By: KSU Sports Information
Box Score Play-by-Play
Postgame Notes
AUBURN, Ala. – Aaron Anderson posted 13 points and 13 rebounds as one of three Kennesaw State Owls in double figures, but they would fall on Monday evening to the Auburn Tigers, 68-55, in front of a crowd of 4,760 at Auburn Arena.
Despite being without Marketh Cummings, the Atlantic Sun Conference Preseason Player of the Year, the Owls (0-2) kept the Tigers (2-0) within their grasp for most of the evening, trailing by single digits for a good portion of the second half. Down, 53-41, with 8:24 to play, Owls sophomore Nick Turner, who had a career-high 10 points on the evening and whose father Greg played at Auburn, would drain a deep three from the right wing to make it a nine point game.
Coming out of a media timeout less than two minutes later and the margin still nine, senior Spencer Dixon, inbounding the ball from underneath the Owls own basket, would whip a pass across half court to a sprinting Anderson, who finished with an emphatic dunk to make it a, 53-46, contest with 6:36 remaining.
That would be as close as the Owls would come down the stretch, however. Back-to-back three point baskets over the next 1:28 from the Tigers Chris Denson and Frankie Sullivan, who led all scorers on Monday night with 22 points, gave the home team a 13-point cushion with 4:43 left in the contest, and the Black and Gold wouldn’t come closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
“I thought we did a very good job of putting pressure on Auburn throughout the game, we had some chances to really make the game close towards the end,” Owls head coach Lewis Preston said. “Overall, we need to hand it to them, they shot extremely well from the field the entire evening.”
Kennesaw State kept the game relatively close despite shooting just 18-for-55 (32.7 percent) from the field, including 5-for-19 from three point range and Auburn 8-for-15 from long distance. The Owls struggles from the floor peaked at the end of the first half and continued for a little while after halftime.
A Romain Henry three-pointer with 3:36 left in the opening 20 minutes pulled the Owls to within 25-20, but that would be the last field the Owls would connect on until a Turner three with 16:39 left in the game. During that span, the Owls would miss eight consecutive field goal attempts, while the Tigers would make five out of their seven attempts from the floor, allowing them to embark on a 16-1 run that put them up, 41-21, with 16:29 to go. The deficit would prove to be too much for the Owls to completely overcome, despite their valiant effort.
“We’re going to continue to grow and get better. I was focused on making sure we played hard and that we made the extra pass, and we did that tonight,” Preston commented. “I have confidence that we’re a lot closer than some may think we are to being where we need to be, and we’re going to keep working every day.”
One of several bright spots for the Owls on the night was their ability to contain the Tigers’ top two offensive threats in senior Kenny Gabriel and junior Rob Chubb, for much of the evening. Gabriel, the Tigers leading returnee from last season, was held to just nine points, while Chubb, who scored 13 points, was limited to four points on 1-for-6 shooting in the second half, a big reason the Owls were able to stay in the contest.
For Anderson, the effort gave him his fourth double-double of his career at Kennesaw State, and was a major boost from his performance in the Owls frustrating season-opener at Wisconsin on Saturday, when he had just two points and four rebounds.
“We’ve been working really hard, and we all knew we had to step up tonight, and for the most part we did that,” Anderson said. “My teammates deserve a lot of the credit for the numbers I had tonight, they did a great job of getting me involved.”
Dixon was the third Owl in double figures, posting 11 points to go along with four assists on the evening.
After playing two games in three days to start the season, the Owls will take a short hiatus before returning to the floor on Friday when they visit the Chattanooga Mocs. Tip-off in Chattanoooga is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
