# 2021–22 Abilene Christian Wildcats men's basketball team

The 2021–22 Abilene Christian Wildcats men's basketball team represented Abilene Christian University (ACU) in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by first-year head coach Brette Tanner, were first-year members of the Western Athletic Conference. Due to renovations at their usual home arena of Moody Coliseum, they played their home games on temporary stands and court set up on the indoor tennis courts of the Teague Special Events Center.
This season was the Wildcats' first season in the WAC. Abilene Christian and three other schools from Texas joined the conference on July 1, 2021 after leaving the Southland Conference.

## Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Wildcats finished the 2020–21 season 24–5, 13–2 in Southland play to finish in second place. They received a bye to the semifinals of the Southland tournament where they defeated Lamar and Nicholls to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 14 seed in the East region. There the Wildcats upset No. 9-ranked Texas in the first round. They lost to eventual Final Four participant UCLA in the second round.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference Regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 7:00 pm, PAC12 | | at Utah | L 56–70 | 0–1 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (2,355) Salt Lake City, UT |
| November 12, 2021* 7:00 pm, SECN+ | | at Texas A&M | L 80–81 $^{2OT}$ | 0–2 | Reed Arena (5,206) College Station, TX |
| November 16, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UT Arlington | W 80–71 $^{OT}$ | 1–2 | College Park Center (1,480) Arlington, TX |
| November 27, 2021* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | McMurry | W 89–54 | 2–2 | Teague Center (414) Abilene, TX |
| November 29, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Schreiner | W 88–47 | 3–2 | Teague Center (605) Abilene, TX |
| December 1, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Dallas | W 108–65 | 4–2 | Teague Center (598) Abilene, TX |
| December 4, 2021* 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Incarnate Word | W 98–65 | 5–2 | Teague Center (842) Abilene, TX |
| December 11, 2021* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Drexel | W 73–56 | 6–2 | Teague Center (603) Abilene, TX |
| December 15, 2021* 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Cal State Bakersfield | W 69–59 | 7–2 | Teague Center (513) Abilene, TX |
| December 19, 2021* 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Howard Payne | W 112–41 | 8–2 | Teague Center (1,000) Abilene, TX |
| December 22, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Longwood | W 74–58 | 9–2 | Teague Center (474) Abilene, TX |
| WAC conference season ||||||
| December 30, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Utah Valley | W 80–76 | 10–2 (1–0) | UCCU Center (1,472) Orem, UT |
| January 1, 2022 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Dixie State | W 64–50 | 11–2 (2–0) | Burns Arena (719) St. George, UT |
| January 6, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Stephen F. Austin | L 58–64 | 11–3 (2–1) | Teague Center (807) Abilene, TX |
| January 8, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Sam Houston State | L 63–65 | 11–4 (2–2) | Teague Center (1,098) Abilene, TX |
| January 13, 2022 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Grand Canyon | L 68–95 | 11–5 (2–3) | GCU Arena (6,815) Phoenix, AZ |
| January 15, 2022 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at New Mexico State | L 63–77 | 11–6 (2–4) | Pan American Center (5,014) Las Cruces, NM |
| January 20, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Seattle | L 62–72 | 11–7 (2–5) | Teague Center (1,179) Abilene, TX |
| January 22, 2022 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | California Baptist | W 77–68 | 12–7 (3–5) | Teague Center (726) Abilene, TX |
| January 26, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Texas–Rio Grande Valley | W 87–85 | 13–7 (4–5) | UTRGV Fieldhouse (713) Edinburg, TX |
| January 29, 2022 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Lamar | W 85–82 | 14–7 (5–5) | Montagne Center (2,487) Beaumont, TX |
| February 2, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Chicago State | W 77–73 | 15–7 (6–5) | Teague Center (444) Abilene, TX |
| February 5, 2022 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Texas–Rio Grande Valley | W 83–66 | 16–7 (7–5) | Teague Center (1,088) Abilene, TX |
| February 12, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Tarleton State | W 77–63 | 17–7 (8–5) | Wisdom Gymnasium (2,884) Stephenville, TX |
| February 17, 2022 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Sam Houston State | L 71–75 $^{OT}$ | 17–8 (8–6) | Johnson Coliseum (382) Huntsville, TX |
| February 24, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Lamar | W 77–42 | 18–8 (9–6) | Teague Center (928) Abilene, TX |
| February 26, 2022 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Stephen F. Austin | L 71–73 | 18–9 (9–7) | William R. Johnson Coliseum (2,580) Nacogdoches, TX |
| March 3, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Dixie State | W 80–64 | 19–9 (10–7) | Teague Center (829) Abilene, TX |
| March 5, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Tarleton State | W 61–56 | 20–9 (11–7) | Teague Center (1,213) Abilene, TX |
| WAC tournament ||||||
| March 9, 2022 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | (6) | vs. (7) Utah Valley Second round | W 82–74 | 21–9 | Orleans Arena (1,136) Paradise, NV |
| March 10, 2022 8:30 pm, ESPN+ | (6) | vs. (3) Stephen F. Austin Third round | W 76–62 | 22–9 | Orleans Arena (2,623) Paradise, NV |
| March 11, 2022 8:30 pm, ESPN+ | (6) | vs. (2) Seattle Semifinals | W 78–76 | 23–9 | Orleans Arena (2,730) Paradise, NV |
| March 12, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPNU | (6) | vs. (1) New Mexico State Championship | L 52–66 | 23–10 | Orleans Arena (3,697) Paradise, NV |
| CBI ||||||
| March 20, 2022 6:00 pm, FloHoops | (6) | vs. (11) Troy First Round | W 82–70 | 24–10 | Ocean Center (762) Daytona Beach, FL |
| March 21, 2022 6:30 pm, FloHoops | (6) | vs. (3) Ohio Quarterfinals | W 91–86 | 25–10 | Ocean Center (706) Daytona Beach, FL |
| March 22, 2022 8:30 pm, ESPN2 | (6) | vs. (2) Middle Tennessee Semifinals | L 69–85 | 25–11 | Ocean Center (633) Daytona Beach, FL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
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