By: by Scott Lipsky
Box Score Gallery Notes
Photos courtesy of Iowa State Athletics
AMES, Iowa- Kennesaw State trailed by 19 at the half and couldn’t overcome five Iowa State Cyclones scoring in double figures, as the Owls fell, 91-51, on Thanksgiving Eve at the Hilton Coliseum in front of a crowd of 11,237. Markeith Cummings led all scorers with 18 points.
Playing in their third game of the Global Sports Hy-Vee Challenge, the Owls (2-4) fell behind early, quickly allowing the Cyclones (5-0) to take an 11-point lead just four minutes into the game. The lead would grow to as many as 22 in the first half, on the strength of a 25-4 run over a period of 8:39 that gave first year head coach Fred Hoiberg's squad a 31-9 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining in the half. An 11-0 run by Iowa State over 2:32 to gave them a 48-27 lead with 59 seconds remaining in the first half before Kelvin McConnell made a driving layup in the closing seconds of the first session.
Head Coach Tony Ingle used a different starting lineup for the first time this season, replacing sophomore forward LaDaris Green with McConnell, who in the first five games had been the Owls most effective scorer off the bench.
Trailing, 48-29, coming out of the locker room, the Black and Gold were unable to help their cause offensively, shooting a total of 8-31 in the second half, including a stretch of 7:02 in which they failed to score while missing eight consecutive shots, during which time the Cyclones extended their lead to 36 points.
For the second consecutive game, the Owls were hurt extensively by second chance points and points off turnovers, allowing 16 and 20, respectively. The Black and Gold were also able to capitalize on offensive rebounding, scoring 15 second-chance points, including 11 in the second half. Cummings wowed the crowd on a few occasions in the second half, jumping into a crowd in the paint and putting back Owls misses.
Owls forward Artie Marine had a career nine points on the night in his 22 minutes of work as the first player off the bench for the Black and Gold.
Sophomore forward Aaron Anderson joined Cummings in double figures with 10 points, and also led the Owls with eight rebounds. Three Cyclones, Melvin Ejim, Jake Anderson and Diante Garrett, had 14 for the Cyclones, who clinched the Global Sports Hy-Vee Classic title with the win
tonight. Ejim led all rebounders with 12 rebounds.
The 40-point loss is the largest margin of defeat for Kennesaw State since they lost, 87-44, to Florida Gulf Coast on
Jan. 31, 2009, and allowed over 90 points for the time since gave up 91 to Jacksonville on Jan. 4 of last season.
The Black and Gold are back at it again on
Friday, when they visit Creighton for their final game of the Challenge. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CST.
