Thursday, December 20
4 p.m.  – Kennesaw State (2-10) vs Southeastern (10-3. 5-0)
Location: Kennesaw, Ga. | Convocation Center
Links: ESPN+ | Live Stats | Game Notes | Tickets

Top Storylines
» The Kennesaw State men's basketball team closes out its three-game homestand Thursday hosting NAIA foe Southeastern at 4 p.m.
» The Owls dropped a hard-fought contest to Elon in their most recent outing with three Owls finishing in double-figures. marking the seventh time this season three or more Owls have hit double-digits in a game.
» Bryson Lockley hounded the glass for KSU against Elon accounting for nearly half of the Owls total rebounds, logging a career-high 14. It's the third-most rebounds in a single-game by any ASUN player this year. Lockley currently ranks fourth in the league averaging 7.3 rebounds per game.
» Redshirt-junior Tyler Hooker logged his 10th straight game in double-figures with a team-high 18 points against the Phoenix. He is averaging 19 points per game, nearly double his average from last season, to rank second in the conference.
» The Owls are one of the top blocking teams in the country averaging 3.5 blocks per game. KSU has recorded three or more blocks in the last three games, including a season-high eight at Gardner-Webb. Isaac Mbuyamba ranks fourth in the conference with 16 total blocks on the year.
» Senior Kosta Jankovic found his way back into double-figures against Elon, scoring a season-high 17 points, sinking three three-pointers to tie his career-high. Jankovic is second on the team averaging nine points per game, hitting double-digits five times this year.
» The Owls have started to find their shooting groove as of late, shooting over 40 percent from the floor in the past three matches.

The Matchup
Southeastern heads to Kennesaw for its first ever game against the Owls. The Fire are riding high after downing No. 13 Indiana Tech 80-78 in their most recent game. So far this year, Southeastern is 10-3 overall and 5-0 in The Sun Conference.

The Flames are coming off a 2017-18 season in which they claimed their first Sun Conference Tournament championship in program history. Southeastern was forced to replace their top two scorers from last year due to graduation.

Four players are currently averaging over 10 points for the Flames, led by senior Josiah Barsh who is averaging 17 points per game. Junior Dylan Causwell is another huge piece for Southeastern, leading the team in rebounds (7.9 per game) and blocks (nine) while averaging 12.4 points per game.

Last Time Out
Three Owls finished in double-figures as both Bryson Lockley and Tyler Hooker set career-highs with 14 and nine rebounds, respectively. Hooker flirted with a triple-double adding a team-high 18 points and six assists to go along with his nine rebounds.

Elon set the tone early, draining their first three attempts from beyond the arc, netting back-to-back treys to take a 15-8 lead over the Owls at the 15:10 mark. The Phoenix would miss their next four three-point attempts as KSU rallied to tie the game, 17-17, behind a 7-0 run.

Elon found their stroke once again, scoring three straight three-pointers to bounce back in front 26-19 with under nine minutes to play. Kosta Jankovic answered with a three-pointer of his own to spark a 7-0 run for KSU to tie the game up yet again at 28-28. The two teams traded buckets the rest of the half, with a pair of last second free throws from Isaac Mbuyamba sending KSU into the locker room trailing Elon by one, 37-36, at halftime.

Jankovic led the team with 11 points in the first half as KSU finished the opening 20 minutes shooting 50 percent from the floor.

The second half opened in similar fashion as Elon sank a three-pointer to open the scoring. KSU kept within shooting distance as the two teams went shot-for-shot in the opening minutes. The Owls got as close as two points, 55-53, following three straight jumpers from Hooker with under 10 minutes to play.

The Phoenix responded with another three-pointer followed by a 7-2 run to gain a nine-point cushion, 69-60, at the 3:53 mark. The Owls attempted to rally, but Elon was able to answer each KSU bucket to hold on and win.

Hooker scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, while Lockley logged 11 of his 14 rebounds during the second period. Elon finished the game 11-of-33 from three-point range.

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 ranks second in the ASUN averaging 19.0 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 seven 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 36.9 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 60 rebounds on the year led by Lockley with 88. Lockley has hit double-digit rebounds in three games this season, setting a new career-high with 14 against Elon.

Both 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 36.9 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 sets 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 16 total blocks on the year having recorded at least one block in the last three games. 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 43 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 13th 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 in four of the last five games, including two double-doubles in that span. Over the current four-game span he is averaging 11.2 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.

The Houston, Texas native leads the team and ranks third in the ASUN averaging 7.3 rebounds per game.

Lockley has doubled his per game averages from last season scoring 7.4 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 89 points scored already this season.

In addition to that, Lockley is one of three players on the team with 15 or more assists (19), while ranked third on the squad for blocks (5) and steals (7). 

Kosta Coast
Senior Kosta Jankovic became the second Owl to break the century mark in points scored this year (108) after netting a season-high 17 points against Elon, two points shy of his career-high.

Jankovic has hit double-figures in 14 games, during his career, five of those games coming this season. He currently ranks second on the team averaging nine points per game.

Against the Phoenix, he tied his career-high with three made three-pointers, accounting for a third of his production beyond the arc so far this season.

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 starts in the last five games.

Obineke is averaging 8.5 points per game, reaching double-figures in four games while leading the team shooting 43.9 percent from the floor.

Free Money
The Owls have made the most of their chances at the charity stripe so far this season, making 152 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, sinking 15 or more free throws in three of the last four 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 third in the league shooting 83.1 percent at the line. Over the past seven 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 37.0 and 33.3 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 will have the next week off for the holidays before returning to the court against in-state rival Georgia Tech. KSU and the Yellow Jackets will square off in Atlanta next Friday (Dec. 28) at 4 p.m.
 

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