Thursday, January 24
7 p.m. EST  – Kennesaw State (3-17, 0-5) at North Alabama (7-14, 4-2)
Location: Florence, Ala. | Flowers Hall
Links: ESPN+ | Live Stats
Game Notes: KSU

Top Storylines
» The Kennesaw State men's basketball team heads to Florence Thursday to take on ASUN newcomers North Alabama in the first meeting since 2003 when both programs played at the Division II level.
» Tyler Hooker maintained his status as the No. 2 overall scorer in the conference after netting a team-high 18 points at Lipscomb. Hooker has hit double-figures in 14 straight games, averaging 18.6 points per game.
» Bobby Parker has earned his first career starts for KSU over the last three games, netting 10 or more points in three of the last four contests. In league play, he ranks second on the team averaging 9.4 points per game.
» The Owls have come up big at the free throw line, netting 264 buckets from the charity stripe, tied for third most in the league. In conference play, the Owls are shooting 74.0 percent from the line to lead the league.
» Isaac Mbuyamba broke the 20 block mark this past Monday, swatting three shots at Lipscomb to bring his season total to 21. The junior has logged 20 or more blocks in back-to-back seasons and is currently ranked fifth in the conference for total blocks.
» Bryson Lockley has been right on par with his rebounding average the last two games, securing a team-high nine boards against FGCU followed by seven at Lipscomb. Lockley ranks sixth in the conference averaging 7.2 rebounds per game.
» As a team, KSU is currently ranked fourth in the league averaging 35.9 rebounds per game, a mark that would tie the KSU single-season DI record.

The Matchup
The Lions are looking to bounce back Thursday night after snapping a four-game winning streak at Liberty this past Monday. UNA's loss to the Flames dropped it to 4-2 in the ASUN and 7-14 overall.

In their first Division I season, the Lions have taken the league by storm standing at third overall in the ASUN. North Alabama is under the direction of first year head coach Tony Pujol who took over after two seasons as an assistant coach at Wyoming.

Freshman Jamari Blackmon has been a force for the Lions leading the team in points scored, assists and steals. Blackmon ranks fifth in the league for points per game (15.5), sixth for assists (56) and third for steals (33). On the boards, Emanuel Littles is fourth in the conference averaging 7.8 rebounds per game.

Last Time Out
A tremendous defensive effort kept last season's ASUN Tournament champions in check Monday night, but the Owls could not hold on as Lipscomb got hot late to pull away and down KSU 86-57.

After a steal and a jumper from Bryson Lockley opened the game, the Bisons (14-4, 5-0) jumped ahead with a quick 7-0 run. After buckets from Isaac Mbuyamba and Tyler Hooker pulled KSU (3-17, 0-5) back within three, 9-6, at the 15:26 mark, the Owls went nearly seven minutes without a field goal.

KSU kept it close utilizing the free throw line and some stout defensive play to keep Lipscomb's lead within single-digits despite going cold from the floor. Kyle Clarke finally broke the drought with just under nine minutes to play to make it 20-12, but an 8-3 swing gave the Bisons a 13-point lead, their largest of the half, 28-15.

A 6-0 run for the Owls, capped off by a dunk from Antonio Spencer, brought KSU back within 10, 33-26, with over three minutes to go. The two teams then proceeded to trade trips to the free throw line to close out the half with Lipscomb leading 41-33. Both squads made 12 buckets from the charity stripe in the first half with KSU going 12-of-15 from the line.

Bobby Parker opened the second half with a three-pointer, but Lipscomb responded with a 10-2 run to push its lead back to double-figures, 52-39, with 16 minutes to go. KSU recorded the lone bucket over the next four minutes, before the Bisons began to heat up from beyond the arc.

Lipscomb went 5-of-5 from three-point range over the next few minutes to extend their lead to 74-45 at the seven-minute mark. The Bisons maintained that lead the rest of the way, answering KSU shot-for-shot in the final minutes, shooting 55 percent from the floor in the second half.

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 10 or more points in all but one game, 20 or more points in six contests.

The Simpsonville, S.C., native ranks second in the ASUN averaging 18.6 points per game and is one of two players in the league to have over 350 points on the year. He has now recorded over 300 points in back-to-back seasons.

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. In KSU's conference-opener at NJIT, Hooker scored 15 straight points for the Owls spanning the end of the first half and the start of the second period.

He also ranks among the conference's best at the free throw line with 95 made buckets at the charity stripe to lead the league. His 83.3 shooting percentage from the free throw line ranks third 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 860 career points heading into Thursday's game.

Not done there, Hooker also ranks among the conference's best for steals (T-4th) and assists (T-16th).

Free Money
The Owls have been on fire from the free throw line shooting 70 percent or better in three of the last four games, sinking 10 or more in the last six games. In conference play, KSU leads the league shooting 74.0 percent at the line.

The Owls are tied for third in the league with 264 made free throws.

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 leads the conference with 95 made free throws on the year while ranked tied for third shooting 83.3 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 only once, going 1-of-2 at Samford.

He needs only 21 more made free throws this year to crack the single-season record list. For his career, Hooker has made 223 free throws, just two buckets shy of Delbert Love (2011-15) for 10th on the career free throws made record list.

After tying his career-high, going 6-of-7 from the stripe against Lipscomb, Bryson Lockley ranks eighth in the league with 57 made free throws on the year. 

Now Boarding
KSU held firm at No. 4 in the ASUN for rebounding after logging 31 boards against Lipscomb. So far this year, the Owls are averaging 35.9 rebounds per game, a mark that would tie the DI single-season record set in 2016-17.

KSU has recorded 30 or more rebounds in all but three games this year.

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. 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 sixth in the conference averaging 7.2 rebounds per game while Isaac Mbuyamba (4.9 rpg) and Kosta Jankovic (4.7 rpg) rank 16th and 19th, respectively.

Double Parked
Junior transfer Bobby Parker has stepped his game up during conference play, hitting double-digits in three of the last four games. Parker is second on the team, 23rd in the league, averaging 9.4 points per game in conference play, compared to 6.5 points per game during the non-conference slate.

The Crete, Ill., native made his way back into the starting lineup for the first time since KSU's season-opener, starting the last three games. 

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. Over the past two games, he has been within shooting range of recording his fourth double-double of the year, recording seven points and nine rebounds against FGCU followed by 10 points and seven boards at Lipscomb.

During KSU's conference-opener at NJIT, he logged a double-double by tying his career-high with 14 rebounds, the most by any player in the league on opening day, while adding 11 points.

The Houston, Texas native leads the team and ranks sixth in the ASUN averaging 7.2 rebounds per game. He is one of five players in the conference to record over 140 rebounds on the year.

He has nearly doubled his scoring production from a year ago, averaging 6.8 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 (135), 30 assists (33) and 10 steals (12) on the year. He is also third on the squad for blocks with six.

It's A Block Party!
Junior Isaac Mbuyamba has wreaked havoc at the rim this year, leading the team with 21 blocks to rank fifth in the ASUN. He is one of only five players in the league to record 20 or more blocks on the year.

In KSU's recent game at Lipscomb, he logged three blocks marking the sixth time this season he has recorded two or more blocks in a game.

At Gardner-Webb Mbuyamba recorded a career-high six blocks to 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.

The Portland, Ore., product has a shot at cracking the career block top-10 list this season with 48 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 four or more blocks six times this year, and at least one block in all but three games.

Freshman Antonio Spencer tied his career-high with two blocks against Liberty and is currently ranked 13th in the conference with 13 total blocks.

Looking Ahead
The Owls briefly return home for a midweek showdown with North Florida next Wednesday (Jan. 30) at 7 p.m.

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