With Tuesday’s win over Southwestern Adventist University 104-63, the Wildcats have moved to 3-0 to start the season for the first time since the 2020-21 season–one that resulted in an NCAA tournament berth.
“We’ve done a good job at home,” Head Coach Brette Tanner said. “That’s one of the things we talked about in the off-season. I think that we’ve struggled early in the year at home in the past couple of years.”
The last three seasons, Tanner’s team has begun the season with a 2-1 record twice and once with a 1-2 record. One of the 2-1 starts ended in a season with a losing record, and the other ended up finishing at .500; the 1-2 start ended in a losing record.
Although the team has performed well through three games, it has only played one Div. I opponent, Omaha, a 15 seed in last year’s NCAA tournament, which the Wildcats beat 73-71.
Through three games, the leading scorer for the team is Bradyn Hubbard, senior forward from Tulsa, Oklahoma, averaging 18.3 points per game. The leading passer for the team is Rich Smith, senior guard from the Bronx, New York, who is averaging 5.7 assists along with 7.7 PPG.
During Tuesday’s game, the leading scorer for the Wildcats was Isaac Dye, freshman guard from State College, Pennsylvania, who scored 20 points while knocking down six three-pointers.
“Isaac is a special guy,” Smith said. “He works really hard. He’s going to do some big things for us this year.”
After playing its first three games at home, the team will begin a four-game road stretch when it travels to Nacogdoches on Friday to play the Stephen F. Austin University Lumberjacks. The Wildcats lost to SFA last season 62-57 in Moody Coliseum.
The Lumberjacks have also started 3-0 and are coming off a win on Tuesday over Rice University, 81-69. They are scoring 91.3 PPG and giving up 70 PPG to opponents. In comparison, the Wildcats are scoring 89.7 PPG and giving up 63 to opponents.
Tanner said Friday’s game will be a “street fight” between the two teams, and his team will have to find a way to dig deep if they want to be successful on the road.
After SFA, the next game for ACU will be against Texas State on Nov. 18 in San Marcos. The Wildcats defeated Texas State last season 72-60 in Moody Coliseum.
