Gayman, ACU punch ticket to Big Dance

Photo by Matt Resnick | Daily Mail

It was a banner day for Nevada native Clay Gayman and the Abilene Christian men’s basketball team on Saturday. The Wildcats defeated New Orleans, 77-60, in the Southland Conference tournament championship game, earning an automatic NCAA tournament bid.

The title game triumph marks Abilene Christian’s first appearance in the NCAA tournament since the school made the jump to D-1 six seasons ago.

ACU (27-6) earned a 15-seed in the Midwest region, and is set to square off against the No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats (27-6). Kentucky, of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), was ranked No. 7 in the final regular-season Associated Press Top 25 Poll.

UK vs. ACU is set for a 6:10 p.m. (CST) tip off, with the opening-round clash taking place in Jacksonville, Florida. Kentucky opened as a heavy 22-point favorite. If ACU is able to play the role of Cinderella and spring a pair of upsets, they will advance to the Midwest Regional (March 29-31) at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.

Gayman, a heralded 6-foot-6 forward, was the Nevada High School (boys’) all-time scoring leader, with 1,976 career points. During his freshman campaign with ACU, Gayman (pictured above) has appeared in 30 games, averaging 2.1 points per contest.