The ACU men’s basketball team has entered Western Athletic Conference play, having already lost to Grand Canyon University, Utah Valley University and Seattle University. The three losses put the Wildcats’ season record at 8-10 and eighth in the WAC standings.
Last season, ACU started 2-10 in conference play but finished the season 7-1 in the last eight conference games.
“We know that the league is not done in two or three games – it’s a course of a whole season,” said Head Coach Brette Tanner. “We’ve prepared ourselves the whole year for this kind of stretch.”
In its first two conference games, ACU struggled shooting the ball from three, shooting 1-10 against Utah Valley and 5-15 against Seattle U. These struggles have been a consistent problem with the Wildcats shooting only 29% from deep this season.
In Thursday’s game against GCU, the Wildcats lost 88-58 with Bradyn Hubbard, junior forward from Tulsa, Oklahoma, leading the team’s scoring with 13 points. The Wildcats improved their three-point percentage with a 6-14 performance.
Despite the improved three-point shooting, the Wildcats still shot 18-57 on field goal attempts. Two starters, Hunter Jack Madden, senior guard from Sydney, Australia, and Leonardo Bettiol, junior forward from Roncade, Italy, struggled Thursday night. Madden finished scoreless and Bettiol finished with two points.
In the 66-64 loss against Seattle U, the Wildcats led 55-44 with 10:37 left in the game but allowed SU to go on a 15-0 run to take the lead. The score went back and forth before SU’s leading scorer Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe made a game-winning layup with four seconds remaining.
With the team’s current offensive struggles, two bright spots are amid the losing streak: Hubbard and Quion Williams, junior guard from Jonesboro, Arkansas.
In the 64-53 loss to Utah Valley, the leading scorers for the Wildcats were Williams and Hubbard, both with 16 points.
Williams and Hubbard were the top two scorers and rebounders in the loss to Seattle U with 16 and 9 for Williams and 13 and 8 for Hubbard.
Offensively, Hubbard has broken out in the three conference games, which is what ACU has needed from him. Despite losing all three games, it gives the team’s offense confidence moving forward in conference play.
“Brayden is kind of what we were missing offensively to be honest,” Tanner said. “I think why we’ve been better the last two games is because Brayden’s been able to step up.”
After losing five straight, Tanner said the team has kept its belief, and this gives him confidence going forward, he is sure this team will take off once the team gets past this stretch of games.
ACU will play its first home conference game Saturday against California Baptist University with hopes of getting a win for the first time since December 21.
