By: KSU Sports Information
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AUBURN, Ala. – After a day off, the Kennesaw State Owls are ready to get back into on Monday evening when they face the Auburn Tigers. Tip-off at Auburn Arena is scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern Time.
Following a disappointing season opener at Wisconsin on Saturday, the Owls (0-1) are poised to rebound from a performance in which they shot 10-for-43 from the field and allowed the Badgers to pull away with 16 unanswered points after taking an early, 3-0, lead.
Markeith Cummings, who led all scorers in Saturday’s game with 18 points, continued to be the primary catalyst of the Owls offense despite early struggles, scoring 15 of his points in the second half after shooting 1-for-8 over the first 20 minutes of play.
Another spark for the Black and Gold on Saturday was freshman Delbert Love, who made a nifty turnaround three-point basket from the right corner in the waning minutes on Saturday for the first points of his collegiate career. Love also led the game with four steals.
Listen to the game live, free of charge: www.KSUOwls.com will have live, streaming audio of Monday night’s action, with Jason Hanes calling the play-by-play and Scott Lipsky providing color analysis. All 31 Owls men’s basketball games this season can be heard live and on-demand at www.KSUOwls.com.
Live video streaming is available at www.auburntigers.com on a subscription basis. The Tigers’ athletic website will also be providing free live stats.
Kennesaw State vs. Auburn- Game Primer
On How The Owls Plan to Rebound From Saturday
Sophomore Forward Aaron Anderson: “Yesterday showed us that we need to make sure we’re all on the same page and that we continue to work on our togetherness. Monday will be a test of how we can quickly move forward after a disappointing game, with only a day in between, and that’s important because once conference play starts, we generally play two games in three days.”
Head Coach Lewis Preston: “One of the good things about Saturday is that it can really be used as a teaching point going forward. I need each one of our guys to look in the mirror and really determine what they need to bring to the court to help our team. We need everyone in uniform to step up, and to hold each other accountable. If we can bring a high level of accountability onto the floor, then each player will be working to make their teammates better.”
On Auburn
Coach Preston: “Auburn is really heading in the right direction with Tony Barbee at the helm. They can really push the tempo when they have the ball, which makes them tough to defend, and we need to be careful that they don’t force us to rush on offense. The Tigers will be a good challenge for us on Monday.”
About Auburn
The Tigers (1-0) opened up their season with an, 84-62, victory over McNeese State on Friday evening. They return four starters and 12 lettermen from a disappointing 2010-11 campaign in which they went 11-20. Their top returnee is senior forward Kenny Gabriel, who averaged 10.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last season and was named SEC Player of the Week in March. On Friday, however, it was junior Rob Chubb who had the spotlight in their season-opener, scoring 21 points and seven rebounds in the victory.
Auburn was picked to finish 10th in the 12-team Southeastern Conference by the media under the leadership of second-year head coach Tony Barbee. Barbee, came to Auburn prior to the 2010-11 season after four highly successful seasons as the head coach at Texas-El Paso. He previously spent many years working under John Calipari as an assistant coach at Massachusetts and then Memphis.
The Tigers are in their second season at the brand-new Auburn Arena.
Barbee’s squad had anything but a pleasant experience last season against the Atlantic Sun Conference. Both Campbell and Jacksonville played at Auburn Arena in November, 2010, and both left with victories. The last time the Tigers were victorious over an A-Sun program was Nov. 19, 2008, when they edged out Mercer, 78-74.
Series History: Monday will mark the second time the two teams have met. They first faced one another on Nov. 23, 2007, with the Tigers having the upper hand, taking a, 74-62, decision at the Tigers’ former arena, Beard-Eves-Memorial Coliseum.
A Familiar Foe: Owls head coach Lewis Preston may be in his first season as the Owls head coach, but he still brings into Monday a wealth of experience and success against Auburn. As an assistant coach at Florida from 2006-08, Preston’s Gators faced the Tigers on two occasions, and came away victorious both times.
Playing Hard Against the Big Boys: In five career games against “Power Six” Conference schools, Owls junior guard Markeith Cummings has averaged 14.2 points per game, having scored in double figures each time.
