KENNESAW STATE AT USC UPSTATE
GAME 32 | MARCH 3 | 7 P.M. ET
SPARTANBURG, S.C. | G.B. HODGE CENTER

GAME NOTES | ESPN3 | LIVE STATS 
 
TALKING POINTS
» The Kennesaw State men's basketball team will take on USC Upstate in the first round of the Atlantic Sun Tournament on Tuesday, March 3 at 7 p.m. It is the first appearance the Owls have made since the 2010-11 season when the team played Belmont.
» When KSU traveled to Upstate earlier in the season, Nigel Pruitt scored a career high 32 points hitting six three pointers and was later named A-Sun Player of the Week for his performance.
 
THE COMPETITION
USC UPstate                                  
USC Upstate finished the regular season with a 21-10 record and an 8-6 record in the A-Sun to claim the three seed.
 
Ty Greene was named A-Sun Player of the Year after averaging 20.1 points per game.
 
Eddie Payne is in his 13th season with the Spartans.
 
All-Time Record: 10-22
Last Meeting: L, 74-46
 
Last Time Out
The Kennesaw State men's basketball team dropped its regular season finale against the Lipscomb Bisons 94-75 in Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday, February 28.
 
NEWS AND NOTES
This Week in KSU Men's Basketball     
»    Kennesaw State competes in the A-Sun Championship for the first time since 2010-11 season against USC Upstate on Tuesday, March 3 at 7 p.m.
»    The semi-finals are Thursday, March 5 hosted by the higher seed and then the championship game is on Sunday, March 8 also hosted by the highest seed. For the Owls to host a semi-final game,  KSU would beat USC Upstate and Jacksonville would have to upset Florida Gulf Coast.
 
KSU as a Team                                                  
»    After sweeping Jacksonville and Stetson, Kennesaw State notched 10 wins on the season. That is the most wins since the 2009-10 team that had 13.
»    Defensively, Kennesaw State has gotten better and better this year. In A-Sun games, the Owls rank second in field goal percentage behind only Florida Gulf Coast and third in three-point field goal defense.
»    The team is also third in the league in blocked shots averaging 3.5 per game. The team has three players in double-digits as Willy Kouassi leads the team with 36, Bernard Morena has 21 and Jordan Jones has 12.
»    The Owls finished the regular season first in the A-Sun in free throw percentage at .728. More importantly, the team makes them when they count the most in the final four minutes of the game. In the Owls 10 wins, the team has sank free throws at a 80.5 percent clip going 62 of 77 from the line. In the last win against Stetson, Willy Kouassi stepped to line and hit two free throws to help ice the game.
 
KSU Individually                                              
»    Seeing his first A-Sun Tournament action, Delbert Love has been a prolific scorer in his time with Kennesaw State. He is in the top three in scoring, scoring average, field goals and three point field goals made in the KSU NCAA Division I Record Book. Love has also been a great student in the classroom as he was named to the 2013-14 A-Sun All-Academic Team.
»    Yonel Brown set a new Kennesaw State record in the second win over Jacksonville by hitting seven three pointers. The previous record of six had been tied three times by Nigel Pruitt this season. Brown got hot in the second half going 5 for 5 from behind the arc to help guide the Owls to the 13-point victory.
»    Brown's consistent scoring has him third in the league averaging 15.7 points per game. In the Owls 10 wins, Brown has led the Owls averaging 21.1 points per game on the offensive end. He has scored in double figures in 24 of the 31 games for the Owls this season.
»    Lallathin always says that Pruitt can be an x-factor if he wants to be with the way he can score. There have been three games this season he has led KSU on runs that went at least 9-0. One of those games where Pruitt had a big run was against USC Upstate in Spartanburg.
» After a four-block performance against Lipscomb, Kouassi has 36 on the season. In just two seasons, he has become the Kennesaw State block leader in the record books with 71.
 
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.