No. 14 Abilene Christian Ready for Saturday’s Battle with No. 3 Texas in NCAA Tournament
Southland Conference Notes (PDF)
INDIANAPOLIS – Coming off a second-straight Southland Conference tournament title, Abilene Christian seeks to become the latest Cinderella story when the No. 14-seeded Wildcats take on No. 3 Texas in the first round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament at 8:50 p.m. CT Saturday inside Lucas Oil Stadium.
This marks the first meeting between the Lone Star State foes, despite being separated by just over 200 miles. ACU is making its second appearance in the event after falling in the first round to No. 2 Kentucky in 2019, while Texas prepares for its 35
th NCAA Tournament with a 35-37 record all-time.
With the program’s first tournament appearance in the rearview, the Wildcats have a more business-like approach to this year’s matchup.
“There’s definitely a different feel around this year’s team than there was a couple years ago,” head coach Joe Golding said in his pre-tournament press conference. “Two years ago, I think we went down to Jacksonville and took a vacation. We didn’t treat the game the way we should’ve treated the game. I just think our guys were in awe of the moment. It was too big.”
Then sophomores Kolton Kohl and Paul Hiepler, along with freshmen Damien Daniels, Joe Pleasant, Tobias Cameron and Clay Gayman, combined for just 56 minutes, nine rebounds, two assists and a single point in the loss to their blue-blooded fellow Wildcats. This time around, the group is looking to make a statement.
“There’s a lot more mature attitude around the locker room right now,” Golding said.
Kohl – a sparingly used big man that averaged 4.6 minutes a game in 2019 – viewed the first go-round as a turning point for his confidence. Since the loss to Kentucky, he is averaging 10.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting 53.9 percent from the field over the past two seasons.
As he prepares for battle in his final season, Kohl is making sure to not let the pressure affect the first-timers as it did to the veterans two years ago.
“There’s going to be more cameras than we’ve had throughout the season, but ultimately, we just have to stick to who we are,” Kohl said.
ACU has held its own when the pressure – and extra cameras – are on with a 51-44 loss on the road to Texas Tech, in which the Wildcats led with just under nine minutes to play, and a hard-fought 85-72 loss at Arkansas’ Bud Walton Arena.
In order to pull off the upset of the Longhorns, the Wildcats will need to lean on its elite, nationally ranked defense that paces Division I programs in turnover margin (+6.4) and turnovers forced (20.26) per game and ranks second in steals per game (9.9) and fifth in scoring defense (60.5).
Just before ACU tipped off in the 2021 Hercules Tires Southland Conference Basketball Tournament title game, the Longhorns were busy edging out Oklahoma State, 91-86, for the program’s first Big 12 Tournament championship. Later that night, the Wildcats punched their ticket into the Big Dance with a commanding 79-45 win over top-seeded Nicholls.
Saturday’s first-round contest will air on TruTV. Lisa Byington will have the call, along with analyst Steve Smith. Reporter Lauren Shehadi rounds out the crew.