By: KSU Sports Information
Listen Live Live Stats
Watch (Subscription)
Game Notes
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Kennesaw State Owls men’s basketball team will look for their first win of the 2011-12 campaign on Friday evening, when they face the Chattanooga Mocs at McKenzie Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
The Owls (0-2) play their third consecutive road to start the season, and will be trying to knock off an opponent they have unable to get by in three attempts during their program’s history. The Mocs (0-2) most recently took down the Owls, 72-69, on Nov. 17 of last season at the KSU Convocation Center.
For Owls head coach Lewis Preston, the evening will give him the opportunity to nail down the first win of his head coaching career, after falling short in the Owls first two games of the season at Wisconsin and Auburn.
While the Black and Gold fell, 68-55, to Auburn on Monday evening, there were a lot of positives to take out of a game that saw the Owls trailing by just seven with 6:36 remaining in the contest. Missing their leading scorer in Markeith Cummings, Preston’s squad saw Aaron Anderson lead the pack with 13 points and 13 rebounds for the fourth double-double of his career. He was joined in double figures by Spencer Dixon (11 points) and Nick Turner, who had a career-high 10 points.
After allowing the Wisconsin Badgers to shoot 58.8 percent from the field on Saturday, including a scorching 60 percent from three-point range, the Black and Gold held Auburn to just 46.2 percent shooting, and forced 17 turnovers by the Tigers.
Listen to All of the Action Live: Fans can listen to Friday night’s game free of charge at www.KSUOwls.com/showcase. Brian Harper will be providing the play-by-play with Scott Lipsky doing color analysis. Live stats will be available at www.GoMocs.com, as will subscription video streaming of the game.
Coach Preston on the Mocs:
“Chattanooga is a very experienced group that hasn’t gotten off to a great start shooting-wise, but they can go off at any time, and teams like them tend to shoot really well at home, so this will be a great challenge and a great opportunity for us.”
About Chattanooga:
-Like the Owls, the Mocs are also looking for their first win of the season. They began their 2011-12 campaign in the Hoosier State, dropping contests to Indiana and Butler.
-The Mocs return 11 players from a 2010-11 squad that went 16-16, including a 12-6 Southern Conference record that gave them a share of the SoCon’s North Division title. They were picked by both the media and SoCon coaches to win the North Division outright this season. The team, which is coached by 8th year head coach John Shulman, is led by seniors Omar Wattad and Keegan Bell, who were both selected to the Preseason All So-Con team.
Inside The Match-up
-The Owls are 0-3 all-time against the Mocs, last falling, 72-69, on Nov. 17, 2010 at the KSU Convocation Center, just two days after the Owls defeated Georgia Tech.
-Overall, the Owls are 0-6 all-time against current members of the Southern Conference.
-The Owls will be trying to avoid starting out a season 0-3 for the first time since the 1992-93 campaign, when they played in the NAIA, meaning they have never lost their first three contests of the season as an NCAA program, Division I or II. A win against the Mocs would be their first in four tries, with two of their three previous meetings coming in Chattanooga. Perhaps not coincidentally, this is the first time since the 1987-88 campaign that the Black and Gold are beginning their season with three consecutive true road games.
-Despite their lack of success against the Mocs, how¬ever, the Owls have won at McKenzie Arena. They defeated Alabama State, 78-72, on Dec. 30, 2006, in the Dr. Pepper Classic, which was hosted by Chattanooga. The win stands as their one victory in the state of Tennessee since joining NCAA Division I in 2005.
Fast Breaks:
Don’t Count on Your Neighbors: Though Georgia and Tennessee are neighboring states, the Owls and Mocs have done anything but relied on each other’s territory for talent. The Mocs have seven players on their roster from Tennessee, but none from Georgia, while the Owls have six Peach Staters and nobody from their neighbor up north in Tennessee.
Gotta Love It: Delbert Love has made a major impact on the floor in his first two games with the Owls despite having only scored a total of five points. Having started both games, he has a total of seven steal, including four at Wisconsin on Saturday and three at Auburn on Monday, to lead all players in each contest.
No Better Time to Start: Owls senior Romain Henry made his first career start on Monday for the Owls in his second season with the squad. Henry made the most of it, notching career-highs in points (5), rebounds (3) and minutes (25).
Turner Channels His Lineage: Owls sophomore Nick Turner notched a career-high at Auburn on Monday night with 10 points, which was fitting, since his father, Greg, played at Auburn for three seasons.
Double-Double Trouble: Owls junior Aaron Anderson recorded the fourth double-double of his career on Monday night at Auburn, matching his 13 points with 13 rebounds, to lead his team in both categories.
Looking for Win Number One: Owls head coach Lewis Preston is looking for his first career-win as a head coach on Friday night. He spent 13 years as an assistant coach, working on staffs at Penn State, Florida, Notre Dame and Coastal Carolina before coming to Kennesaw this past April.
Game-Time Decision: The status of junior guard Markeith Cummings for Friday night will be determined by the coaching staff right around game time. Cummings was not active on Monday evening at Auburn after being suspended for conduct detrimental to the team.
