By: KSU Sports Information
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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Kennesaw State Owls have made the trip across the Show Me State, and will take the court once again at 3:05 p.m. EST on Saturday against the Missouri State Tigers in their first game in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic. The game will take place at JQH Arena on the campus of Missouri State.
Listen to All of the Action Live: KSU All Access will have all of the action beginning at 2:50 p.m. EST. Calling Saturday’s game will be Scott Lipsky, with Brian Harper providing color analysis. All 2011-12 Owls men’s basketball games are available live and on-demand, free-of-charge, at www.KSUOwls.com/showcase. Subscription video streaming of the game is available at
www.MissouriStateBears.com.
All-Time Series: This is the first-ever meeting between the Owls (2-6) and Bears (5-3). The Black and Gold are 0-2 all-time against Missouri Valley Conference teams, last facing Creighton on Nov. 26, 2010 and falling, 75-57.
A Big Milestone Ahead: Owls senior guard Spencer Dixon enters Saturday just one point shy of 1,000 for his career. The Marietta, Ga. native is on the verge of becoming just the 14th Owl in program history to reach that mark.
Preston vs. Lusk- A Tale of the Tape: Bears head coach Paul Lusk and Owls boss Lewis Preston have met on the sidelines on seven different occasions as assistant coaches, with Paul Lusk holding a, 5-2, advantage. Preston’s Nittany Lions defeated Lusk’s Purdue Boilermakers on Jan. 6, 2009, with his other victory coming over Purdue in the Second Round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament when he was an assistant coach with the Florida Gators. The Gators would go on to win the national championship that season.
The Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic- In Missouri: The Owls game vs. the Bears will be the first of their four games in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic. Following Saturday, they travel to St. Mary’s in Moraga, Calif., for a game on Monday evening before traveling to Las Vegas to play a pair of games at Orleans Arena.
A Trio of Conference Leaders: Entering Friday, three Owls are leading the Atlantic Sun Conference in major statistical categories. Markeith Cummings leads the A-Sun with 18.0 points per game, while Aaron Anderson’s 9.0 rebounds per contest are tops in the conference. Spencer Dixon, for his part, is tops in the A-Sun averaging 35.9 minutes per game.
Key Stat of the Game: The Owls been very consistent when it comes to their production in the paint. Averaging 24.5 points in the paint per game, they have had 22 or more in six of their eight games this season. Their 26 points in the paint against Missouri on Thursday evening was the second highest total of the season.
About Missouri State:
-The Bears return six players from their 2010-11 squad that won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title. Their top returnee and leading scorer, senior Kyle Weems, is the reigning MVC Player of the Year and was an AP Honorable Mention All-American last season. He was also named the 2011-12 MVC Preseason Player of the Year.
-Complementing the returnees are a trio of transfers who have already earned accolades for their play in the early portion of the season and given the Bears an immediate infusion of veteran talent. Transfers Anthony Downing, Michael Bizoukas and Jarmar Gulley have all already earned MVC Newcomer of the Week honors. Gulley (11.1 ppg) and Downing (10.6 ppg) have provided plenty of scoring for MSU, while Bizoukas has stepped in to lead the squad thus far with 5.9 assists per contest.
-Bears first-year head coach Paul Lusk, like the Owls new head coach Lewis Preston, comes to his first Division I head coaching job from the Big Ten. Lusk most recently spent seven years on the coaching staff at Purdue, serving the last three seasons as Associate Head Coach.
Owls Brandon Dawson on Saturday's game:
"We need to come out with the same energy that we had against Missouri on Thursday. The difference is we can’t let down and allow them to jump out on us. I thought we did a lot of things pretty well on Thursday, but the key tomorrow will be to take advantage of the opportunities we have to make shots and not let up if we fall behind."
