By: By Joseph Feldman
Friday, November 10
7:00 p.m. – Kennesaw State at Butler
Location: Indianapolis, Ind. | Hinkle Fieldhouse
How to Watch: Fox College Sports (FCS)
Links: Live Stats |
Game Notes
Social Media: Twitter | Facebook
Game Preview
The Owls will kick off their 2017-18 season at Butler on Friday, November 10 at 7 p.m. in Hinkle Fieldhouse.
This is the second meeting between the two programs with the last one coming back in 2014.
A Win Against Butler Would:
• Make the Owls 1-0 to start the 2017-18 season.
• Be the second win in a money game since the Owls defeated Georgia Tech in 2010.
• First win in a season opener since 2010.
The All-Time Series Versus Butler
Kennesaw State has made one trip to Hinkle Fieldhouse during the 2014-15 season. The Owls dropped the game to Butler 93-51.
Two players on the Owls roster played in that game in
Jordan Jones and
Nick Masterson. Jones scored his first collegiate points in that game.
Scouting Butler
The Bulldogs have a new coach this season in LaVell Jordan. He was a former Butler player and was also an assistant coach with the Bulldogs.
Last season, Butler had a great season finishing 25-9. They were led by Kelan Martin, who averaged 16.0 points per game a season ago and is back for his senior season with the Bulldogs. Martin has been named to Big East Second Team All-Conference the last two seasons.
Butler's season ended last year in the Sweet 16 to the eventual national champs the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Skinner Begins His Third Season
Al Skinner enters his third season as head coach of Kennesaw State. Last season, the team posted the most wins KSU has ever had in the Division I era with 14 and secured its first ASUN Tournament victory at USC Upstate since 2010.
He hit a milestone a season ago against N.C. A&T notching his 400th career victory as a head coach.
Three Starters Return
Kennesaw State returns eight letter winners from a season ago including three starters.
The three starters are
Jordan Jones,
Nick Masterson and Kyle Clarke. Along with the returners are James Scott. He was named to the ASUN All-Freshman team a season ago after averaging 8.5 points per game.
Preseason All-Conference
Nick Masterson was named to the ASUN Preseason All-Conference team after being deadly from long range last season finishing second in the country with a mark of 54.1 from three-point range. He was even better in conference play making 57.1 percent of his outside shots and produced an offensive rating of 136.1.
Masterson hit a three in 29 of 31 games and hit at least two threes in all but seven games last season.
Picked to Finish Fifth
Kennesaw State was picked to finish fifth in the ASUN Coaches Poll and the ASUN Media Poll. In Skinner's first two seasons, the team was picked to finish seventh.
Last season, the Owls finished in a tie for fourth at the end of the season.
Newcomers
Kennesaw State welcomes two new players to the roster welcoming Tristan Jarrett and Bryson Lockley.
Jarrett was rated a three-star recruit on ESPN. He played at Haywood County High School and was named the 2017 All-West Tennessee Boys Basketball Player of the Year averaging 21.8 points per game and 8.6 rebounds per game to lead his team to the Region 8-AA Championship.
Lockley is originally from Houston, Texas and began his career with Santa Clara. After a redshirt season, he transferred to Panola CC. He saw action in 35 games with 11 starts at Panola.
Setting Up Their Teammates
Along with scoring 96 points in their exhibition against West Georgia, the Owls had 29 assists on 37 field goals.
That is the most assists KSU has had under Skinner. The previous high was 27 a season ago against North Florida.
The Owls have been good at sharing the basketball the past two seasons in Skinner's continuity offense. Last season, the team finished second in the ASUN in assists per game averaging 15.8.
KSU had 10 games last season with at least 19 assists.
Smart Outside Shooting
Kennesaw State was very efficient shooting threes last season. The team finished second in the nation shooting 41.6 percent on three-point field goals.
Two players carried the load as Masterson and
Kendrick Ray combined to make 172 of the 206 three pointers by the team.
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.
- #GoKSUOwls -
