Tuesday, December 18
7 p.m.  – Kennesaw State (2-9) vs Elon (3-8)
Location: Kennesaw, Ga. | Convocation Center
Links: ESPN+ | Live Stats | Game Notes | Tickets

Top Storylines
» The Kennesaw State men's basketball team continues its homestand Tuesday hosting the Elon Phoenix at 7 p.m.
» The Owls are riding high after snapping their nine-game losing streak with a 73-68 win over Tennessee Tech this past Saturday.
» Tyler Hooker went off for 28 points against TTU, going 6-of-10 from three-point range. Hooker had 20 points in the first half alone on his way to tying the second-most three-pointers ever made in KSU DI single-game history. The Simpsonville, S.C., native leads the ASUN averaging 19.1 points per game and is one of two players in the league with over 200 points scored.
» Redshirt junior Bryson Lockley kept his streak alive scoring 11 points against TTU to record his fourth straight game in double-figures. Over the current four-game span, he is averaging 12.3 points per game.
» Isaac Mbuyamba became the third Owl this season to break the 50-rebound mark, pulling down a team-high eight rebounds against TTU. As a team, KSU is averaging 37.1 rebounds per game which ranks fifth overall in the ASUN. Bryson Lockley and Kosta Jankovic rank fifth and ninth, respectively, in the league for rebounds per game.
» In addition to his eight rebounds, Isaac Mbuyamba recorded two blocks to give him 15 total on the year, making him one of five players in the conference with at least 15 rebounds. He is currently tied for fourth in the league averaging 1.4 blocks per game. The Owls average 3.5 blocks per game to rank third in the conference.

The Matchup
Elon enters Tuesday's game looking to pull out of their current four-game losing skid after dropping their most recent game to Canisius 92-91. The Phoenix are 3-8 overall on the year, having played two top 25 teams.

KSU and Elon have faced one another twice before with the Phoenix winning both previous meetings.

Elon is the top three-point shooting team in the Colonial Athletic Association averaging 11 made treys per game, a mark that ranks among the top-15 teams in the nation. Senior Tyler Seibring is a large part of the Pheonix scoring production shooting 41.2 percent from beyond the arc with 28 made treys to rank fourth in the league.

Three Phoenix are currently averaging over 10 points per game led by Siebring who is averaging 16.0 points per game.

Last Time Out
The Owls got back on the plus side, snapping a nine-game losing streak with the win over Tennessee Tech. Tyler Hooker found his stroke from beyond the arc netting a career-high six three-pointers to lead the team with 28 points.

The Owls came out firing to open the game, jumping out to a 10-3 lead at the 15:32 mark. TTU responded with a three-pointer, but Hooker answered immediately with his first trey of the day to begin a 7-0 run.

KSU built its lead to 15 points, its largest lead of the game, following yet another three-pointer from Hooker to make it 26-11 with 10:43 to play. The Owls kept their double-digit lead throughout the next few minutes as the two teams traded buckets. TTU closed out the half on a 9-3 run to pull within five, 41-36, heading into the locker room.

Both teams traded buckets to start the second half with senior Kosta Jankovic netting KSU's first four points. The Golden Eagles then went on an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 46-45, at the 14:48 mark. KSU answered with a 9-0 run of their own to regain the lead 54-46 with 12 minutes to play.

TTU crept back to within three points as the Owls went the next seven minutes without a made bucket. Freshman Antonio Spencer finally broke KSU's drought with back-to-back scores to make it 61-54 with 5:47 left to play.

After a three-point shot from TTU's Martin Malik tied the game at 61, the Owls proceeded to go on an 8-0 run capped off by a jumper from Hooker to lead 69-61 with just over a minute to play. The Owls held off TTU in the final seconds thanks to their free throw shooting, going 11-20 from the charity stripe in the second half, to record the victory. 

Make It Rain
Red-shirt junior Tyler Hooker has been lighting up the scoreboard this year, scoring 10 or more points in all but one game, and 20 or more points in four contests. In KSU's most recent game against Tennessee Tech, he poured in six three-pointers, the second-most treys made in a single-game in DI history, to log 28 points.

The Simpsonville, S.C., native leads the ASUN averaging 19.1 points per game and is one of two players in the league to have over 200 points on the year.

He also ranks among the conference's best at the free throw line with 54 made buckets at the charity stripe to rank second. Over the past six games, he has been lights out going 39-of-42 at the line.

