The Wildcats (8-13, 3-7) came up just short in Thursday’s overtime-thriller and homestand finale, falling to Tarleton State (14-7, 7-3) by a final score of 76-73.
The Wildcats entered Thursday night’s contest coming off of a 82-67 loss last Saturday to Southern Utah, snapping a two-game win streak for the Wildcats. Meanwhile, the Texans were looking to build off of an impressive win in their previous game against Utah Tech.
ACU was also looking for some revenge as just two weeks ago, the Texans got the better of the Wildcats in the team’s first matchup of the season, 79-71.
It was a rough start for the Wildcats to begin the game, as the Texans came out on a 9-0 run, with the Wildcats having only ten points nearly 12 minutes into the game. Despite the shaky start on offense, ACU was able to stay right in it with Tarleton. After a pair of free-throws from senior forward Airion Simmons and a bucket from senior forward Aidan Igiehon, the Wildcats found themselves only down by two at the seven minute mark of the first half.
However, a 13-5 run from the Texans over four and a half minutes gave Tarleton its largest lead of the night at ten points. Despite the poor offensive performance in the first half, ACU found themselves within striking distance, going into the half only down eight at 31-23.
“We didn’t start good,” head coach Brette Tanner said. “I was fearful of that a little bit, just with the hangover that we’ve had, but we fought through it. We had some guys from the bench step up, which has been a struggle for us. Some guys stepped up and did some really good things.
After trading baskets for the first handful of minutes in the second half, the Wildcats still found themselves right in the game and were just looking to get over the hump. Momentum began to shift in the Wildcats direction when sophomore guard Nasir DeGruy hit back-to-back buckets, followed up by a three-pointer from junior guard Ali Abdou Dibba to cut the lead to four.
On the following possession, Simmons would knock down a crucial three-pointer, and two plays later, junior guard Kavion McClain would hit a tough layup to even up the game at 48.
Despite it looking like ACU could grab its first lead of the game, Tarleton settled down, working their offense once again and regained a seven-point lead with eight minutes left to play.
Down 58-52 with 6:51 left to play, ACU would turn it into gear and go on a 10-0 run, capped off by a layup from senior guard Hunter Jack Madden to give the Wildcats a four-point lead with just under three minutes to play.
“This team doesn’t quit,” Tanner said. “What we’ve got to do is find a way to not dig a hole. Maybe we have to look at different ways to start the game. We were good defensively, we just didn’t score. Our goal was to attack them early and I thought we were shying away from contact early. But we changed that and that’s why we got back in the game.”
After a clutch and-one from Simmons to put the Wildcats up five with a minute to go, it looked as though the Wildcats would be able to escape with a win. But two crucial missed free-throws left it open for Tarleton to hit a game-tying three-pointer and after Simmons missed on a heavily contested buzzer beater, the game was headed to overtime.
In the overtime period, the Texans came out scoring four straight and the Wildcats would respond scoring four of their own to tie things at 71 in the first two minutes of the period. Tarleton would retake the lead, and despite ACU getting a good look to tie it at the buzzer, would come up just short and the Texans would sneak out of Abilene with the win, 76-73.
Simmons led the team in points, finishing with 24, to go along with seven rebounds. McClain finished with ten, followed by Madden with nine and DeGruy with eight.
“I’m proud of how we competed, I’m really disappointed in the loss,” Tanner said. “There are a lot of things we can do to get better, but this team does not shut down. This team competes and we’re gonna be great in practice tomorrow. I have no doubt in my mind and I encourage people to stay with this team and I’m proud of those guys in the locker room, even after a loss.”
The Wildcats will have a week of rest and will pick things back up in a week when they begin a four-game road trip, starting with Seattle University on Thursday at 7 p.m. with the game streaming live on ESPN+.
