ACU (13-15, 8-9) continued its push for the postseason, winning its fifth straight game Thursday night taking down Southern Utah (9-19, 4-13) in a 77-68 final. ACU dropped its first matchup with the Thunderbirds in late January and was looking to avoid the season sweep.
After being on the down and out three weeks ago, the Wildcats have stepped up when they need it the most and find themselves one step closer to making it into the WAC tournament later this month.
The first half was filled with multiple lead changes and ties where no team was able to grab the upper hand early on. It wasn’t until the 5:30 mark at a 27-27 tie when ACU began to hold onto the small lead it had built.
Back-to-back layups from junior guard Ali Abdou Dibba and senior forward Airion Simmons began the hold for ACU lead shift for the Wildcats. Senior forward Cameron Steele finished off the first half with a three-pointer to give ACU a six-point, 38-32 lead going into the second half.
Sophomore forward Leonardo Bettiol began the second half with a layup followed by a Simmons bucket to give the Wildcats their first double-digit lead of the night. The Thunderbirds would cut the lead back down to three but that would be the closest they would get for the remainder of the game.
At the 13:22 mark, freshman guard Yaniel Rivera connected on a three-pointer, then notched an assist and found Simmons for a three on the next Wildcat possession. With nine minutes remaining, Dibba scored back-to-back layups to keep it at a 12-point lead and Bettiol finished on the next possession to hold the advantage.
Simmons would hit two free throws late in the game to give ACU their largest lead of the game at 13. Despite not scoring in the last 2:14 of the game, the Wildcat defense stepped up and closed out the game, giving the Cats a 77-68 victory.
Simmons led the team in points with 20, going 7-7 from the charity stripe. Bettiol followed closely behind, tying a career-high of 17. Dibba also finished in double figures with 10 and Steele contributed eight.
Simmons led with 12 rebounds and Bettiol added eight while junior guard Kavion McClain had five assists.
The Wildcats now have the chance to clinch a spot in the WAC tournament with a win this weekend when they face Utah Tech at 6 p.m. on Saturday at Burns Arena with the game streaming live on ESPN+
Quotes will be added following head coach Brette Tanner’s next press conference.
