Wednesday, January 16
7 p.m.  – Kennesaw State (3-14, 0-2) vs Liberty (14-4, 3-0)
Location: Kennesaw, Ga. | Convocation Center
Links: ESPN+ | Live Stats | Radio
Game Notes: KSU | Liberty

Top Storylines
» The Kennesaw State men's basketball team welcomes ASUN newcomer, and current league-leader, Liberty Wednesday night for the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
» Tyler Hooker dropped 28 points in KSU's most recent game against Jacksonville, two points shy of his career-high. Hooker has scored 15 or more points in eight of the last nine games, leading the league averaging 19.1 points per game.
» Bryson Lockley is one of three players in the conference to record over 120 rebounds this season. Lockley ranks fifth in the league, averaging 7.3 rebounds per game, more than double his production from a year ago.
» The Owls are currently fourth in the conference averaging 36.6 rebounds per game, one rebound shy of Lipscomb in second, having recorded 35 or more boards in all but four games. If KSU can keep up the pace, that mark would break the KSU single-season DI record.
» Against Jacksonville, senior Kosta Jankovic hit double-digits for the fourth time in the last six games, including a career-high 22 points at Yale. He is currently second on the team averaging 9.8 points per game.
» KSU has recorded 11 or fewer turnovers in three straight games, its best three-game stretch. This season, KSU is averaging 14.2 turnovers per game, the fourth lowest mark in the conference.
» The Owls play some of the cleanest basketball in the league, averaging only 16.5 fouls per game to rank third in the ASUN and 50th in the NCAA. In fact, an Owl has fouled out of a game only three times this season.

The Matchup
The Flames are enjoying a tremendous start to their first season in the ASUN conference. Liberty is 14-4 on the year and a perfect 3-0 in league play, defeating last year's regular season champions, FGCU, in its conference opener 81-63. Wednesday's game marks the first ever meeting between the Flames and the Owls.

Liberty is the top-shooting team in the conference, shooting 50.5 percent from the floor, a mark that ranks eighth in the NCAA. The Flames hot-shooting extends beyond the arc, shooting 39.7 percent from three-point range to rank among the top-15 in the country (14th).

On the flipside, the Liberty defense has been notoriously stingy this year, holding opposing teams to an average of 60.4 points per game, the eighth lowest mark in the NCAA.

Redshirt junior Scottie James leads Liberty in both scoring and rebounding, ranking ninth in the conference averaging 12.6 points per game and third in the league with an 8.6 rebounds per game average. 

Last Time Out
The Owls opened their three-game homestand this past Wednesday, hosting Jacksonville. Tyler Hooker led the way for KSU netting 28 points, two shy of his career-high, but it was not enough to push KSU past the Dolphins as JU shot 58.3 percent in the game to win 90-70.

After a three-pointer to open the game from Jacksonville, the Owls and Dolphins traded buckets until an 8-0 run gave JU the lead, 13-4, at the 15:51 mark. Hooker finally snapped the run with a trey, but JU answered immediately with a three-pointer of its own.

The Owls battled back into it following a 12-0 run capped off by three points the hard way from Danny Lewis, making his first career start, to give the Owls the lead 19-18 with 11:48 to go. The two teams proceeded to trade buckets deadlocked at 27-27 until a quick 5-0 swing gave Jacksonville some cushion.

JU pushed its lead to as high as nine points, 40-31, following an 8-2 run capped off by yet another three-pointer. The Owls scored four of the final six points in the half to head into the locker room trailing 42-35. Both teams went 4-of-8 from three-point range in the opening period with JU shooting 63 percent from the floor and coming up big down low, outscoring KSU 24-8 in the paint.

After a back-and-forth start to the second half, Jacksonville began to run away with it going on a 17-0 run to lead 66-42 at the 12:52 mark. KSU cut the lead down to 66-48 with a 6-0 run, but that would be as close as the Owls would get the rest of the game as JU responded with a 10-0 run.

Hooker scored 17 of his 28 points in the second half to pace the Owls, who shot 35.3 percent from the floor in the second period compared to 54.4 percent for JU.

Got You Hooked
Red-shirt junior Tyler Hooker has been a sight to watch this year, filling up the stat sheet and the scoreboard. So far this season he has scored in double-digits in all but one game, 20 or more points in six contests, recording 15 or more points in eight of the last nine games.

Hooker set a new career-high this year with 30 points against Belmont before pouring in six three-pointers against Tennessee Tech, the second-most treys made in a single-game in DI history, to log 28 points. At NJIT, Hooker scored 15 straight points for the Owls spanning the end of the first half and the start of the second period.

The Simpsonville, S.C., leads the ASUN averaging 19.1 points per game and is one of two players in the league to have over 300 points on the year. He has now recorded over 300 points in back-to-back seasons.

He also ranks among the conference's best at the free throw line with 76 made buckets at the charity stripe to rank second. His 82.6 shooting percentage from the free throw line ranks fourth in the league.

