By: KSU Sports Information
Box Score Play-By-Play
Postgame Notes
MADISON, Wis. - The Kennesaw State Owls dropped an, 85-31, decision to the No. 14-ranked Wisconsin Badgers to open up the 2011-12 season at the Kohl Center on Saturday afternoon. Markeith Cummings scored 18 points to lead all scorers, while five Badgers scored in double figures.
The Owls (0-1) fell behind early in head coach Lewis Preston’s debut, due to both their shooting struggles from the floor and Wisconsin’s effectiveness from long range. While the Black and Gold missed seven consecutive shots after Spencer Dixon made a three-point basket on the team’s first attempt of the game, the Badgers (1-0) raced out to a 16-3 lead over the next 7:44. Cummings would make a turnaround layup to end the drought with 11:21 left in the half, the by then the Owls were already trailing by double digits.
Leading by 11, Wisconsin would immediately begin to put the game out reach, embarking on a 23-1 run over the next 11:07 to take a commanding, 39-6 lead, a run in which the Badgers went 7-for-11 from the floor, including 3-for-6 from three-point range. Wisconsin would go on to shoot a scorching 15-for-25 from long distance for the game, and would shoot 58.8 percent from the field overall.
“I’m going to focus on what we need to do offensively to get ourselves better and on course for our game at Auburn on Monday night.” Preston remarked after the game “Our urgency and our defensive intensity wasn’t where it needed to be, and that’s something that we work on with our players every day. We’re going to learn from this and get better from this, and hopefully use it to prepare for Monday night.”
After a first half in which he was just 1-for-8 from the floor, Cummings would begin to resemble the dominant offensive force that led coaches around the Atlantic Sun Conference to name him the A-Sun Preseason Player of the Year. He would miss his first two attempts from the field during the second half, but would then reel off nine consecutive points for the Owls, including an emphatic, driving dunk along the right baseline. His 18 points on the afternoon moved him into eighth place on the Owls all-time scoring list, surpassing Terrence Hill, who was with the program from 2002 through 2004.
Josh Gasser and Ben Brust would lead the way for Wisconsin with 14 points apiece. Senior Jordan Taylor, an Associated Press Preseason All-American, scored 11 for the Badgers.
Cummings led the way for the Black and Gold with six rebounds. Senior Spencer Dixon added seven points for the Owls, who faced just their second-ever Big Ten opponent on Saturday in the Badgers.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Owls, as they visit the Auburn Tigers at 8 p.m. EST on Monday evening.
