The Wildcats’ midseason slide continued with an 82-58 loss at the hands of the Angelo State Rams in San Angelo. The loss was their third in a row, dropping their Lone Star Conference record to 0-3.

The ‘Cats record now stands at 7-11 on the season, while Angelo State improved to 10-8 for the year. The Rams outshot ACU 46.2 percent to 31 percent, holding the Wildcats to just 29 points in each half. Head Coach Jason Copeland’s team shot only 25.7 percent in the first half, allowing ASU to jump out to a 42-29 halftime lead.

“We just missed some easy shots at Angelo, and it snowballed on us,” Copeland said. “We had two of our leading scorers shoot just 4-25, so we had to start pressing.”

Eddie Thompson, the Wildcats’ leading scorer, was held to just 10 points on 3-16 shooting, while forward Marcus Washington shot only 1-9 from the field. Copeland said freshman forward Dosh Simms has been the bright spot during the Wildcats’ recent struggles. Simms has seen his minutes increase with injuries to Dustin Heiman and Vladimir Gavranic, and he has capitalized on the opportunity with strong play.

“Dosh Simms as a freshman has come in and done a nice job,” Copeland said. If he keeps playing the way he is, it’s going to be hard to take him out.”

The Wildcats continue to excel in rebounding, despite their shooting woes. The ‘Cats out-rebounded the Rams 42-41, grabbing 16 offensive boards along the way.

The team will have another shot at a win when they take on Tarleton State in Stephenville on Wednesday night. The Texans are 15-3 on the season and 12-1 at home, and the Wildcats will have their hands full with Jeremiah Wilson. The 6-foot-8-inch center from Chicago is averaging 11.3 points per game, while grabbing nine rebounds. Wilson also leads the Texans in 3-point percentage, shooting almost 61 percent on the season.

“We have to a good job on our inside defense, and our post players really have to step up,” Copeland said. “Angelo was so guard-oriented, and Tarleton likes to feed it into their post players.”