By: by Scott Lipsky
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KENNESAW, Ga. – The wait is over for Owls fans, as the Kennesaw State men’s basketball team returns to the KSU Convocation Center on Monday night, when they take on the USC Upstate Spartans at 7:30 p.m.
The Owls (2-10, 0-2 A-Sun) take to the court in front of their home crowd on Monday night for the first time since Nov. 22, after playing seven consecutive games on their opponent’s home floor, a program record, and traveling 7,873 miles in the process. The span of 41 days between home games during the season is also a program record. For Owls forward LaDaris Green, getting back to playing host is a welcome respite from all of the travel.
“Being at home will definitely be a nice change,” Green said. “After all of these games on the road, it will be refreshing to have our home crowd behind us cheering us on.”
Owls head coach Tony Ingle echoed that sentiment on Sunday.
"I've felt like I have been clicking my heels for awhile now, saying, "I want to come home, I want to come home," Ingle said. "I think a lot of the players have felt the same way, so it will be great to get out there in front of our home crowd and give them a good performance."
The Black and Gold are looking to re-capture the magic that they were able to use on their home floor against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, when a raucous home crowd helped them to an, 80-63, victory. They have not won since then, dropping 10 in a row, but having shown signs of breaking out of their slump in the past several games. They led at the half in their last game at Wyoming on Dec. 28, staying out in front until the Cowboys took the lead for good with 15:53 left in the contest.
They also out-rebounded Wyoming, 38-34, the first time in eight games that they won the battle of the boards. In each of their three previous games, visits to Belmont, Lipscomb and Fordham, they made seven or more three-point baskets after having made just 12 in the three prior contests.
“Despite all of the losses, playing so many road games in a row has helped us to come together as a team,” Green commented. “We’re closer to one another now after all of the traveling, and we understand each other’s games better. There are a lot of positives that can be taken from playing on the road as much as we have.”
As with most teams, head coach Tony Ingle’s squad has seen some major differences in many of their team statistics at home as opposed to on the road. Notably, the Owls have shot significantly better in front of their home crowd, at a rate of 43.8 percent, as opposed to just 38.7 percent on the road. Opponents are also shooting just 42.9 percent in front of the Owls faithful, while making 48.4 percent of their shots when their home crowd is cheering them on.
USC Upstate (2-10, 1-1 A-Sun) will also be looking snap a slide, having dropped their last four games. They most recently fell to Virginia Tech, 64-53. As the Owls have, despite all of the losses, the Spartans have tested themselves against some top competition during the non-conference portion of their schedule. Six of their 10 games this season again teams not in the Atlantic Sun Conference have come from the SEC, ACC and Big Ten. Their two victories have come against UNC Asheville and East Tennessee State, back-to-back triumphs on Nov. 29 and Dec. 5.
The Spartans have struggled to score this season, and currently sit in last place in the A-Sun in scoring at 57.3 points per game. While they return three starters from last year’s squad, they have been energized by the emergence of a pair of freshmen, forwards Torrey Craig and Babatunde Olumuyiwa. Craig is the lone Spartan to be averaging double figures this season at 11.6 points per game, while Olumuyiwa currently leads the A-Sun with 3.0 blocks per game. Craig is also the team’s leading rebounder with 6.7 per contest.
The Spartans have won the last three meetings between the two squads, including a home-and-home sweep last season, 66-62 in overtime on Jan. 17 in Spartanburg, S.C., and 68-64 on Feb. 6 in Kennesaw. The losses for the Owls last season sandwiched their season-high six-game winning streak. In both games, the Spartans spread the scoring around, with five and four players scoring in double figures, respectively. Markeith Cummings scored 13 and 16 for the Owls, while Spencer Dixon led the way for the Black and Gold in assists in each game, with 8 and 4. Overall, the Spartans leads the all-time series, 14-8, dating back to their first meeting on Jan. 4, 1993.
Games between the two squads tend to be close ones, with four of the five games they have against one another at the NCAA Division I level being decided by six points or less. In addition, four of their 22 games played against one another all-time has gone to overtime.
Tickets to Monday night’s game are $10 for adults and $6 for youth in eighth grade or younger. Kennesaw State students are admitted free to all athletic events with a valid student ID.
Fans can listen to all of the action on Talk 920 AM and www.talk920.com with the voice of the Owls, Craig Corbin, and color analyst and former Owls great Scott Webb. Subscribers to A-Sun.tv can also watch the game live via their internet stream. Live stats will also be available.
