Score: Kennesaw State 101, North Florida 91
Records: Kennesaw State (8-18, 4-6), North Florida (18-9, 7-3)
Key Players: Kendrick Ray (25 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists), Yonel Brown (22 points), Aubrey Williams (20 points and five rebounds)
 
Box Score (XML) | Box Score (PDF) | Highlights
 
KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State had three players score more than 20 points to knock off A-Sun leading North Florida, 101-91, in the KSU Convocation Center on Thursday, February 11.
 
Kendrick Ray led the Owls in points with 25, rebounds with eight and assists with five, but he wasn't the only Owl player to step up. Yonel Brown scored 22, and Aubrey Williams had a career high with 20 points and five rebounds.
 
Led by Williams and Nigel Pruitt, KSU's bench outscored UNF's 43-24 in the game to round out the team effort.
 
KSU led by two with the ball and Brown swished a three to put the Owls up five with 2:04 remaining. From there, it turned into a free throw game and the Owls were clutch hitting 9-13 from the charity stripe to seal the victory over the first place team.
 
As smooth as the end of the game was, things got off to a rocky start as North Florida started the game red hot from the field hitting its first nine shots and building a 13-point lead four minutes into the game.
 
Trailing big early, KSU needed a spark and got just that from senior forward Nigel Pruitt. He checked into the game and helped start a 20-5 run over a span of 6:30 on the clock to go up eight with 4:16 remaining in opening half. Pruitt finished the game with 15 points.
 
Once they got going, the Owls didn't slow down as they shot 55.6 percent from the floor in the first half and took a 48-43 lead into the locker room.
 
The start to the second half was very similar to the first half as UNF started hot hitting six of their first seven shots with four of them being three pointers. The strong start put North Florida up by seven with 14:35 remaining.
 
Balanced scoring kept Kennesaw State in the game along with some stingy defense by the Owls. Despite the high field goal percentage by the Ospreys, KSU forced UNF into 17 turnovers overall with 12 of those coming in the second half.
 
With the scored tied for the sixth time in the game, Pruitt made one of his five field goals on the night to put the Owls up for good with 3:51 remaining in the game.
 
The win pushes Kennesaw State to 8-18 and 4-6 in A-Sun play. The fourth win in conference matches the number of wins last season with four games still to play.
 
The Owls have a quick turn around as they will look to avenge a loss from earlier in the season against Jacksonville on Saturday, February 13 at 4:30 p.m.
 
On Overcoming the Quick Start against North Florida
"We weren't really moving well to start the game and they came out with a lot of energy. They were pushing the ball up the floor and got some good shots. They were really assertive and we were on our heals, but then we made some substitutions and guys came in with a little energy and started to push the ball a little more and our defense picked up. For us to get 17 turnovers is a good effort. One thing we did talk about is getting deflections because that shows that you're engaged. It doesn't necessarily lead to turnovers, but it does show that guys are active. Even though they shot the ball extremely well, I thought our defense was extremely aggressive. "
 - Kennesaw State Head Coach Al Skinner
 
 Notes
- The win against North Florida snapped a 13 game losing streak to the Ospreys. It's the second time this season that the Owls have snapped a double-digit losing streak to an A-Sun team with the other being Lipscomb.
- Kennesaw State scored over 100 points for the third time this season. All of them are the only time during the division I era that Kennesaw State has put up 100 points on the scoreboard.
- It is the first time this season that Kennesaw State has had three scorers post 20-plus points. Overall, the Owls had four players score in double figures.
- Coming into the game, KSU and UNF had the top scoring duos in the A-Sun with Kendrick Ray and Yonel Brown and Beau Beech and Dallas Moore. Ray and Brown combined to score 47 points tonight and Beech and Moore combined to score 32 points.
- Kennesaw State only committed eight turnovers in the game and only two in the second half. That ties the lowest output of the season and is the third time this season the team has had single-digit turnovers.
 
 
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.