Monday, November 11
7 p.m. ET  – Kennesaw State (0-2, 0-0) at Mercer (1-1, 0-0)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena
Links: ESPN+ | Live Stats
Game Notes: KSU | Mercer

Top Storylines
» The Kennesaw State men's basketball team returns to the Peach State to take on in-state rival Mercer Monday night at 7 p.m. The Owls are looking for their first win of the season as the two first-year head coaches, Amir Abdur-Rahim and Greg Gary, face off.

» Freshmen Terrell Burden and Armani Harris both recorded their first career double-digit games in KSU's last match at Drake with 10 points each. Harris, along with Antonio Spencer, also led the team with seven rebounds while adding one block and going 6-of-8 from the free throw line.

» Antonio Spencer continues to be a big presence for the Owls down low at the start of the season, leading the team with 15 total rebounds, a mark that ranks sixth in the ASUN. Spencer tied his career-high with three blocks against the Bulldogs to bring his season total to four, the third most in the conference.

» Redshirt senior Tyler Hooker is the only Owl to score in double-figures in both games so far this season. He logged 10 in KSU's season-opener before netting a team-high 12 at Drake.

» Sophomore Adili Kuerban netted a career-high seven points in KSU's game against Drake. The Santa Clarita, Calif., native also leads the team with five assists on the year.

» KSU hit the reset button this season with an all new coaching staff and the addition of seven new players. Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim was hired as the seventh head coach in KSU men's basketball history in April. A hometown product out of Cobb County, Abdur-Rahim rounded out his coaching staff with the addition of Associate Head Coach Ben Fletcher and assistants Pershin Williams and Tanner Smith.

» The Owls will be tested early and often with seven NCAA Tournament teams on the schedule, including four who made it to the second round of play. The 2019-20 slate also includes nine teams who finished last year in the top-100 RPI, six in the top-50, as well as 10 teams who won 20 or more games.

NEW YEAR, NEW LOOK
The Owls have a whole new look in 2019-20. With the addition of first-year Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, KSU looks to build a brand new foundation for the men's basketball team.

Abdur-Rahim and the new coaching staff hit the ground running in their first few weeks at KSU, inking Georgia standouts Terrell Burden and Armani Harris to the 2019-20 freshman class. Not done there, they added transfers John Ogwuche, Glenn Robinson II and Josh Leone before rounding out the squad with walk-on Bobby Miller.

The seven new additions will look to fill the void of the five players KSU lost from a year ago due to graduation or transfer. The Owls returned only three players who averaged over 20 minutes per game last season, redshirt seniors Tyler Hooker and Bryson Lockley and redshirt sophomore Danny Lewis who played only the second half of the season due to transfer rules.

SETTING THE TONE
Redshirt Sophomore Antonio "Tone" Spencer earned his first career start in the Owls' season-opener at Creighton. The Dallas, Texas native was a huge factor for KSU, tying his career-high with six points and a team-high eight rebounds. He also added an assist and logged one of the Owls' two blocks on the night.

He followed that performance up with seven boards at Drake while tying his career-high with three blocks.

Spencer currently ranks sixth in the ASUN for total rebounds (15) and third for total blocks (4).

He'll look to continue to elevate his game after ranking second on the team and eighth in the ASUN with 27 total blocks last year.

Spencer has seen a lot more minutes already this year, logging over 20 minutes played in both of KSU's games. Last season he recorded over 20 minutes four times in 32 appearances, averaging only 13.4 minutes per game in 2018-19. 

HOOK, LINE AND SINKER
Coming off an unprecedented 2018-19 season, Tyler Hooker is looking to continue that momentum into his final season at KSU. Hooker finished last season second in the ASUN averaging 19 points per game and so far, is the only Owl this year to average double-figures.

His 11 points per game over the first two games of the year is good enough for 18th in the ASUN.

The Simpsonville, S.C., product has scored in double-digits in every game except for two since the start of his redshirt-junior season. After reaching 1,000 career points scored last season, Hooker needs just 200 more points this year to crack the KSU career top-10. 

EYES ON THE FUTURE
The 2019-20 men's basketball roster is one of the youngest in recent history with 10 of 16 players either freshmen or sophomores. Of KSU's six upperclassmen, only Tyler Hooker and Bryson Lockley have played major minutes heading into the year.

Two of the Owls' most highly touted recruits, Armani Harris and Terrell Burden, enter the collegiate level coming off major prep careers. Harris was named First-Team All-Region and All-State his senior year at Newton High School, leading the Rams to a 22-8 overall record. The local talent averaged 19.7 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game during his senior campaign.

Burden, a four-year letter winner at Campbell High School out of Smyrna, Ga., was named the 2019 Region 2-7A Co-Player of the Year after averaging 23.2 points, 5.8 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game.

Both have already had an impact, averaging nearly 20 minutes per game so far this season. Harris has made an instant impression for KSU, totaling 14 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and a block across the Owls' first two games.

Burden meanwhile has dropped 16 points, 10 at Drake, to go along with two steals, two assists and five boards.

LOOKING AHEAD
Following Monday's showdown, the Owls will have a week off before returning to the court to host Reinhardt for their home opener on Monday (Nov. 18) night at 7 p.m.
 

Related Videos

Now Playing:

• Play Video