By: KSU Sports Information
All photos courtesy of Dak Dillon/University of Missouri Athletics
Box Score Photo Gallery
Postgame Notes
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Delbert Love led all scorers with 27 points, and the Kennesaw State Owls kept it close for much of the contest on Thursday night before succumbing to the No. 8-ranked Missouri Tigers, 104-67, at Mizzou Arena.
The Owls (2-6), who will be on the road until Christmas Eve as part of a five-game road trip, led, 29-28 with 7:25 remaining in the first half and trailed just 49-41 with 17:53 left in the contest before Missouri (10-0) runs of 8-0 and 13-3 during the middle of the second half would put the game out of reach.
“I thought for about 24 to 28 minutes tonight we played pretty hard. Facing a top-10 team like Missouri, a team made up of mostly seniors who get ‘it,’ you need to capitalize on every opportunity you get to keep the game close, and I tip my hat to our guys for doing that during the middle portion of the game,” Owls head coach Lewis Preston said. “Looking at the way we played last weekend, I thought we took a step forward tonight.”
The Black and Gold were able to keep the game close early on thanks to some spotty perimeter by the Tigers. Missouri, who came into the game shooting 42.2 percent from three-point range, struggled from long distance early on, shooting just 3-for-10 in the first half. The Owls, for their part, did all they could to take advantage of Love’s shooting early on.
Trailing, 28-23 with 5:11 left in the first half, Love would sub in and immediately drain a three from the right wing to make it a two point. Following a defensive stop at the other end, Love would receive a pass from Romain Henry at the top of the key and would hit nothing but net to give the Owls their second and final lead of the evening. The long distance shots were part of a 5-for-7 performance for Love from the floor in the first half, on a night in which he connected on five three-point baskets.
“I was happy with how I played tonight, but I was really the recipient of some good passes and took advantage of the fact that we were making the extra pass tonight and I was lucky to be open on several occasions,” Love commented. “We were all pretty shocked when we all looked at the scoreboard and saw that what the score was, because it felt a lot closer. We definitely took a step in the right direction tonight. We stayed together and had good chemistry with each other out on the floor, Missouri just made more shots than we did.”
After going on a 19-4 run to end the first half up, 47-33, the Tigers, who are one of just nine unbeaten teams left in NCAA Division I, let the Owls back into the contest right off the bat after halftime. Love would complete a three-point play 27 seconds into the period, and another three by the freshman a minute later was followed by a layup by Markeith Cummings to make it an eight-point game. That was as close as Preston’s squad would come the rest of the way, as a three by Phil Pressey, who had nine points and 10 assists on the evening, would put the home team up by double digits for good with 17:53 remaining.
The Tigers’ lead continued to grow thanks to 22-for-35 shooting in the second half, part of a 60 percent performance from the field on the evening. Five of their players would score in double figures, led by senior Ricardo Ratliffe and junior reserve Michael Dixon, who had 18 points apiece. Marcus Denmon, the team’s leading scorer this season, added 17 points for the Tigers, who have won all of their game by double digits this season.
Cummings was the Owl to score in double figures, chipping in 17 points. Aaron Anderson led all players in the contest with eight rebounds.
The Owls travel next to the southwest corner of the Show-Me State for a Saturday afternoon match-up with the Missouri State Bears in their first game of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:05 p.m.
