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Contributed by: Lance Fleming, ACU Associate Director of Athletics for Media Relations
ABILENE - If ACU guard Jaylen Franklin can add a consistent outside shot to his deadly arsenal of inside-the-paint floaters, jumpers, leaners and layups, the rest of the Southland Conference might have to go back to the drawing board to figure out a way to stop the Wildcats' electrifying freshman.
Saturday afternoon at Moody Coliseum, he showed the first flashes that his work on his outside shot might be paying off by hitting the first three 3-pointers of his career, helping him score a game-high 27 points and propelling the Wildcats to an 80-71 win over Lamar in Southland Conference men's basketball action.
The win pushed ACU to 9-12 overall while evening its conference record at 4-4 and equaling the number of conference wins by the team for the entirety of the 2014-15 season. ACU will be back in action Tuesday at 7 p.m. when it hosts conference co-leader Houston Baptist (8-0 in league play) in the final game of the first half of conference play.
After scoring just 12 and two points, respectively, in the Wildcats' road losses at Incarnate Word and Sam Houston State as opposing defenses closed off the lane on him, Franklin unveiled a new part of his offensive repertoire against the Cardinals: a consistent outside jumper.
He nailed the first 3-pointer of his career with 16:44 left in the first half to give ACU a 4-3 lead, an advantage that the Wildcats would not relinquish the rest of the night. He hit another one with 18:56 left in the game to put ACU ahead 42-32, and then he buried a dagger 3-pointer with 2:27 to play to put the Wildcats ahead 74-61.
Franklin finished 8 for 11 from the field and 8 for 14 from the free throw line, but more importantly, was 3 for 4 from 3-point range, giving opponents something more to think about when guarding him.
"That's called being a winner," ACU head coach Joe Golding said of Franklin. "He does things that help us win games. He hits mid-range jumpers and 3-pointers in practice all the time, so this is nothing new for us who see him shoot every day. He can hit shots and make free throws when he needs to, and we needed him to do those things today. He's a winner, and I'm glad he's on our team."
It wasn't just his shooting, however, that pushed the Wildcats to the win. He finished with eight rebounds, six assists and five steals against just one turnover in 33 minutes on the floor. But he also had a ton of help as fellow freshmen Jaren Lewis (12 points and six rebounds), Hayden Farquhar (eight points and five rebounds) and Hayden Howell (four points, one rebound and one block) came off the bench in their best collective effort of the season.
Sophomore guard Isaiah Tripp had a big 3-pointer and layup in the first half, and played terrific defense on Lamar guard Nick Garth (19 points) in the final minutes of the game. And junior wing Jovan Crnic's all-around game was outstanding as he finished with seven points, five rebounds and seven assists - several of the breathtaking variety - in 22 minutes.
As in the Wildcats' win over Northwestern State earlier this month, Tripp and Farquhar seemed to spark the Wildcats in the first half. Tripp hit a 3-pointer to break a 6-6 tie with 14:34 to play in the first half, sparking a 15-1 run that pushed ACU's lead to 21-7 with 11:56 to play in the half.
After the 3-pointer on an assist from Franklin, Parker Wentz came up with a steal and fast-break layup on a feed from Crnic, and then Wentz hit a corner 3-pointer on a feed from Franklin, forcing Lamar head coach Tic Price to take a timeout. That stoppage, however, didn't stop ACU's offense as Farquhar hit a layup and then a 3-pointer before Crnic grabbed a defensive rebound and fired a perfect outlet pass to Tripp for a fast-break layup and a 21-7 lead with 11:56 left in the half.
Lamar got the ACU lead down to 34-29 with 2:01 to play in the first half before Franklin scored the final five points of the half on a layup and three free throws to push the Wildcats' advantage to 39-29 at the break.
The Wildcats had another big run early in the second half - sparked this time by Franklin, Crnic, Howell and Austin Cooke - to push the Wildcats' lead to 19 points. ACU led 45-36 with 17:52 left in the contest before a 15-5 run pushed the advantage to a comfortable 60-51 with 12:05 left.
Crnic got it started with two free throws and then an assist to Howell, whose jumper in the paint make it a 49-36 game. Crnic then hit a jumper and Howell followed with a jumper in the paint on a nice feed from Farquhar. Franklin had a dunk and then Cooke buried a 3-pointer and a layup to give his team a 19-poing lead with 12:05 left in the game. ACU's lead would not dip below seven points the rest of the way as they improved to 7-2 at home.
Lamar entered the contest leading the Southland in rebounds per game (42.1), first in rebounding margin (+4.4) and ranked fifth in the country in offensive rebounds (15.45). ACU, however, negated all of those advantages by grabbing 32 rebounds (to 34 for Lamar) and holding the Cardinals to just four offensive rebounds. Meanwhile, ACU's defense forced 17 turnovers (against just 10 for the Wildcats) and the Wildcats outscored Lamar 25-11 in points off turnovers.
The Wildcats won almost all of the "inside-the-numbers" stats, outscoring Lamar in the paint (39-38), outscoring them off turnovers (25-11), outscoring them on second-chance points (5-0), and outscoring them on the break (11-0). ACU also came up with 11 steals and shot 51.9 percent from the floor (28 of 54), including 40.9 percent from 3-point range (9 of 22).
"Lamar is very talented, but they've been struggling of late," Golding said. "They whipped us twice last season, especially when we played them in Garland. This game meant a lot to the six guys playing tonight who took those two losses last year. Lamar is the best rebounding team in our league, and we only got out-rebounded by two tonight, which shows how hard we competed. I'm very proud of my team for the way they played and competed."
