KATY – Abilene Christian is going dancing – again.
The Wildcats blasted Nicholls State 79-45 to defend their Southland Conference men’s basketball tournament title Saturday night at the Merrell Center.
Damien Daniels and Joe Pleasant scored 13 points each, while Coryon Mason and Reggie Miller added 11 apiece. Miller finished with a double-double, pulling down 10 rebounds as the Wildcats (23-4) nabbed the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
“Just really proud of our guys, man,” ACU coach Joe Golding said. “I think we came down here and for 80 minutes we really defended, we really guarded. That’s our identity. That’s who we are. Offensively, we were able to make some shots, shared the basketball. There were sometimes where we’ve got to clean some stuff up.
“But, I’m just super proud of this group. This group has been special from the start. This year has been tough for a lot of different reasons. Man, this group has made this year as fun as any year I’ve been part of.”
Daniels, who provided an offensive spark, while pushing the offense up court at a fast paced, was named the tournament MVP. Pleasant, Miller and San Angelo Central grad Kolton Kohl joined Daniels on the all-tournament team.
“Damien did some good things tonight,” Pleasant said. “I know what Damien’s capable of. He can make plays with his shots. We’re all very confident in him and the things he showed tonight. He just did out there what he’s capable of.”
Golding also praised Miller, who has been the catalyst for one of the nation’s best defensive teams.
“This dude right here, he’s been waiting for the team to be his team, and this is Reggie Miller’s team,” Golding said. “He’s the heartbeat and soul of this team. He’s a winner, man. I’m a good coach because of these two. It’s a happy moment for our team, our program, our university.”
Ty Gordon led Nicholls (18-7) with 16 points, and Kevin Johnson had 11 as the top-seeded Colonels had their eight-game win streak snapped by the No. 2 seed Wildcats. Nicholls had won 16 of its last 17 games before Saturday’s loss.
ACU won the conference tournament in 2019 to earn its first trip to the Division I NCAA men’s basketball tournament. There was no tournament last season because of COVID-19.
Another fast start
Just like in Friday’s 93-71 victory over Lamar in the tournament semifinals, ACU got off to a quick start and never trailed in remaining undefeated at the tournament in their last two trips. The Wildcats had a 13-5 lead in the first five minutes and pushed it to 11 (21-10) on Kolton Kohl’s jumper with 11:26 left in the half. ACU led 32-14, before the Colonels made a run, whittling the lead down to five (36-31) at halftime.
So, what did Golding tell his team at halftime?
“Quit turning the ball over,” Golding said about the team’s sloppy finish to the first half.
Added Pleasant: “We had to get back to us. Basketball is a game of runs. We had to make sure we got back to us, lock in defensively, as coach said, take care of the ball and take the right shots. Take shots that we practice and work on. Just lock in defensively, get some stops.”
The Wildcats opened the second half with a 13-2 run, and Nicholls never threatened again – scoring just 14 points in the second half on 6 of 33 shooting.
Validation for 'Cats
This was one of the worst Division I programs in the nation when ACU first made the jump from Division II the 2013-14 season. But now the Wildcats have posted three consecutive 20-win seasons, winning 70 games in that span, and won the league tournament two of the last three years they’ve been able to play in Katy.
Golding said his team has proven that 2018-19 season was no fluke with its last two seasons.
“I thought last year we validated it,” Golding said. “It was hard for (Payten) Ricks, Trey (Lenox) and (Hayden) Howell. Those were the three (seniors) that didn’t get a chance to play. I think this year validated us also. We’re building a real program. It has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with these two guys (Pleasant and Miller, who joined him on the post-game podium) and that locker room. We have a special group, special dudes that work hard. They let us coach them really, really hard, and we love on them harder off the floor. It’s just special. We’ve got something unique going here, and it’s a lot of fun to be a part of.”
Now, ACU will get a chance to once again get a taste of March Madness, although it will be different this year. All games will be played in Indiana, most in Indianapolis, in effort to create a safe bubble in the COVID-19 era.
“We have no idea what it’s going to look like down there,” Golding said. “But we’re going to get to experience it. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to do this with everything going on. So, it will something these kids will be able to look back on when it’s talked about and say there were a part of that.”
The NCAA will announce its 68-team field and matchups at 5 p.m. Sunday. The Wildcats drew No. 2 Kentucky in the 2019 NCAA Tournament and lost that first-round game 79-44 in Jacksonville, Florida.
This is ACU’s last season in the Southland Conference. The school, along with Southland members Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston and Lamar, will play in the Western Athletic Conference next season.
“I just want to thank the Southland Conference,” Golding said. “They gave us the opportunity to go Division I basketball six or seven years ago, whatever it was, and ACU was just a little old DII school out in West Texas. They gave us the opportunity to be a member of this league. We take a lot of pride in that. We will play with heart with the Southland Conference across our chest. … They gave our university to put ourselves on the map, and we’re forever indebted to the Southland Conference.”
Joey D. Richards covers Abilene high schools and colleges, Big Country schools and other local sports. Follow him at Twitter at ARN_Joey. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.
Southland Conference Basketball Tournament
At Merrell Center, Katy
MEN
Tuesday’s Games
Game 1 – No. 8 Southeastern Louisiana 71, No. 9 McNeese 68
Game 2 – No. 10 Houston Baptist 80, No. 7 Incarnate Word 68
Wednesday’s Games
Game 3 – No. 5 New Orleans 80, No. 8 Southeastern Louisiana 63
Game 4 – No. 6 Lamar 62, No. 10 Houston Baptist 52
Thursday’s Games
Game 5 – No. 4 Northwestern State 82, No. 5 New Orleans 79
Game 6 – No. 6 Lamar 70, No. 3 Sam Houston 69
Friday’s Games
Semifinals
Game 7 – No. 1 Nicholls 88, No. 4 Northwestern State 76
Game 8 – No. 2 Abilene Christian 93, No. 6 Lamar 71
Saturday’s Game
Championship
Game 9 – No. 2 Abilene Christian 79, No. 1 Nicholls 45
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