By: By Brandon Scardigli
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STARKVILLE, Miss. – Even with a career-night from sophomore guard
Yonel Brown, the Kennesaw State men's basketball team couldn't pull out the win on the road, falling to SEC opponent Mississippi State 78-55 on Thursday night in front of 6,806 fans in Humphrey Coliseum.
The Owls came out strong, going up by as many as four points in the opening half before slipping in the second period as KSU moves to 1-4 on the year after the first ever meeting between the two schools and the first road game for KSU this season.
Brown put in 15 points during the effort, besting his previous career high of 10 that was set last season at Tennessee, drilling three three-pointers in as many attempts against the MSU (2-0) defense.
"It was the tale of two halves," Kennesaw State head coach
Lewis Preston said. "In the first we did a really good job of keeping the floor spread and taking advantage of our opportunities. In the second we came out more stagnant and had too many turnovers. It doesn't matter if you're at home or on the road, 26 turnovers is not going to put you in position to win. That put them in position to get us in transition and finish baskets."
From the opening tip through the first seven minutes of action it was even playing from both teams before the Bulldogs made it a two-possession game with a three-pointer at the 12:51 mark. The Owls then went on an eight-point swing, picking up back-to-back three-pointers from sophomore
Nigel Pruitt, hitting the second after a
Kris Drees steal on the other end of the floor to a
Delbert Love assists.
Brown then connected on the mid-range jumper to put the Owls up by four, 16-18, with 10:55 to play in the first, the largest lead of the ballgame for KSU. Center
Willy Kouassi hit on one of two free-throw attempts one minute later to keep the Owls up by three, but another MSU three-pointer then tied things up as MSU held onto the lead for the remainder of the contest.
Just before the break with Mississippi State jumping up to its biggest lead of the half at seven points, it was Brown who came through in the clutch, sending in a triple just before the buzzer to send the game into the intermission with a 35-31 Bulldog lead.
After Mississippi State inched its advantage up to nine points coming out of the break, the Owls answered with an
Orlando Coleman layup and Brown's third three-pointer of the night to make it 42-38 Bulldogs. MSU extended its lead to double-figures with 10:29 to play before Drees cut it down to eight points with a field goal, 54-46.
The Bulldogs then took control offensively in the final 10 minutes as Mississippi State went on to win it, 78-55.
Along with his career-record 15 points, Brown was also the top distributor for the Owls, dishing out seven assists, a game-high and a career-best as well for the second-year guard.
On the glass, the Owls have yet to get outrebounded in the last four games as the two teams tied with 33 each, Coleman leading KSU with his six to go along with his nine points and a block.
KSU started off the contest going 4-for-5 from the field before going on to end the first half shooting 54 percent and ending the game with a 46 percent success rate, the second highest for KSU this season.
The Owls will break for the weekend before traveling to Chattanooga, Tenn. for a Nov. 19 contest against the Mocs of UT Chattanooga for a 7 p.m. ET ballgame.
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State men's basketball news follow the team on Twitter
@KSUOwlNation and
@KSUOwlsMBB or by liking Kennesaw State University on
Facebook.
Season tickets are currently available for all the home court action for the Owls and can be purchased by following the link here.
-#GoKSUOwls-
