GAME NO. 15
MERCER (9-6, 2-0) at KENNESAW STATE (1-13, 0-2)
DATE: Jan. 5
TIME: 2:30 p.m. (ET)
SITE: KSU Convocation Center (4,600)
LOCATION: Kennesaw, Ga.
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN3.com
ANNOUNCERS: Paul Crane and Sonny Smith
LIVE AUDIO: www.ksuowls.com
LIVE STATS: www.ksuowls.com
SERIES RECORD: Mercer leads, 9-5
LAST MEETING: Feb. 12, 2012, Mercer, 61-57
KENNESAW STATE NOTES | MERCER NOTES | TICKETS | GAME PROMOTIONS | LEWIS PRESTON RADIO INTERVIEW
GAME TIME:
• The Kennesaw State men’s basketball team concludes an Atlantic Sun Conference-opening three-game homestand when it welcomes in-state rival Mercer to the KSU Convocation Center for a Saturday (Jan. 5) matinée beginning at 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast worldwide at ESPN3.com with Paul Crane and Sonny Smith describing the action.
• Fans also can hear the familiar voices of Nathan McCreary and Brian Katrek at KSUOwls.com.
• The day also will be filled with a variety of promotions as it is Korean Heritage Day, Community Day, and the first 500 fans will receive a 30th Anniversary Owls Athletics T-Shirt. Single-game adult reserved tickets are $10 and youth reserved tickets are $6. Fans are encouraged to wear black and gold to the game.
• The Owls are in their eighth year as a member of the A-Sun after transitioning to Division I in 2005. Kennesaw State is seeking its third conference tournament appearance. The Owls previously advanced to the A-Sun Tournament in 2009 and 2010. The top eight teams following regular-season play advance to the tournament that is slated for March 6-9 in Macon, Ga.
• Kennesaw State enters the weekend 1-13 overall and 0-2 in A-Sun Play after falling 70-60 to Stetson on Wednesday.
• The Owls seek their second win of the season. Their lone victory was a 67-65 overtime triumph at South Carolina State on Nov. 12.
• Mercer begins play 9-6 overall and 2-0 in the A-Sun following a 77-70 overtime win over Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday.
• Kennesaw State is playing just its sixth home game of the season after playing nine of 12 non-conference games on the road. The Owls’ lone home non-league contests were versus Georgia Southern (Nov. 21), Chattanooga (Nov. 24) and Charlotte (Dec. 16).
• Head Coach Lewis Preston is in his second season guiding the Kennesaw State program after spending the previous three seasons (2008-11) as an assistant coach at Penn State.
MERCER SERIES HISTORY:
• Saturday’s contest marks the 15th meeting all-time between Kennesaw State and Mercer in a series that dates back to 2006. The Bears hold a 9-5 series advantage and have won four straight. Mercer won both meetings last year, defeating the Owls 81-50 in Macon on Jan. 13 then holding on for a 61-57 victory in Kennesaw on Feb. 10, 2012. Kennesaw State’s last win over the Bears came in 2010 when they recorded a 66-63 home victory to complete a season sweep.
KENNESAW STATE-MERCER GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS:
DATE, SITE, RESULT
1/19/06, Macon, Ga., W, 63-57
1/28/06, Kennesaw, Ga., L, 77-70
12/2/06, Macon, Ga., L, 84-77
2/23/07, Kennesaw, Ga., W, 87-51
1/5/08, Kennesaw, Ga., L, 77-75
2/29/08, Macon, Ga., W, 65-51
1/29/09, Macon, Ga., L, 88-75
2/5/09, Kennesaw, Ga., L, 75-56
1/27/10, Macon, Ga., W, 71-69
2/4/10, Kennesaw, Ga., W, 66-63
1/25/11, Kennesaw, Ga., L, 78-70
2/15/11, Macon, Ga., L, 57-55
1/13/12, Macon, Ga., L, 81-51
2/10/12, Kennesaw, Ga., L, 61-57
A LOOK AT MERCER:
• Mercer is 9-6 overall and 2-0 in Atlantic Sun Conference play. The Bears opened league play with home wins over Stetson (70-64) and Florida Gulf Coast (77-70, OT) earlier this week. Mercer has won three in a row and five its last last six. Its lone loss during the stretch was a 58-49 road setback at Georgia on Dec. 18.
• Senior guard Travis Smith is the lone Bears player scoring in double figures as he is averaging 12.1 points a contest.
• Mercer is the top defensive team in the A-Sun as the Bears are limiting their opponents to 56.4 points a game and 39.6 percent shooting from the field.
