Southland Conference The Favorite
Abilene Christian (13-2, 21-4): Joe Golding has steadily been molding the ACU Wildcats into one of the conference’s best teams over his 10 years, but this may just be his best work.
The Wildcats have built an impressive resume at 13-2 in conference, and their two non-conference losses were competitive ones to now-ranked Texas Tech and Arkansas. Most of his wins this season have been convincing, and save for a loss to Central Arkansas, the Wildcats were potentially a decent win away from having a real case at an at large bid.
Currently at 97 in KenPom, they are nearly 80 spots higher than the next-highest Southland member (Sam Houston State). Their success starts on the defensive end; the Wildcats are ranked 37th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency. Golding preaches an aggressive defensive strategy and it shows in the statistics. They force the most turnovers in the conference (and 11th highest in the nation) at 20.6 per game, and rank
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2021/02/28 12:52 CONWAY, Ark. (AP) Rylan Bergersen had a career-high 26 points, and Central Arkansas ended its 10-game losing streak with a 84-82 victory over Abilene Christian 84-82 on Saturday. Eddy Kayouloud split a pair of free throws for the Bears to cap the scoring with 10 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Rylan Bergersen blocked Damien Daniels jumper and Joe Pleasant couldn t connect on a layup at the buzzer. Jared Chatham added 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Bears (4-17, 3-10 Southland Conference). Kayouloud had 13 points and eight rebounds. Khaleem Bennett added 11 points. Kolton Kohl scored a season-high 21 points for the Wildcats (19-4, 11-2), who ended an eight-game winning streak. Pleasant added 16 points and Coryon Mason had 13. Reggie Miller had a career-high 11 assists plus six points.
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