By: KSU Sports Information
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Coach Preston Pregame
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Kennesaw State Owls play their second of four consecutive road contests on Monday, when they take on the East Tennessee State Bucs at the MSHA Athletic Center on the campus of ETSU. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
The Owls (3-13, 0-5 Atlantic Sun Conference) will face the Bucs (7-7, 2-2 A-Sun) after falling, 68-53, at USC Upstate on Saturday afternoon. Aaron Anderson had 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Owls in both categories and notch his A-Sun leading fifth double-double of the season.
Listen To All of the Action Live: Fans can listen to every Owls basketball game,5:45 p.m. live and on-demand, free-of-charge, on KSU All Access, available at
www.KSUOwls.com/Showcase. Coverage on Monday on KSU All Access will begin at Live video streaming is available throught ASun.tv, the subscription streaming service powered by the Atlantic Sun Conference. Live stats will also be available.
Owls Freshman Delbert Love:
On the team's performance the last few games
“We’ve had a few hard losses over the last week or so, and they were all games that we talked about as a team afterwards and agreed that we should’ve given ourselves better chances to come out on top. We’re staying positive and continuing to work hard when we’re in the gym and putting trust in our coaching staff. The good part about conference play is that we see these teams again, so we should know more of what to expect from them the second time around. The past is the past, we can’t get those games back, we’re looking forward and are working to continue to improve.”
“One positive thing about our game on Saturday was that we put ourselves in the position we were in mostly because of things that we can control, especially when it came to having some lapses on defense and allowing points off of turnovers since we didn’t take care of the ball as well as we should have, as well as not hitting open shots. Those are all things we are better at doing than we showed Saturday. It’s up to us to get into the gym and shore those things up as a team.”
Call Them Captains: Owls head coach Lewis Preston announced that juniors Aaron Anderson and Markeith Cummings and freshman Delbert Love were named floor captains for the remainder of the 2011-12 season.
“I picked those three young men because of the level of consistency they have shown throughout the season,” Preston said. “They really help our program as we look forward to the future, and it helps to give the other guys on the team a voice from their peers, which is something that is needed right now.”
Stars of the A-Sun, and the Nation: Aaron Anderson enters Monday leading the A-Sun with 8.9 rebounds per game, while Cummings and 16.1 points per contest are second best in the league. As of the NCAA’s most recent stats, Anderson is ranked No. 50 in Division I in rebounds per game, while Cummings is 109 in scoring. In addition, Owls senior Spencer Dixon ranks tied for second in the nation in three-point baskets per game, draining an average of 2.4 shots from behind the arc each contest. He’s currently 85 in the nation in that category.
Owls Schedule Among Nation’s Toughest: The Owls enter Sunday with a schedule that is currently ranked as the 143
rd in the nation among the 344 NCAA Division I teams, according to ESPN.com. That rank is currently the highest in the Atlantic Sun Conference, as is their non-conference strength of schedule, which is at 77.
The Elder Statesmen: Cummings and Dixon enter Monday ranked first and second among active A-Sun players in career points with 1,382 and 1,115, respectively. Dixon is the active career leader in steals (153) and second in assists (337), while Cummings is fifth in rebounds (439).
Putting in Work in the Paint: The Owls were averaging 22.5 points in the paint heading into their Dec. 30 tilt at Ohio, but have since averaged 28 points in the paint per game, having out-performed three of their last four opponents in the interior. Their 32 points in the paint on Saturday at USC Upstate was their highest all year on the road.
Big Moment for Markeith: Cummings had 13 points on Saturday at USC Upstate, and it was his 11
th point off of a free throw with 10:37 left in the game that gave him point number 1,380 of his career which moved him ahead of Ronell Wooten (2004-08) for the most points in the program’s Division I history. Overall, Cummings is fourth on the program’s all-time scoring list, and trails Columbus Ballard (1990-94) by 71 points for third place.
About Monday’s Match-Up:
East Tennessee State Bucs: 7-7, 2-2 Atlantic Sun Conference
All-Time record vs. ETSU: 1-11
All-Time record at ETSU: 0-6
Last Win vs. ETSU: 1/12/06 (78-72, Kennesaw, Ga.)
Last Season: 1/29/11 at ETSU: L, 93-62
1/5/11 at Kennesaw State: L, 80-69
-Owls junior Markeith Cummings is averaging 18.2 points per game in five career contests against the Bucs. Their last meeting was when he had his best performance, dropping 29 points and pulling down five rebounds on Jan. 29, 2011.
-The Bucs have won their last two contests, most recently dropping Mercer, 76-61, in Johnson City, Tenn. On Saturday. They defeated USC Upstate, 88-73, on Wednesday. Prior to those victories, they had close calls against a pair of Big Six schools, falling at Clemson, 65-58, on New Year’s Day, and at Tennessee, 66-63, on Dec. 23.
-ETSU has benefitted from some hot shooting during their two victories, shooting 52.9 percent (27-for-51) from the field on Saturday against Mercer on Saturday after shooting a scorching hot 56.0 percent (28-for-50) against USC Upstate on Wednesday.
-The Bucs generally start three seniors and two juniors, and are led by senior guard Adam Sollazzo, who enters action on Monday third in the A-Sun with 15.6 points per game, and is joined by junior Marcus Dubose, who is eighth at 12.2 points per contest. Sollazzo led all scorers with 23 points on Saturday vs. Mercer. The senior is also one of the top distributors in the league, as his 4.9 assists per game ranks third in the A-Sun.
-ETSU is coached by Murry Bartow, who is 169-104 in his ninth season at ETSU. Bartow will not be on the sideline on Monday evening, as he will be attending the funeral for his father, legendary college basketball coach Gene Bartow, who passed away on Tuesday. Bucs’ assistant Scott Wagers will serve as the head coach in his place.
