After splitting a pair of games against the Tarleton State University Texans on Saturday and Monday, the Wildcats are now 12-14 on the season and 4-9 in Western Athletic Conference games.

On Monday, ACU lost in overtime 65-62 in Stephenville after beating the Texans 73-59 in Moody Coliseum on Saturday.

The Texans opened overtime with 4 unanswered points before ACU evened the score at 62 with 37 seconds remaining. Tarleton went on to score a 3-point play with eight seconds left to close out the Wildcats.

Bradyn Hubbard, senior forward from Tulsa, Oklahoma, led the team in scoring in both games with 19 and 24 points, respectively.

After the team shot 14-25 from the free-throw line on Monday, Hubbard said the mental aspect got to them after playing three games in five days.

“As long as we got that right mindset and keeping a strong mental,” he said. “Going to the line, knocking down free throws, not reaching and doing the little things.”

In their last 10 games, the Wildcats are 2-8, with their only wins being over the University of Texas-Arlington and Tarleton. With a 4-9 conference record, ACU is now one game behind Southern Utah and Tarleton for fifth place, two games behind UTA for fourth place and five games behind Utah Tech for third place.

Mathematically, ACU could finish as high as the third seed in the WAC standings. However, Head Coach Brette Tanner said realistically, fourth is probably as high as his team can get.

ACU was set back in conference play during January and the beginning of February due to a seven-game losing streak.

“The truth of the matter is, I think we have to stop saying we lost some in a row and we’re tied for this place or that place,” Tanner said. “Bottom line is, what we’re doing now, right? We’ve won. We did our job. We won two out of three games in five days.”

With no game on Thursday, ACU has a bye week, allowing the team to get some rest after playing three games in five days. Injuries and fatigue have been a problem for ACU over recent games. Joseph Scott, junior forward from Baltimore, Maryland, has been out with a face injury since Feb. 7.

Rich Smith, senior guard from the Bronx, New York, left the game against UTA on Feb. 12 with a leg injury. Tanner said Smith was still battling with the injuries in Saturday’s game when he played 27 minutes. Hubbard also dealt with fatigue and injuries throughout the game against UTA.

The bye could give ACU the chance to be fully healthy going into Saturday’s game against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds. ACU lost both previous matchups, once in Utah and once at home. In the most recent matchup on Jan. 31, ACU lost in the final minute 79-76 in Moody Coliseum.

“We just got to make sure we’re playing together and not making the little mental mistakes that we usually have made the last two times we played Southern Utah,” Hubbard said. “It was little things we did, like swiping and fouling when we didn’t have to.”