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ABILENE, Texas – The UIW men's basketball team will look for the season sweep of Abilene Christian when the two teams square off on Wednesday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m. from Moody Coliseum.
 
OPENING TIP
 
UIW leads the all-time series, 11-3, and defeated ACU, 82-79, on January 26 this season. The last Wildcat win was 82-68 on February 17, 2013, in San Antonio.
 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
 
2016-17 Record: 13-14 (7-9 SLC)
Last Game: W 84-81 at Sam Houston (2/25)
Head Coach: Joe Golding
Key Players:
#21 Jalone Friday – 13.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 34 blks, 12 stls, 52.3 FG%
#1 Jaren Lewis – 13.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 57 asts, 11 blks, 51 stls
#0 Jaylen Franklin – 11.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 102 asts, 44 stls, 8 blks
Summary: ACU defeated Sam Houston on the road, 84-81, on Saturday and has now won three of the last four games.
 
On the season, Jalone Friday is 11th in the SLC with 13.7 points per game, while Jaren Lewis is 14th with 13.6. Lewis' 52.3 field-goal percentage ranks him 5th in the conference. Franklin's 4.4 assists per game rank him 5th, while he is T-2nd in assist-to-turnover ratio with 1.8. As a team, the Wildcats are 8th with a -1.3 scoring margin (69.0-70.4) and 10th with a -3.5 rebounding margin (31.6-35.1).
 
THE CARDINAL FILE
 
2016-17 Record: 11-16 (6-10 SLC)
Last Game: L 77-68 vs. Nicholls (2/23)
Head Coach: Ken Burmeister (11th season)
Key Players:
#1 Jalin Hart – 16.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 127 asts, 39 stls, 8 blks, 52.4 FG%
#3 Simi Socks – 15.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 31 asts, 13 blks, 24 stls, 84.1 FT%
#41 Shawn Johnson – 14.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 41 asts, 42 blks, 35 stls, 41.4 3PT%
Summary: After holding Sam Houston to a conference season-low 53 points last Saturday, UIW was no match for Nicholls' Liam Thomas - who registered a triple-double (14pts, 13rbs, 10blks) and leads the nation in blocks per game - as the Colonels defeated the Cardinals, 77-68, on Thursday.
 
Jalin Hart, who is a strong candidate for the SLC's Newcomer of the Year, is 5th in the conference - and leads all freshmen and newcomers - with 16.1 points per game. He is 3rd with a 52.7 field-goal percentage, leads the league with a 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio, is T-3rd with 4.7 assists per game, and is T-15th with 1.4 steals per game. Simi Socks is 6th in the SLC with 15.9 points per game, while Shawn Johnson's 13.7 ranks him 13th. Johnson is 9th with 7.0 rebounds per contest, 4th with 2.3 made 3-pointers per game, and 5th with 1.6 blocked shots per game. Socks is 3rd in the conference with a 84.3 free-throw percentage. As a team, the Cardinals are 3rd in scoring offense (76.2), but 10th in scoring defense (79.0). UIW is 2nd with a 37.8 three-point percentage and 11th with a -4.2 rebounding margin (34.3-38.4).
 
UP NEXT
 
UIW concludes the season at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday, March 4 at 1:30 p.m.
 
For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics visit uiwcardinals.com. Be sure to follow UIW Athletics on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook at UIW Athletics.