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ABILENE - If ACU guard Jaylen Franklin can add a consistent outside shot to his deadly arsenal of inside-the-paint floaters, jumpers, leaners and layups, the rest of the Southland Conference might have to go back to the drawing board to figure out a way to stop the Wildcats' electrifying freshman.
Saturday afternoon at Moody Coliseum, he showed the first flashes that his work on his outside shot might be paying off by hitting the first three 3-pointers of his career, helping him score a game-high 27 points and propelling the Wildcats to an 80-71 win over Lamar in Southland Conference men's basketball action.
The win pushed ACU to 9-12 overall while evening its conference record at 4-4 and equaling the number of conference wins by the team for the entirety of the 2014-15 season. ACU will be back in action Tuesday at 7 p.m. when it hosts conference co-leader Houston Baptist (8-0 in league play) in the final game of the first half of conference play.
After scoring just 12 and two points, respectively, in the Wildcats' road losses at Incarnate Word and Sam Houston State as opposing defenses closed off the lane on him, Franklin unveiled a new part of his offensive repertoire against the Cardinals: a consistent outside jumper.
He nailed the first 3-pointer of his career with 16:44 left in the first half to give ACU a 4-3 lead, an advantage that the Wildcats would not relinquish the rest of the night. He hit another one with 18:56 left in the game to put ACU ahead 42-32, and then he buried a dagger 3-pointer with 2:27 to play to put the Wildcats ahead 74-61.
Franklin finished 8 for 11 from the field and 8 for 14 from the free throw line, but more importantly, was 3 for 4 from 3-point range, giving opponents something more to think about when guarding him.
"That's called being a winner," ACU head coach Joe Golding said of Franklin. "He does things that help us win games. He hits mid-range jumpers and 3-pointers in practice all the time, so this is nothing new for us who see him shoot every day. He can hit shots and make free throws when he needs to, and we needed him to do those things today. He's a winner, and I'm glad he's on our team."
It wasn't just his shooting, however, that pushed the Wildcats to the win. He finished with eight rebounds, six assists and five steals against just one turnover in 33 minutes on the floor. But he also had a ton of help as fellow freshmen Jaren Lewis (12 points and six rebounds), Hayden Farquhar (eight points and five rebounds) and Hayden Howell (four points, one rebound and one block) came off the bench in their best collective effort of the season.
Sophomore guard Isaiah Tripp had a big 3-pointer and layup in the first half, and played terrific defense on Lamar guard Nick Garth (19 points) in the final minutes of the game. And junior wing Jovan Crnic's all-around game was outstanding as he finished with seven points, five rebounds and seven assists - several of the breathtaking variety - in 22 minutes.
As in the Wildcats' win over Northwestern State earlier this month, Tripp and Farquhar seemed to spark the Wildcats in the first half. Tripp hit a 3-pointer to break a 6-6 tie with 14:34 to play in the first half, sparking a 15-1 run that pushed ACU's lead to 21-7 with 11:56 to play in the half.
After the 3-pointer on an assist from Franklin, Parker Wentz came up with a steal and fast-break layup on a feed from Crnic, and then Wentz hit a corner 3-pointer on a feed from Franklin, forcing Lamar head coach Tic Price to take a timeout. That stoppage, however, didn't stop ACU's offense as Farquhar hit a layup and then a 3-pointer before Crnic grabbed a defensive rebound and fired a perfect outlet pass to Tripp for a fast-break layup and a 21-7 lead with 11:56 left in the half.
Lamar got the ACU lead down to 34-29 with 2:01 to play in the first half before Franklin scored the final five points of the half on a layup and three free throws to push the Wildcats' advantage to 39-29 at the break.
The Wildcats had another big run early in the second half - sparked this time by Franklin, Crnic, Howell and Austin Cooke - to push the Wildcats' lead to 19 points. ACU led 45-36 with 17:52 left in the contest before a 15-5 run pushed the advantage to a comfortable 60-51 with 12:05 left.
Crnic got it started with two free throws and then an assist to Howell, whose jumper in the paint make it a 49-36 game. Crnic then hit a jumper and Howell followed with a jumper in the paint on a nice feed from Farquhar. Franklin had a dunk and then Cooke buried a 3-pointer and a layup to give his team a 19-poing lead with 12:05 left in the game. ACU's lead would not dip below seven points the rest of the way as they improved to 7-2 at home.
Lamar entered the contest leading the Southland in rebounds per game (42.1), first in rebounding margin (+4.4) and ranked fifth in the country in offensive rebounds (15.45). ACU, however, negated all of those advantages by grabbing 32 rebounds (to 34 for Lamar) and holding the Cardinals to just four offensive rebounds. Meanwhile, ACU's defense forced 17 turnovers (against just 10 for the Wildcats) and the Wildcats outscored Lamar 25-11 in points off turnovers.
The Wildcats won almost all of the "inside-the-numbers" stats, outscoring Lamar in the paint (39-38), outscoring them off turnovers (25-11), outscoring them on second-chance points (5-0), and outscoring them on the break (11-0). ACU also came up with 11 steals and shot 51.9 percent from the floor (28 of 54), including 40.9 percent from 3-point range (9 of 22).
"Lamar is very talented, but they've been struggling of late," Golding said. "They whipped us twice last season, especially when we played them in Garland. This game meant a lot to the six guys playing tonight who took those two losses last year. Lamar is the best rebounding team in our league, and we only got out-rebounded by two tonight, which shows how hard we competed. I'm very proud of my team for the way they played and competed."
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