• Head coach Bob Hoffman is in his fifth season leading the Mercer program and has compiled an overall record to date of 84-67 (.556). Hoffman guided the Bears to a 27-11 overall record that included a 70-67 victory over Utah State to capture the CollegeInsider.com Tournament title.
NEXT UP:
• Kennesaw State travels down to Florida to take on Jacksonville on Jan. 10 beginning at 7 p.m. The Owls close out their trip to the Sunshine State when they visit North Florida on Jan. 12 beginning at 4:30 p.m.
STETSON RECAP:
• The Kennesaw State men’s basketball team rallied from a 10-point second half deficit to knot the score at 60-60 in the closing minutes before visiting Stetson scored the final 10 points to register a 70-60 victory in an Atlantic Sun Conference game at the KSU Convocation Center on Wednesday.
• After freshman guard Myles Hamilton hit a jumper to even the score at 60-60 with 1:29 remaining, Stetson senior center Adam Pegg scored inside, was fouled and completed a three-point play to give the Hatters (4-9, 1-1) a 63-60 lead with 1:09 left in regulation. Following a missed three-point attempt by freshman guard Yonel Brown, junior guard Chris Perez converted a second straight three-point play with 36 seconds remaining to increase the Stetson lead to 66-60 and seal the victory.
• Behind 10 first-half points from senior forward Markeith Cummings and 48.3 percent (14-for-29) from the field, the Owls (1-13, 0-2) took a lead into halftime for the second straight game. However, Stetson came out in the second half and shot 65 percent (13-for-20) from the field while outscoring Kennesaw State 20-14 inside after scoring just eight points in the paint during the first 20 minutes.
• Perez scored a game-high tying 19 points to lead four Hatters in double figures. Junior guard Aaron Graham poured in 15 points while Pegg and senior guard Joel Naburgs chipped in 14 and 12 points, respectively. Pegg also collected a game-high eight rebounds.
• Cummings scored 19 points and totaled a team-high seven rebounds while leading the Owls in scoring for the ninth time this season. Senior forward Aaron Anderson contributed 12 points and six rebounds while sophomore guard Delbert Love added 10 points and five rebounds.
• The Owls twice trailed by as many as eight points in the first half before outscoring the Hatters 24-15 over the final 11:37 of the period. Anderson and Cummings each scored seven points to spark the comeback.
• After trailing 56-46 with 7:42 remaining, Kennesaw State used a 14-4 run to tie the score, but was unable to complete the comeback.
MARKEITH CUMMINGS BECOMES KSU’S ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER:
• Senior forward Markeith Cummings scored 13 points against Towson on November 18 to become Kennesaw State’s all-time leading scorer with 1,693 career points. Cummings surpassed Herman Smith (1986-90) who concluded his Owls’ career with 1,683.
• The Owls’ senior forward currently has 1,823 career points and is No. 2 all-time with a 17.0 points-per-game average.
OWLS AMONG A-SUN CONFERENCE LEADERS
• Senior forward Markeith Cummings currently ranks second in the Atlantic Sun Conference with 16.9 points per game.
• Senior forward Aaron Anderson ranks third in the A-Sun in rebounding (7.7) and field goal percentage (55.8).
• Sophomore guard Delbert Love leads the A-Sun in minutes played (36.5) and is fourth in assists (3.5) and fifth in steals (1.6).
• Freshman guard Myles Hamilton ranks second in the A-Sun with 2.0 steals a contest.
• Markeith Cummings’ 31 points scored against Radford (11/17) ties the highest single-game output by an Atlantic Sun Conference player. USC Upstate’s Torrey Craig scored 31 points versus Texas San Antonio (12/8).
FRESHMEN SEE SIGNIFICANT PLAYING TIME:
• The Kennesaw State roster includes five freshmen and all making contributions. Guards Myles Hamilton and Yonel Brown are both averaging over 20 minutes a contest. Hamilton is averaging 23.2 minutes a game while Brown is playing 22.9 minutes a contest.
AARON ANDERSON NAMED A-SUN PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
• Senior forward Aaron Anderson (Tucson, Ariz. / Central Arizona College) was named the Atlantic Sun Conference’s Player of the Week (Nov. 13) after averaging 14 points and 11.5 rebounds in two games at Tennessee (11/9) and at South Carolina State (11/12).
• A first time recipient of the award, Anderson scored game-high totals of 16 points and 12 rebounds versus the Volunteers and followed that performance with 12 points and 11 rebounds against the Bulldogs.
