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HOUSTON – HBU trailed by just four early in the second half but Abilene Christian was able to pull away as the Huskies' men's basketball team dropped an 82-68 decision on Wednesday evening inside Sharp Gym.
 
The Wildcats (16-10, 11-4 SLC) got out to a hot start with Payten Ricks knocking down consecutive three-pointers on their first two possessions for a 6-0 lead. HBU (3-21, 3-12 SLC) then worked its way back over the next four-plus minutes to tie things up at 13-13 on a Jalon Gates three with 14:48 on the clock.
 
ACU again got its lead up to six after another Ricks trey just over 10 minutes into the half but the Huskies answered with a Noah Thomasson jumper in the paint and a pair of Benjamin Uloko free throws to pull within 22-20. Later in the half, the Wildcats' lead got up to eight before the Huskies managed to cut their deficit to just six, 44-38, at the half.
 
Gates struck first in the second half to get within four with the Huskies again getting as close as four, 48-44, after a Philip McKenzie layup at the 16:04 mark. From there, ACU went on a 15-6 run and led by double-digits the rest of the way.
 
Junior Ian DuBose scored a team-high 18 points to go along with eight rebounds while also recording a pair of steals and two blocked shots. Uloko ended the night with 16 points, connecting on 10-of-11 from the charity stripe, and pulled down six rebounds. Gates added 11 for the Huskies and McKenzie finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
 
As a team, the Huskies shot 46.2 percent (18-of-39) for the game but struggled from three, connecting on just 2-of-10 while shooting 78.9 percent (30-of-38) from the free throw line. The Wildcats finished shooting 47.5 percent (29-of-61) for the game and were 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from three and 88.2 percent (15-of-17) from the line. HBU held a 32-28 advantage on the boards but committed 21 turnovers to the Wildcats' 11.
 
HBU will head north to Huntsville, Texas this Saturday, Feb. 22, for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off inside Johnson Coliseum as part of a double-header against Sam Houston State with the women playing at 3:00 p.m.