By: by Scott Lipsky
Watch Live Listen Live
Live Stats Game Notes
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The long wait is over, as the Kennesaw State Owls will end their 15-day hiatus on Saturday evening, traveling to the midwest to take on the Southern Illinois Edwardsville Cougars. The Owls will be looking to snap a five-game losing streak.
“We’ve had some time off to work on some things, but we haven’t had as much of an opportunity as you’d think to practice, since we have had final exams and we wanted to get our players healthy,” Owls head coach Tony Ingle said. “I’m excited to have the players on the court for the next day or two leading up to Saturday, and then seeing where their mental toughness and intensity levels are since we haven’t had a game in quite a bit.”
The Owls (2-5) are still looking for their first victory since their Nov. 15 performance against Georgia Tech that ended in an 80-63 win and turned heads all over the basketball landscape. Since then, however, the squad has struggled to duplicate what they showed they are capable of, shooting a collective 37.9 percent from the floor and having an average rebounding margin of -4.6 during their slide. Most recently, a two-game trip to America’s heartland over Thanksgiving weekend ended with a, 75-57, defeat at the hands of Creighton.
Junior guard Spencer Dixon has been solid throughout the season, and that’s continued through the team’s struggles. During their last five games, which included the four-game Global Sports Hy-Vee Challenge, the Marietta, Ga. native has put up 16.8 points per game, including a pair of 23 point efforts at Alabama State on Nov. 20 and at home against Northern Arizona. His performance as of late hasn’t gone unnoticed, as he was named to the Challenge’s All-Tournament team.
Looking to improve their results on the glass, the Owls will turn to senior Matt Heramb, who makes his 2010-11 debut on Saturday. The 6-foot-9 forward, who played his first season with the Owls last year after beginning his collegiate career at Auburn, played in 32 of 33 games during the 2009-10 campaign, averaging 4.3 points and 3.4 rebounds per contest. Adding his experience to the frontcourt will be truly beneficial for the Black and Gold, who have primarily gone with freshman Andrew Osemhen and sophomores Aaron Anderson and LaDaris Green.
“Matt gives us another big body and he’s a good shooter, rebounder and passer,” Ingle said. “He’s been out of commission this fall, and now that he’s back, he provides this young team with some experience and veteran know-how, which will be really helpful for us.”
With a victory over the Cougars (1-9) on Saturday evening, the Black and Gold would achieve another program first. Having defeated them last season in Kennesaw, 71-60 on Jan. 12, the Owls could make SIUE their first non-conference Division I opponent that they’ve defeated in consecutive seasons.
Several Owls put up big numbers that night, as Markeith Cummings posted 20 points along with Kurtis Woods, and Green had a career-high 18 rebounds to go along with a career-high matching four blocks to help Kennesaw State snap a four-game skid.
The Cougars had three players score in double-figures that evening, but none of them will suit up on Saturday evening. Their leading scorer with 21 points in last year’s meeting, forward Mark Yelovich, will miss the rest of this season after playing in just one game, while Aamir McCleary (13 points) and Denycko Bowles (11) are no longer on the team. Senior guard Cody Rincker is the leading scorer from last year’s game that the Owls will see on Saturday, having scored nine points in last year’s scuffle.
SIUE is coached by fourth-year head-man Lennox Forrester. Their program is still in the midst of re-classifying to NCAA Division I, a process the Owls just completed prior to the 2009-10 season. They most recently fell on the road to Loyola-Chicago, 78-50, on Wednesday evening to drop their sixth straight contest. Like the Owls, they have struggled on the glass, being out-rebounded by their opponents this season by an average of 9.8 per game. Three of their active players are averaging double figures in scoring this season, led by junior guard Corey Wickware at 11.4 points per game.
Tip-off for Saturday’s contest is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST. Talk 920 AM will have all of the action, with the play-by-play provided by the voice of the Owls, Craig Corbin, and Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Art Eckman providing the color analysis. Fans can also listen to the broadcast by visiting www.talk920.com. Live stats will also be available. Fans who would like to watch the game can do so by visiting www.siuetv.com.
