach Joe Golding said Kohl’s performance was something he was expecting going into Tuesday night.
“We’ve seen it,” Golding said. “It happened all summer, and it’s happening in the fall. He should dominate a team like that and it was a game where he should have done exactly what he did.”
The Wildcats dominated inside throughout the game. The final totals gave ACU 58 points in the paint compared to the Patriots’ 10.
Despite outplaying Arlington Baptist in nearly every category, the Wildcats shooting was down outside the perimeter. Compared to a year ago, ACU shot 38.1% as a team. In this game, they finished 6-27 (22.2%).
Junior guard Jordan Williams struggled throughout the game for the Patriots. He finished the night with just five points on 2-14 shooting. He also had four rebounds and commit three turnovers.
Up next, the Patriots head to play another Southland Conference opponent, Lamar, Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats hit the road for the first time of the season Sunday. ACU will travel east to Philadelphia to face the Drexel Dragons at 1 p.m.
