Feb. 27, 2008

Box Score

CANYON, Texas - The Buffs remain one of the country's hottest teams, clinching the Lone Star Conference South Division title and winning for the 13th time in their last 14 contests, by defeating Abilene Christian by an 82-77 margin in front of 2,091 fans at the First Unite Bank Center.

WT finishes the regular season with a 21-6 overall record and a league-best 11-1 mark in LSC South Division play.

Senior guard Robert Lee scored 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field and added a team-high seven rebounds. Wednesday night marks the third time the Fort Worth, Texas, native has cracked the 30-point plateau this season. Fellow senior Chris Hinz also reached double-figures with 12 points and junior point guard Kyle Shields recorded 11 points.

Junior Keon Grant turned it up from long distance, making three three-point field goals in the contest to share the lead in that category with Lee.

The Buffs got the game off to a hot start, scoring the first two points of the game on a dunk by Robert Lee, who, along with the Buffs' four other seniors - Pierre Barlow, Tyler Cooper, Andre Hill and Chris Hinz - was honored before the game as part of senior day.

The home lead stretched to three as Grant nailed a three-point field goal on the Buffs' next trip down the court. The 5-3 advantage would be the last WT would hold until the 13:47 mark, when a three-pointer by Lee put the Buffs up by one at 13-12.

ACU would retake the lead with consecutive baskets and see its lead reach as many as six on several occasions, but they could not pull away from the Buffs. WT was finally able to regain the lead, 31-29, with 2:37 to play on a three-point play by Barlow who converted a free throw after being fouled on a lay-up.

A flurry in the final few moments of the half saw the Buffs take a one-point lead into halftime, 36-36. After the first stanza, Lee led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor; in the period, WT shot 12-of-28 from the floor (42.9%) while the `Cats shot 34.5% (10-of-29).

The second half saw ACU build an eight-point lead at 52-44, its largest of the second half, on a lay-up by Sencanski with 13:57 to go in the game. The Buffs went on an 11-4 run to cut the Wildcat lead to just one point on a three-pointer by Lee at the 10:52 mark, but ACU recovered to rebuild its lead to seven points with 5:23 to play.

WT fought back as Cooper tied the game at 75-75 with 2:23 on the clock, followed by a pair of free throws by Hinz that gave the Buffs a 77-75 advantage.

ACU got a pair of free throws from Corwin Ragland with just 42 seconds to play to cut the WT lead to only two, 81-77, but on the next trip down the court, Hinz followed a Lee miss with a big rebound and put back, while also drawing a foul. The subsequent free throw made it a two possession game at 82-77 with just 24 ticks on the clock.

Down the stretch, the Buffs made eight of their last 10 shots and out scored the `Cats 23-12.

Wednesday's game concludes the regular season for the Buffs and they will now await the quarterfinal round of the 2008 Lone Star Conference Basketball Championships, which will take place in Bartlesville, Okla., on March 5-9.

The final seedings for the tournament will be announced after Saturday's final round of divisional games, but the Buffs first contest at the event will be on Wednesday, March 5, at 2:30 p.m. from Bruin Field House.