Hooker set a new career-high this year with 30 points against Belmont. If he can continue at this pace, Hooker would rank among the top-10 single-season scorers all-time at KSU.

Now Boarding
The Owls have been big on the glass averaging 37.1 rebounds per game to rank fifth in the ASUN. The No. 2 and No. 5 teams in the league are separated by less than one rebound.

Bryson Lockley, Kosta Jankovic and Isaac Mbuyamba have all recorded over 50 rebounds on the year led by Lockley with 74. Lockley and Jankovic are two of the league's top-10 rebounders ranked fifth and ninth, respectively. Both Lockley and Jankovic have nearly doubled their production from last season.   

KSU's current 37.1 rebounds per game average would break the previous Division I single-season record of 35.9 set in 2016-17.

It's A Block Party!
Junior Isaac Mbuyamba wreaked havoc at Gardner-Webb with six blocks. Not only is that a new career-high for Mbuyamba, but it set a new Division I single-game record for KSU, falling just one block shy of the overall program record of seven set by Ron Ruffin in 1995.

Mbuyamba leads the team with 15 total blocks on the year after logging two against Tennessee Tech. He currently ranks tied for fourth in the ASUN for total blocks and blocks per game. The Portland, Ore., product has a shot at cracking the career block top-10 list this season with 42 blocks so far in his KSU career. Israel Brown (1989-93) currently holds the No. 10 spot with 58.

As a team, KSU ranks third in the conference averaging 3.5 blocks per game. At Gardner-Webb, the Owls recorded eight total blocks, tying the second most blocks all-time in a single-game at KSU. The Owls have recorded five or more blocks in the past two games, three times this year.

Freshman Antonio Spencer is another big factor in KSU's blocking prowess with eight on the year to rank tied for 12th in the conference.

Got It On Lockley
Redshirt-junior Bryson Lockley has been a huge piece for the Owls in his second season at KSU, scoring in double-figures the last four games, including two double-doubles in that span. Over the current four-game span he is averaging 12.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

The Houston, Texas native leads the team and ranks fifth in the ASUN averaging 6.7 rebounds per game.

Lockley has doubled his per game averages from last season scoring 7.5 points per game compared to 3.7 points a year ago. He is well on his way to shattering his point total from last year (103) with 82 points scored already this season.

In addition to that, Lockley is one of three players on the team with 15 or more assists (16), while ranked third on the squad for blocks (5). 

Seeing Double
Both Kosta Jankovic and Bryson Lockley set new standards on their way to recording double-doubles at Gardner-Webb. It marked the first time two Owls recorded a double-double in the same game since Aubrey Williams and Jordan Jones accomplished the feat against North Florida during the 2016-17 season.

Jankovic's double-double was the first of his career, logging a career-high 13 rebounds. The senior's 13 boards marked the most rebounds for an Owl since Aubrey William's 14 rebounds against Lipscomb on Feb. 23, 2017, a span of 41 games.

Lockley logged his second double-double in a three-game span, tying both of his career-highs with 15 points and 11 rebounds. 

You Go Ugo!
After pouring in a career-high 17 points in his debut game against Oglethorpe, freshman Ugo Obineke has become a major part of the KSU offense, earning his first career starts in the last four games.

Obineke is second on the team in scoring averaging 9.0 points per game, reaching double-figures in four games this year. He leads the team shooting 44.7 percent from the floor.

Free Money
The Owls have made the most of their chances at the charity stripe so far this season, making 144 buckets from the line to rank fifth in the ASUN.

In KSU's game against Eastern Kentucky, the Owls sank 31 free throws, a mark that is tied for third most all-time in a single-game. Against Gardner-Webb, the Owls recorded 20 made free throws, having sank 15 or more buckets from the line in the last three games.

After his six made free throws against TTU, Tyler Hooker currently ranks second in the conference with 54 made free throws on the year. Hooker ranks fourth in the league shooting 83.1 percent at the line. Over the past six games he has only missed three free throws for a 92.8 shooting percentage. 

Like The Energizer Bunny
Tyler Hooker and Bryson Lockley just keep going and going, running the floor for the Owls so far this year, averaging 36.7 and 33.5 minutes per game, respectively, to rank first and fourth in the conference. 

Protect The Nest
The Owls have done a good job of protecting their home court recording eight wins in each of the last three seasons. Before the 2015-16 campaign, KSU has only recorded eight home wins three times since joining Division I (2006-07, 2007-08 and 2009-10).

Looking Ahead
The Owls close out their homestand Thursday, taking on Southeastern at 4 p.m.

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