Saturday, January 30
4:30 p.m. – Kennesaw State vs. NJIT (ESPN3)
Links: Live Stats | ESPN3 | Tickets | Game Notes
Social Media: Twitter | Facebook
 
PROMOTIONS                                         
It is Youth Day this Saturday against NJIT! There will be free pillow pets for the first 300 youth with valid ticket, beginning at 3:30. The first 150 youth to sign up at the Fifth Third Bank table will be eligible to participate in the post-game nickel pick up! Characters in attendance will be Elsa, a Ninja Turtle, Doc McStuffins, and Darth Vader. There will also be poster making and photos with Sturgis.
 
SCOUTING NJIT                                       
NJIT is in the middle of its first season in the Atlantic Sun. The Highlanders are off to a 2-4 start with wins at home against Jacksonville and on the road at Stetson.
 
Overall, NJIT is 11-11 and faced a difficult non-conference schedule against Kentucky, Providence, St. John's and Stony Brook. The Highlanders topped two power five schools in St. Johns and South Florida.
 
Damon Lynn leads NJIT averaging 17.5 ppg and averages 18.3 points per game in his career. he has scored 20+ points in 35 of the 84 games in his career.
 
NJIT is led by Jim Engles, who is in his eighth season as head coach.
 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS NJIT
This is the first meeting against NJIT.
 
Racking up the Minutes
Yonel Brown not only leads the Owls in minutes, but he leads the nation averaging 39.0 minutes per game. He has played all 40 minutes in 14 of the 22 games this season, and he played 42 minutes in the overtime game against Elon.
 
Taking Care of the Ball
Against Reinhardt, Kennesaw State had a 2-1 assist to turnover ratio as the team finished with 20 assists and 10 turnovers. The 20 assists are a season high and the 10 turnovers were a season low until the team had eight against Florida Gulf Coast.
 
Taking care of the ball is something that KSU has been improving on as the season has gone on. Going back, the Owls have had less than 15 turnovers in the previous 15 of 18 games.
 
Batman and Robin
Kendrick Ray and Brown are the highest scoring tandem in the A-Sun and they didn't disappoint against Stetson and FGCU. The two combined for 56 points against the Hatters and 51 points against the Eagles.
 
It was the third and fourth time this season the duo combined to score 50-plus points and three other times they have both topped 40 points. The two lead the A-Sun averaging 36.8 points per game. Ray is second in the A-Sun averaging 18.6 points per game and Brown is third averaging 18.2.
 
One of the two players has led the team in scoring in every game except for three so far this season.
 
Free Throws
Brown is making 80.7 percent of his free throws this season. For his career, he has the 10th best free throw shooting average ever in the A-Sun with a career percentage of 83.9 percent.
 
Offense Flowing
Since A-Sun play, Kennesaw State is averaging 13 more points per game than they did through non-conference play. Currently, the Owls are averaging 80.2 point per game. After the 16 non-conference games, the team was averaging 67.1 ppg.
 
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.