Wildcats Conclude Road Swing at Baylor – Abilene Christian University Athletics

WACO — The ACU Wildcats wrap up a six-game road swing Monday night when they make their first trip to the Foster Pavilion to take on the 15th-ranked Baylor Bears.
 
Tipoff is at 7 p.m., and the game is broadcast on CBS Sports Network and the radio on 101.7 FM The Patriot.
 
The Wildcats are 3-2 on this road swing, playing games in Georgia, Montana, Nebraska, and New Mexico. They are riding a modest two-game winning streak going into Monday’s game at Baylor, having won over Nebraska-Omaha (71-55) and New Mexico State (78-70).
 
ACU and Baylor haven’t met in a regular season game since Dec. 5, 1972, and the Bears came away with a 78-73 victory. ACU’s last win came in November 1957 when the Wildcats beat the Bears 82-66. Baylor leads the all-time series, 4-3-1.
 
LAST GAME: ACU shot better than 70 percent from the floor and lived at the free throw line in the second half Wednesday night as the Wildcats dominated the final 20 minutes in a 78-70 win over New Mexico State at the Pan American Center. ACU trailed 30-27 at halftime but opened the second half on a 19-7 run that was sparked by Hunter Jack Madden, who hit three 3-pointers in the run, and one turned into a four-point play when he was fouled on the third of those three 3-pointers. Madden’s 3-pointer at the 16:28 mark gave the Wildcats a 38-36 lead, and they would not trail again. Madden led all scorers with 24 points on 6 of 10 shooting (5 of 8 from 3-point range), while Quion Williams had 20 points, eight rebounds, and three assists in 31 hard-working minutes. Bettiol added 16 points and four rebounds for the Wildcats.
 
A TASTE OF ITALY: ACU junior forward Leonardo Bettiol has scored at least 16 points in each game of the five games on ACU’s current road swing: 18 at Kennesaw State, 17 vs. Southern Miss, 18 at Montana State, 19 at Nebraska-Omaha, and 16 at New Mexico State. He leads the Wildcats in scoring at 15.0 ppg.
 
JACK OF ALL TRADES: Oklahoma State transfer Quion Williams has been everything head coach Brette Tanner and his staff were hoping for, as he’s been the Wildcats’ best all-around player. He is second in scoring (14.1 points per game) and the team’s leading rebounder (5.3 rpg).  He’s second on the team in assists with 25 (one behind team leader Rich Smith), tied for fourth with eight steals, and tied with Ma’Shy Hill for the team lead in blocks with five.
 
DIALING IT UP FROM LONG RANGE: Hunter Jack Madden, a 6-2 senior guard from Sydney, Australia, is one of the top 3-point shooters in the Western Athletic Conference, hitting 40.8 percent of his shots from 3-point range (20 of 49). He is shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc (10 of 25) on the current five-game road swing, including hitting 5 of 8 against New Mexico State.
 
SCOUTING BAYLOR
 
ABOUT BAYLOR: Baylor head coach Scott Drew is in his 22nd season as the Bears’ head coach and carries a 451-247 record into Monday night’s game. The Bears have won 20 or more games in 14 of the last 16 seasons and won the NCAA national championship in 2021. Drew also led his team to the Elite Eight in 2010 and 2012 and the 2013 NIT championship.
 
Team Notes
• The Bears are led by one of the best inside players in college basketball the last three seasons in 6-7 transfer forward Norchad Omier, who leads the team in scoring (!5.6 ppg) and rebounding (10.0 rpg). Omier led the Miami Hurricanes to the NCAA Final Four in 2023 and was one of the best interior players in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
• Freshman guard Robert O. Wright III was one of the top high school players in the country last year at Montverde Academy in Pennsylvania, where he was teammates with Duke freshman Cooper Flagg. Wright is averaging 131 points and 4.6 assists per game.
• Senior guard Jayden Nunn is averaging 12.3 ppg and is shooting 48.9 percent from 3-point range (23 of 47).
• Graduate guard Jeremy Roach (Duke) is averaging 12.8 points and 4.1 assists per game, and freshman guard VJ Edgecombe is averaging 11.0 ppg.
• Baylor is 3-0 this season against former or current ACU conference opponents Sam Houston State, Tarleton State, and New Orleans. The Bears beat the Bearkats 104-67 on Nov. 12, defeated Tarleton State 104-41 on Nov. 17, and New Orleans 91-60 on Nov. 27.
• The Bears are 2-3 against Top-25 opponents this year with wins over Arkansas (72-67) and St. John’s (99-98 in double-overtime) and losses against Gonzaga (101-63 in the season-opener on Nov. 4), Tennessee (77-62), and UConn (76-72 last Wednesday in Storrs, Connecticut).