It was a record-breaking night for senior guard Payton Ricks as the Wildcats took full control of the game against Lamar Saturday night.
In the 84-49 win, Ricks drained a career-high seven 3-pointers. His previous career-high was five, which he had accomplished twice this season.
Despite hitting four triples in the first half, Ricks said breaking his record wasn’t on his mind.
“I was really thinking about defense, that’s all we were worried about really,” Ricks said. “We weren’t really worried about the offensive end and knew that it would take care of itself. I didn’t know how many I had, but it’s cool to break a record.”
Ricks finished the day with 21 points and six rebounds on 7-12 shooting, all from beyond the perimeter.
“He’s always had the green light,” Head Coach Joe Golding said. “Ricks did a great job moving around when he didn’t have the ball. I thought our guys found him, and it always helps us when he’s hitting shots like that.”
ACU (13-10, 8-4 SLC) jumped out early, opening with a 30-2 run in the first 10 minutes of play. Meanwhile, Lamar (12-12, 6-7 SLC) was held to a dismal 26.3% (15-57) shooting performance.
“I think the win was huge, people don’t understand that it’s tough to win in this league,” Golding said. “I think our guys bounced back really well. I thought the defense was really good and offensively we were able to move the ball and trust each other.”
Sophomore forward Clay Gayman also brought in his third consecutive game with 10 points or more. He was perfect from the court Saturday, scoring 13 points on 6-6 shooting and four rebounds.
With the win, ACU moves into third place in the Southland Conference with only eight games left in the regular season. Up next, they face Houston Baptist (3-18, 3-9 SLC) at home Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
