Abilene Christian at Sam Houston State, 9:30 PM Eastern, espn+
The Under the Radar Game of the Day takes us to Huntsville, Texas this evening for a huge matchup at the top of the Southland standings. Abilene Christian is 3-0 so far in Southland play and 11-2 overall while host Sam Houston State is 5-0 in conference play and 11-5 overall. Depending on what Stephen F Austin (4-0 in conference) does tonight, the winner of this game has a chance to be in sole possession of first place tomorrow morning.
Abilene Christian has the best metrics of any Southland team so far this year, sitting at 73 in the NET entering play tonight. The Wildcats are led by Coryon Mason and Kolton Kohl, both of whom are averaging double-digits in scoring, and Joe Pleasant, the team’s top rebounder and third leading scorer. However, the key for the Wildcats is defense, as they enter the game with the nation’s best turnover margin and fourth best scoring defense, only allowing 57.3 points per game.
Sam Houston State is led by guard Zach Nutall, the team’s top scorer (20.4 points per game) and rebounder (5.5 per game). Nutall has already won Southland Player of the Week honors twice this season, including last week when he passed the career 1000 point scoring mark during a 33 point, 9 rebound effort against Houston Baptist. The Bearkats will need Nutall to find a way to score big against ACU’s tough defense if they want to win the game and post a claim at being the top team in the conference this year.