SAN ANTONIO – The University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team returns to the McDermott Center on campus to host one of the premier teams in the Southland Conference on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals tip off against Abilene Christian (20-5, 9-3) at 3 p.m. (CT) in the second game of a doubleheader. The UIW women's team plays ACU at 1 p.m. on Military Appreciation Day.
PROMOTION: MILITARY APPRECIATION DAY
UIW fans will enjoy a number of patriotic and competitive events related to the annual basketball Military Appreciation Day. The highlight will be swearing-in ceremonies at halftime for newly recruited enlistees. Military services will have information tables in the lobby, and there will be photo booths out front. A number of competitions will take place before the tipoff and during time outs. There will be a football toss contest, Navy trivia quizzes and an athletic skills challenge -- entitled "Average Joe vs. GI Joe" -- which will pit ROTC cadets against civilian students.
SERIES
UIW and ACU have met 17 times going back to both schools' Division 2 days. UIW leads 12-5 overall and 8-2 in SLC play. ACU won both games last year, 80-69 on Feb. 10 and 69-59 on Mar. 3. UIW last won, 89-75, on Mar. 4, 2017.
GAME PROFILE: THE CARDINALS
The Cardinals, beset with injuries and with a youthful roster, are seeking their first win since Jan. 5, when they beat Nicholls, 65-58. In many games they have challenged their opponents late in the game but have been unable to close out a win.
UIW suffered road losses on a recent three-game series against New Orleans, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Southeastern. In each of these games, UIW rallied to overcome significant deficits to close the score, or even to lead, later in the game.
- Against New Orleans on Feb. 2, UIW found itself down by 16 points during the first half. However, in the second half, the Cardinals stormed back to take one-point leads on two occasions before eventually losing, 89-72.
- Against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 9., the Cardinals fell behind by nine in the second half. They closed the deficit to two late in the game before falling, 70-62.
- On Wednesday night, Southeastern's Lions broke open a close game with a 16-4 run early in the second half. However, the Cardinals went on a 12-0 tear of their own to knot the score. With the scored tied with four and one-half minutes left, UIW could not hold off SLU, which prevailed, 70-64.
In Hammond, the Cardinals were led by senior
Charles Brown III, who enjoyed an almost perfect shooting night, sinking seven of eight shots from the floor and nine of nine free throws, to garner 23 points. Brown, who played all 40 minutes of that game, is the team's second-leading scorer with 266 points for an 11.1 average. He has hit 89.3 percent of his free throws this season.
Christian Peevy, the team's leading scorer with 294 points and a 13.4 average, is the NCAA's 23rd-ranked free throw shooter. Peevy scored 25 points against New Orleans and 22 against TAMU-CC. He snapped a six-game streak of scoring in double figures when he bucketed only eight points against Southeastern. However, he led the team in rebounds at SLU, collecting eight.
GAME PROFILE: THE WILDCATS
Abilene Christian stands in second place in SLC standings, trailing undefeated Sam Houston, to whom ACU lost a pair of close games --- one by three points and the other by five in overtime. The Wildcats have won eight of their last 10.
The Wildcats are led by a trio of veteran double-digit scorers, senior forward Jaren Lewis (13.2), junior center Jalone Friday (13.0) and junior guard Paxten Ricks (12.0).
ACU won its 20th game of the season Wednesday night, defeating Nicholls, 64-48.
CARDINALS RETAIN NO. 1 FREE THROW RANKING
After two games during which the Cardinals underperformed their season-long torrid pace from the free throw line, UIW returned to form Wednesday, sinking 14 of 15 foul shots against Southeastern.
The Cardinals continue to lead all Division I men's basketball teams in shooting percentage from the foul line, according to the latest NCAA statistics released Friday.
Of 351 D1 teams, UIW ranks first in free throw accuracy, hitting 80.5 percent of its foul shots. That puts UIW 0.9 percent ahead of second-place Hofstra. Sophomore forward
Christian Peevy is the 23rd-ranked free throw shooter in the land with regard to the percentage of made shots. Of 118 free throws taken this season, Peevy has missed only 14. That results in a percentage of 88.1.
Three other Cardinals,
Charles Brown III (89.3), Dwight Murray (88.1) and
Augustine Ene (86.5) are hitting more than four of five free throws, but do not qualify for an individual ranking because they do not meet the required number of made shots (2.5 times the number of games played). However, their totals combine to enhance the team's ranking.
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