By: KSU Sports Information
Listen Watch
Live Stats Game Notes
A-Sun Weekly Release
Coach Preston Pregame
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Kennesaw State Owls take to the road for the final time in the 2011-12 season beginning Saturday, when they visit the North Florida Ospreys at the UNF Arena at 7:00 p.m.
The game on Saturday begins a three-day, two-game road swing the Owls (3-24, 0-14 Atlantic Sun Conference), as they will take on the Jacksonville Dolphins on Monday evening in their 2011-12 road finale.
Watch, Listen Live: Fans can listen to all of the action this weekend live on KSU All Access, available at
www.KSUOwls.com/Showcase. Live video streaming will be available via the Atlantic Sun Conference’s subscription service, ASun.TV.
Owls sophomore Brandon Dawson on the Upcoming Road Trip:
“It’s important that we go out on a positive and try and prove that we can be tough on the road and grab a couple of wins. This can be a very good experience for us for our future, to stay play away from home and be able to stay focused in a tough environment and pay more attention to detail.”
About the Match-Up:
All-Time Series: Owls Lead, 16-13
Record vs. UNF at the Division I Level: 6-7
All-Time Record at UNF: 7-6
Last Game:
Jan. 23, 2012, Kennesaw, Ga.- L, 68-76
-Aaron Anderson recorded 19 points and 14 rebounds as one of four Owls in double figures. UNF was led by Travis Wallace, who scored a game-high 27 points.
-The Owls pulled to within three points of the Osprey lead when Delbert Love drained a three and Spencer Dixon made a free throw to make it, 71-68, with 1:05 to play, but UNF would score the last five points of the game to seal it.
-Markeith Cummings moved into third place on the Owls all-time scoring list with his 17 points on the evening.
Notable:
- Cummings is averaging 20.3 ppg in five career games against the Ospreys, having topped 20 points against them on three occasions.
-The Owls triple-overtime, 90-88 loss at North Florida on Feb. 18 of last season was the first and is still the only triple-overtime game in the Owls history since they joined the NCAA Division I ranks.
-Five of the last six games between the Owls and Ospreys have been decided by eight points or less.
About the Ospreys:
-UNF lost their last game against USC-Upstate, 77-52, on Monday, 2/13. The Ospreys have lost 6 of their last 10 games, with their last victory coming on 1/28 vs. Florida Gulf Coast.
- The Ospreys are led by junior guard Parker Smith and sophomore forward Travis Wallace, who currently lead the team with 13.3 and 10.8 points per game, respectively.
- The Ospreys men’s basketball team has made one A-Sun Tournament appearance, during the 2010-2011 season. They advanced to the A-Sun Championship game, where they were defeated by Belmont. UNF will clinch a spot in the 2012 A-Sun Tournament with a victory on Saturday.
-Matthew Driscoll is the fourth head coach in school history, and took the reins of the program prior to the 2009-10 season, the Osprey’s first season of NCAA Division postseason eligibility. The Owls completed their Division I re-classification the same season.
A Couple of Milestones on the Horizon For Spencer: Spencer enters Saturday’s game with 1,267 career points in 120 games played with the Owls. Those marks put him just one point away from matching Israel Brown (1989-93) for seventh on the program’s all-time scoring list, and should he play in the final four games of the season, he will pass Kelvin McConnell (2007-11) for the most games played in the program’s history. His team-high 20 points on Tuesday evening vs. UT-Martin was the 10
th 20+ point performance of his career.
A Terrific Trio: Entering Saturday, Markeith Cummings (15.0 ppg), Spencer Dixon (13.5 ppg) and Delbert Love (12.5 ppg) are averaging a combined 41.0 points per contest, tying them with Stetson’s Adam Pegg, Chris Perez and Aaron Graham as the highest scoring trios in the A-Sun. Cummings (5.3 rpg) also has his hand in another two-man act, as he and Aaron Anderson’s A-Sun-leading 8.9 rpg give them the second-highest rpg among A-Sun teammates, behind Torrey Craig and Ricardo Glenn of USC Upstate. Cummings, Dixon and Love are one of just three teammate trios in the A-Sun to have had three or more 20-point performances this season.
Putting in the Minutes: Entering Saturday, Owls Spencer Dixon, Delbert Love and Markeith Cummings rank 1, 2, and 3 in the A-Sun in minutes per game with 37.0, 36.4, and 34.6 minutes per game. Dixon ranks 20th in the nation in the category, while Love ranks third in the land amongst fellow freshmen.
Warming Up the Bench: Mirza Sabic scored nine points on Tuesday evening in the Owls overtime loss to UT-Martin, part of a 15-point effort from the Owls bench, their highest since their reserves scored 16 points at Mercer on Jan. 13.
The Elder Statesmen: Cummings and Dixon enter Saturday ranked first and second among active A-Sun players in career points with 1,531 and 1,267, respectively. Dixon is the active career leader in steals (171) and third in assists (382), while Cummings is fourth in rebounds (493).
Fair Fight on the Boards: The Owls were out-rebounded in 16 of their first 20 contests this season, but have been much tougher on the glass as of late. Including their 31-29 advantage on the boards last Friday night vs. Mercer, Kennesaw State has now out-rebounded three of their last seven opponents.
Delbert Can Fill It Up: Owls freshman Delbert Love enters Saturday first in the A-Sun among freshman and 11th overall with 12.5 points per game. He has shown an ability to score consistently, as he has been in double figures the last seven games and has scored 20 or more three times during his inaugural campaign.
Protecting the Ball: Kennesaw State heads into Saturday evening averaging just 14.1 turnovers per contest, the second lowest in the Atlantic Sun Conference. They have turned it over 12 times or less on 11 occasions this season, including just nine times on Monday evening vs. USC Upstate, their second lowest total of the season.
While the Wins Haven’t Come, the Opportunities are Starting to: Despite having dropped their last 15 games, the Black and Gold have had some real chances to come out on top. They led at ETSU, 31-23, at halftime, and led with as little as 5:34 remaining in the conteston 1/9. They also led, 27-25, at halftime at home against Florida Gulf Coast on Jan. 4., and had the lead with 10:18 to go in the game against Charlotte on 1/18, as well as with 2:39 to go vs. ETSU on Feb. 4, and took Tennessee-Martin into overtime on Tuesday evening before falling, 76-75. Overall, they have been within five points of the lead with five minutes or less remaining in the game in eight of the last 14 contests.