KENNESAW STATE SIGNS JONES DURING EARLY SIGNING PERIOD:
• Continuing to build for the future, head coach Lewis Preston signed local product Jordan Jones to a national letter-of-intent earlier this week.
• Jones is a 6-8, 205-pound combo forward who will play his senior season at nearby Saint Francis High in Alpharetta. He averaged 11 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocks a game while helping Furtah Prep (Acworth, Ga.) to an undefeated regular season.
• Jones earned first team All-Georgia Independent School Association (GISA) honors and was selected to play in the Under Armour Grind Session in Atlanta last June. The event features many of the top high school prospects in the region and focusses on skill development and concludes with games.
NATE RUCKER ADDED TO ROSTER
• Junior forward Nate Rucker (Memphis Tenn. / Southwest Tennessee CC) joined the Kennesaw State roster on Dec. 17 and is enrolled in classes for the spring semester. A 6-6, 240-forward, Rucker began his collegiate career at Northern Illinois before playing at Southwest Tennessee Community College last season. During his freshman season, Rucker appeared in 30 games, starting 29, and averaged 7.1 points and 4.1 rebounds a contest.
• Rucker shot a team-high 53.7 percent from the field and scored in double figures 12 times. He also produced two double-digit rebounding games.
• Rucker will practice with the Owls for the remainder of the season and will have two years of eligibility remaining beginning with the 2013-14 campaign. He will be eligible to play at the conclusion of the fall semester in December.
EIGHT NEWCOMERS JOIN ROSTER FOR 2012-13:
• Second-year head coach Lewis Preston has added eight newcomers to the program in 2012-13.
• The group includes freshmen Yonel Brown (Lawrenceville, Ga. / Berkmar HS), Myles Hamilton (Cleveland, Ohio / St. Edward HS), Cole Hobbs (Atlanta, Ga. / Greater Atlanta Christian School), Jordan Montgomery (Orlando, Fla. / Orlando Christian Prep), Bernard Morena (Abidjan, Ivory Coast / Auburn) and Nigel Pruitt (Potomac, Md. / Bullis School)
• Junior Kris Drees (Cumming, Ga. / West Forsyth HS) joined the team this fall after making the club as a walk-on, while sophomore Willy Kouassi (Abidjan, Ivory Coast / Auburn) is a highly-regarded transfer.
RECRUITING WINNERS:
• The duo of Cole Hobbs and Jordan Montgomery combined to help their high school teams claim four state titles and one runner-up finish.
• Hobbs played a key role in helping Greater Atlanta Christian School to the 2011 Georgia state title
•Montgomery sparked his Orlando Christian Prep squad to three Florida state titles, and a runner-up finish in 2011.
KENNESAW STATE ROSTER REVIEW:
• Kennesaw State returns five letter winners from last year’s club that posted a 3-28 overall record. The list of returnees includes seniors Aaron Anderson, Markeith Cummings, juniors Brandon Dawson and Andrew Osemhen (Loganville, Ga. / Grayson HS) and sophomore Delbert Love.
• The trio of Cummings, Anderson and Love accounted for 58.5 percent of Kennesaw State’s points during the 2011-12 season.
• Kennesaw State’s roster includes two seniors, three juniors, two sophomores and five freshmen.
• The Owls 13-man roster entered the season with a combined 11 years of Division I collegiate experience, an average of 0.85 years per player. It ranks as the sixth-youngest team in the country.
PRESEASON HONORS:
• Senior forward Markeith Cummings, a three-time second team all-conference selection, was named to the Atlantic Sun Conference preseason all-conference team.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS:
• Senior forward Markeith Cummings is Kennesaw State’s all-time scoring leader with 1,823 points.
• Cummings also ranks second all-time in rebounds (567) since Kennesaw State became a Division I program in 2005.
• Cummings is the all-time KSU leader in free throws made (464) and free throws attempted (678).
• Cummings also ranks No. 2 in points-per-game (17.0), field goals made (644) and field goal attempts (1,406).
• Cummings holds the top two single season marks for free throws made (158 in 2010-11 and 134 in 2009-10).
• Senior Aaron Anderson holds the KSU Division I school career field goal percentage record of 53.9 percent (264-490).
• Anderson is first in the KSU Division I era with 581 rebounds and rebounds-per-game (7.6).
A LOOK AT THE 2012-13 SCHEDULE:
• The Kennesaw State schedule includes three teams that are receiving preseason national attention. Notre Dame began the year ranked No. 22 by the Associated Press and No. 23 in the
USA Today Coaches Poll.
