BOX SCORE (XML) |
BOX SCORE (PDF) |
PHOTO GALLERY |
AP PHOTO GALLERY |
QUOTES
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Kennesaw State men’s basketball team went up against No. 22/22 Notre Dame and for more than a half remained competitive. However, the size and athleticism of the hosts ultimately showed itself as the Fighting Irish defeated the Owls, 85-57, on Wednesday at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.
Senior forward
Aaron Anderson led a trio of Kennesaw State (1-9) players in double figures as he poured in 16 points. Fellow senior
Markeith Cummings contributed 15 points and sophomore guard
Delbert Love added 10 points. Cummings also collected four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
"I thought Aaron Anderson and Markeith Cummings, especially Markeith Cummings, may be the best game that he has played since I've been the head coach at Kennesaw State,” Lewis Preston said. “I don't think he forced anything. I think he kept the game very simple.
“He had 15 points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals in 32 minutes. If he can do that consistently, I know I'm going to get this from Aaron pretty much every night, I think once we get to league play we will have a chance to amass some W's," Preston added.
National Player of the Year candidate senior forward Jack Cooley paced Notre Dame (11-1) with a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Cooley entered the game averaging a double-double with 14.5 points and 10.8 rebounds a contest.
Junior guard Jerian Grant also scored 14 points, while sophomore guard Pat Connaughton totaled 12 points and freshman forward Zach Auguste came off the bench to contribute 12 points and seven rebounds in 12 minutes.
“I thought the first half may have been the best 20 minutes of basketball we’ve played since Tennessee,” Preston said. “"Moving forward I will look at that a lot more to see what we can do to clean up the second half.
“We are kind of like Charles Dickens' The Tale of Two Cities, but we are the tale of two halves. We will play a great first half, bad second half, or a bad first half, and a pretty good second half. So I am trying to find that level of consistency,” Preston added.
After Notre Dame built a 34-16 lead with 6:39 remaining in the first half, the Owls closed out the period with a 12-4 a run to cut the deficit to 34-28 at intermission.
Anderson and Cummings led Kennesaw State with nine points and four rebounds apiece. The Owls connected on 42.3 percent (11-for-26) of their field goal attempts while the Fighting Irish shot 53.8 percent (14-for-26) from the field, including 55.6 percent (5-for-9) from behind the three-point arc, and held a 16-11 rebounding advantage.
A key for Kennesaw State in the first half was its ability to take care of the basketball as the Owls committed just three turnovers and finished the game with 10, tied for the second fewest this season.
However, Notre Dame’s size and ability to score inside proved to be decisive as the Fighting Irish outscored the Owls 44-28 in the paint and 17-6 in second-chance points, and held a 36-17 rebounding advantage. Those factors enabled Notre Dame shot 61.5 percent (23-for-52) from the field, including 44.4 percent (8-for-18) from behind the arc.
Kennesaw State will continue its three-game road trip in the state of the Indiana when it travels to Fort Wayne to take on IPFW on Friday beginning at 7 p.m. (ET).
NOTES: Kennesaw State head coach Lewis Preston was presented with a commemorative basketball by Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey prior to the game. Preston spent six years (2000-2006) as an assistant coach under Brey.