If he can continue at this pace, Hooker would not only rank among the top-10 single-season scorers all-time at KSU in both total points and points per game, but he would record his 1,000th career point as an Owl. He has scored 813 career points heading into Wednesday's game.

Not done there, Hooker also ranks among the conference's best for steals (8th) and assists (11th).

Now Boarding
The Owls neared their season-high with 44 rebounds during their ASUN-opener at NJIT, marking the fifth time this season KSU has logged 40 or more boards. KSU is fourth in the league averaging 36.6 rebounds per game, trailing the No. 2 team in the conference, Lipscomb, by only one rebound.

KSU has the second-highest mark in the league for offensive boards, averaging 11.6 per game.

Against the Highlanders, both Bryson Lockley and Isaac Mbuyamba hit double-figures for rebounding. Lockley tied his career-high, set earlier this year, with 14 rebounds while Mbuyamba set a new career mark with 12 boards, the first time in his career he has logged 10 or more rebounds.

Three Owls are currently ranked among the conference's top-20 for rebounds per game. Lockley ranks fifth in the conference averaging 7.2 rebounds per game while Isaac Mbuyamba (5.3 rpg) and Kosta Jankovic (5.2 rpg) rank 15th and 17th, respectively.

KSU's current 36.6 rebounds per game average would break the previous Division I single-season record of 35.9 set in 2016-17.

On Lock Down
Bryson Lockley has been a huge piece for the Owls in his second season at KSU, recording three double-doubles so far this season.

During KSU's conference-opener at NJIT, he logged his third double-double of the year, tying his career-high with 14 rebounds, the most by any player in the league on opening day.

The Houston, Texas native leads the team and ranks fifth in the ASUN averaging 7.2 rebounds per game. He is one of three players in the conference to record over 120 rebounds on the year.

He has nearly doubled his scoring production from a year ago, averaging 6.5 points per game compared to 3.7 last season.

Lockley is one of two Owls, the other being Tyler Hooker, to record over 100 points (110), 25 assists (29) and 10 steals (10) on the year. He is also third on the squad for blocks with six.

From Long Distance!
KSU has picked up its production from beyond the arc as of late, recording six or more three-pointers in three of the last four games. To put that in perspective, before the current stretch the Owls had only accomplished that feat twice.

At Yale, Kosta Jankovic became the second Owl this season to record six three-pointers in a single-game, going 6-of-8 from beyond the arc. Jankovic did not miss his first three-pointer until halfway through the second half.

Only Tyler Hooker, 6-of-10 against Tennessee Tech, and Bobby Parker, 5-of-7 at Samford, have made five or more three-pointers in a game this year. Both Jankovic and Hooker's six made treys ties the second-most three-point field goals made in a single-game in KSU DI history.

Only two players in the league, JT Escobar of North Florida and Shadarac Casimir of FGCU, have recorded more three-pointers in a single-game.

Hooker is currently ranked 11th in the league with 28 made three-pointers this season. Jankovic is the team's most accurate shooter from three-point range, shooting 36.2 percent from the arc to rank 12th in the league.

Kosta Coast
Senior Kosta Jankovic is one of two Owls to score over 150 points on the year, averaging 9.8 points per game. Jankovic has netted 10 or more points in four of the last six games, including a career-high 22 points at Yale.

The Serbian international has hit double-digits in eight games this season.

Jankovic ranks among the ASUN's top-25 for rebounds (T-15th), assists (21st), points per game (24th) and made three-pointers (25th). 

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 18 total blocks on the year. He currently ranks tied for fifth in the ASUN for total blocks. The Portland, Ore., product has a shot at cracking the career block top-10 list this season with 45 blocks so far in his KSU career. Israel Brown (1989-93) currently holds the No. 10 spot with 58.

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 three times this year, and at least one block in all but three games.

Freshman Antonio Spencer is the only other Owl with 10 or more blocks this season, with 10 total to rank tied for 16th in the conference.

Free Money
The Owls have made the most of their chances at the charity stripe as of late, shooting 60 percent or better in nine of the last 10 games, sinking 10 or more in four of the last five games.

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.

Tyler Hooker currently ranks second in the conference with 76 made free throws on the year and fourth in the league shooting 82.6 percent at the line. He has not missed more than two free throws in a game all year, shooting less than 60 percent at the line once, going 1-of-2 at Samford.

Bryson Lockley is second on the squad with 42 made free throws to rank 12th in the conference. 

Like The Energizer Bunny
Three Owls, Tyler Hooker, Bryson Lockley and Kosta Jankovic, have long-lasting batteries averaging over 30 minutes per game. All three rank among the ASUN's top-10 for minutes per game.

Hooker ranks second averaging 35.2 minutes per game followed by Lockley (32.1) in sixth and Jankovic (30.0) in 10th.

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).

All three of KSU's wins this season have come in the Convocation Center.

Looking Ahead
Following Wednesday's game, KSU closes out its homestand against last season's regular season champions FGCU Saturday at 4:40 p.m. in KSU's faculty and staff appreciation game.

 

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