• Both Tennessee and Pittsburgh are receiving votes in the Associated Press and
USA Today Coaches polls.
• The Owls’ schedule includes five teams (Tennessee, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Mercer, USC Upstate) that advanced to postseason play during the 2011-12 season.
• Notre Dame reached the NCAA Tournament, while Tennessee advanced to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament, and Pittsburgh won the College Basketball Invitational Tournament.
• A-Sun Conference rivals Mercer and USC Upstate participated in the Collegeinsider.com Tournament, with the Mercer Bears capturing the title.
A NEW-LOOK A-SUN CONFERENCE:
• The Atlantic Sun Conference will have a new look to it in 2012-13. Belmont, who has captured the last two conference titles, and five of the last seven, left the league to join the Ohio Valley Conference.
• Northern Kentucky, a consistent postseason participant at the NCAA Division II level and dominant force in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, begins its first year in Division I and as a member of the A-Sun Conference.
2011-12 YEAR IN REVIEW:
• The 2011-12 season marked a challenging year for first-year head coach Lewis Preston and the Owls as Kennesaw State posted a 3-28 overall record and went 0-18 in A-Sun Conference play.
• The Owls recorded a 65-59 victory at Chattanooga on Nov. 18, 2011, to reward Preston with his first collegiate win.
•Junior forward Markeith Cummings was a second team A-Sun all-conference selection and rookie guard Delbert Love was a unanimous selection to the conference’s all-freshman team.
• Junior forward Markeith Cummings led the Owls in scoring and ranked second in the A-Sun after averaging 15.4 points a game. Cummings produced 25 double-digit scoring games and led the team in scoring 12 times.
•Junior forward Aaron Anderson led the A-Sun in rebounding after averaging 9.0 rebounds a game and contributed 8.9 points a contest. He scored in double-digits 15 times, had 14 double-digit rebounding games, and his 280 rebounds established an Owls’ Division I era single-season record.
• Freshman Delbert Love made an immediate in his first season with the Owls as he averaged 12.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.7 steals a contest. He started all 31 games and led all A-Sun Conference freshmen in scoring while averaging a team-high 36.5 minutes a game.
• Kennesaw State lost seven games by four points or less, including five of its last six.
PROGRAM HISTORY:
• The 2012-13 season marks the 28th year of basketball at Kennesaw State. The 1985-86 campaign marked the first season of Owls basketball and the team posted a 7-21 overall record, including a 6-12 mark in the Georgia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, while competing as an NAIA member.
• Kennesaw State played nine seasons as an NAIA member, compiled a 146-143 (.505) all-time record and produced six winning seasons.
• Kennesaw State moved to the NCAA Division II level for the 1994-95 season and accumulated a 198-124 (.615) overall record in 11 years.
• Head Coach Tony Ingle led the Owls to their lone national championship in 2004 after the team compiled a program-best 35-4 (.897) record. Kennesaw State defeated Southern Indiana, 84-59, in the national championship game on March 27, 2004 in Bakersfield, Calif.
• Kennesaw State moved to the Division I level for the 2005-06 season and has compiled a 66-227 (.225) record in seven seasons. The Owls’ best year at the D-I level was the 2006-07 season when the club posted a 13-18 (.419) mark.
• Kennesaw State’s signature Division I win was an 80-63 victory over Georgia Tech before a KSU Convocation Center record-crowd of 4,784 on Nov. 15, 2011.
• Lewis Preston was named the fourth head coach in program history on April 16, 2011.
WHAT’S NEW?
• This past summer, the Kennesaw State Department of Athletics, as part of an overall re-branding initiative, signed a multi-year contract to have its 17 intercollegiate athletics teams outfitted in Adidas apparel and footwear.
• Kennesaw State Athletics also introduced a whole new family of logos that appear on team apparel, facilities and a re-designed www.ksuowls.com athletics website.
• The KSU Convocation Center also has a refurbished floor, sparkling new video board with sponsorship signage on the south end, a ribbon board on the north side under the hospitality suite, a new LED scorer’s table and media tables highlight the atmospheric changes to the seven-year old facility.
ABOUT KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY:
• Kennesaw State University is the third-largest university in Georgia, offering more than 80 graduate and undergraduate degrees, including doctorates in education, business and nursing and a new Ph.D in international conflict management. A member of the 35-unit University System of Georgia, Kennesaw State is a comprehensive, residential institution with a growing student population of more than 24,600 from 130 countries.
Kennesaw State University is celebrating 30 years of intercollegiate athletics during the 2012-13 academic year.
