By: by Scott Lipsky
Box Score Notes
LARAMIE, Wyo. – The Kennesaw State Owls took a two-point lead into the second half, but fell short at the end of the evening, dropping a, 68-55, decision to the Wyoming Cowboys on Tuesday evening at the Arena-Auditorium on the campus of the University of Wyoming. Markeith Cummings led the Owls with 14 points.
Kennesaw State (2-10, 0-8 road), who was playing in their seventh consecutive road game, last led with 15:53 remaining in the game, and were up, 38-36, when Wyoming (7-7, 7-2) embarked on a 10-0 run over the next 3:37 to take an eight point lead, and would not trail the rest of the way.
“I felt like we really came out ready to play. After all of the traveling and coming out here right after the holidays, I really thought we did some things well,” Owls head coach Tony Ingle said. “Our defense was pretty good tonight, and so was our rebounding. There were some points during the game in which we didn’t execute the way we should have offensively, and that led to some unnecessary turnovers and too many easy baskets. All in all, we’re disappointed with the result, but we competed very well throughout the evening.”
Indeed, it was turnovers that proved costly to the Black and Gold on Tuesday evening, committing 16 during the course of the game, after turning it over just 18 times in the last two contests combined. In total, the Cowboys had 21 points off turnovers, largely responsible for their 18 fast break points on the night.
Despite the outcome, the Owls were right in the thick of things until the very end. Trailing, 50-44, with 6:48 left in the game, senior Kelvin McConnell, who was the other Owl in double figures on Tuesday evening with 10 points, took a pass from Spencer Dixon on the left side of the three-point arc and drilled his second shot from downtown on the evening to make it a three-point game.
That was as close as the Black and Gold would get the rest of the way, however. The Cowboys came right down the court and re-gained their six point lead, Francisco Cruz hitting a three from the right corner. Cruz would then make a pair of free throws to extend the lead from eight.
The knockout blow would come quickly after, when Wyoming senior forward Djibril Thiam missed a pair of free throws, but was able to grab the offensive rebound off the second miss, gather himself underneath the basket, and dunk the ball to make it an 11-point game with 3:08 remaining.
The Owls were able to jump out in front early thanks to some efficient offense from their frontcourt. Their three starting forwards in the first half, LaDaris Green, Aaron Anderson and Andrew Osemhen combined to go 8-for-13 in the first half, thanks in large part to some crisp passing into the paint. Up 13-10 in the early going, McConnell was able to find Osemhen when he threaded a needle with an over the shoulder pass to the freshman, who finished the play underneath the basket with an emphatic, two-handed slam.
Green would show off his passing skills, as well, shortly after, lobbing the ball over a Wyoming defender where Anderson was waiting in the paint and was able to finish to make it 23-17 Owls with 6:52 left in the first half. Down 31-29 with 26 seconds left in the half, McConnell was at it again towards the end of the half, capping off a few passes around the perimeter with a bullet pass to Green, who finished the play with a layup to tie the game at 31. He would give the team their first halftime lead since Dec. 11 at SIU Edwardsville when he scooped up the ball after a broken play and softly connected on an eight-foot floater as the buzzer sounded to make it 33-31, Owls, at intermission.
McConnell, along with backcourt mate Spencer Dixon, would struggle from the floor throughout the evening, however, combining to shoot 6-for-27 from the field.
“At the end, it’s hard to come out on top when your two best shooters struggle from the floor they way they did,” Ingle said. “On the whole, I think we’ve found some of the answers we’ve been searching for, and we should be ready to go at home next week.”
Wyoming was led by Desmar Jackson, who had 21 points to lead all scorers and was one of four Cowboys to score in double figures.
The Owls return home on Monday, Jan. 3, after seven consecutive road games, hosting USC Upstate at the KSU Convocation Center at 7:30 p.m.
