Friday, November 22
8:30 p.m. ET  – Kennesaw State (0-3, 0-0) vs Monmouth (1-4, 0-0)
Links: ESPN3 | Live Stats

Saturday, November 23
6:00 p.m. ET  – Kennesaw State (0-3, 0-0) vs Iona (0-2, 0-0)
Links: ESPN3 | Live Stats

Location: Lake Buena Vista, Calif. | ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
Game Notes: KSU | Monmouth

TOP STORYLINES
» The Kennesaw State men's basketball team heads to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex this weekend as one of four teams to represent the ASUN in the ASUN/MAAC Challenge this Friday and Saturday. This weekend will mark the first time the Owls have squared off with Monmouth and Iona on the hardwood.

» The redshirt senior duo of Tyler Hooker and Bryson Lockley currently lead the team averaging 12 and 10 points, respectively, across KSU's first three games. Hooker has netted double-figures in all three contests so far and is ranked 12th in the ASUN for points per game.

» Antonio Spencer has been a welcome presence for the Owls in the paint this season, starting in every game so far this year, his first career starts. The sophomore leads the team and ranks among the conference's top-10 for both rebounding and blocks. He currently sits in eighth for rebounds per game (7.0) while tied for seventh for total blocks (4).

» The freshmen have stepped up in the early part of the season with both Terrell Burden and Armani Harris averaging 7.3 points per game. Harris is second on the team averaging six rebounds per game while Burden leads the squad with four steals. Walk-on freshman Bobby Miller had a coming out party at Mercer with six points, six bs and two assists in 21 minutes of action.

» KSU is making the most out of their chances at the charity stripe, shooting 71.4 percent from the free throw line to rank second in the ASUN. Tyler Hooker has been a major factor in KSU's production, going 13-of-14 at the line to rank second in the conference for free throw percentage (92.9).

» 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.

SETTING THE TONE
Redshirt Sophomore Antonio "Tone" Spencer earned his first career start in the Owls' season-opener at Creighton and has started in each game since, leading the team in rebounds in two of the three games.

The Dallas, Texas native was a huge factor for KSU at Creighton, 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 eighth in the ASUN averaging seven rebounds per game while tied for seventh with four total blocks. 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, averaging 24.7 minutes per game across KSU's three games so far. Last season he recorded over 20 minutes only four times in 32 appearances, averaging 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 record double-digits in every game.

His 12 points per game over the opening stretch of the season is good enough for 12th 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. 

UP-AND-COMING
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 and have already had a major impact. Both newcomers are averaging over 20 minutes played through the first three games of the season.

Harris has made an instant impression in the paint, ranked second on the team and 12th in the ASUN averaging six rebounds per game. He is also averaging 7.3 points per game after recording the first double-digit game of his career with 10 points at Drake. 

Burden is also averaging 7.3 points per game after dropping 10 points against the Bulldogs. He has been a hustler off the ball as well with three assists and a team-high four steals to go along with 10 rebounds. He is the only guard so far this year to hit double-digit rebounds.

The Owls' final true freshman, Bobby Miller, saw serious minutes in KSU's last game at Drake and made the most of them. After logging only six minutes in the first two games of the year, the Buford, Ga., native was on the floor for 21 minutes against the Bears. Miller finished the game with six points, six rebounds and two assists. 

LOCKED DOWN
Redshirt senior Bryson Lockley has done it all so far this season, averaging 10 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He has also added two blocks, one assist and one steal so far this season.

Lockley is the Owls leading three-point shooter, going .333 from beyond the arc with four made treys.

Lockley did it all for the Owls last season as well, running the boards with a team-high 225 rebounds to place him seventh in the conference. He finished the season second on the team with 53 assists and was one of two players to capture at least 20 steals (21) and blocks (21). 

HOOKER NAMED PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE
Redshirt Senior Tyler Hooker was the sole representative for KSU on the ASUN's Preseason All-Conference Team.

A 2019 Second Team All-Conference selection, Hooker looks to cap off his career at KSU with a bang after leading the team in scoring last year, averaging 19 points per game. That mark was good enough for second in the conference, making him one of three players in the ASUN to net over 550 points on the year.

Originally from Simpsonville, S.C., Hooker also finished last season ranked in the top five in the conference for made free throws (2nd), free throw percentage (4th), assists per game (5th) and steals per game (5th).

He finished the season-opener with 10 points, two rebounds and two steals while logging 33 minutes.

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.

OWLS SIGN TOP-50 RECRUITING CLASS 
Ranked 42nd in the nation according to 247Sports, the Kennesaw State men's basketball team inked a loaded 2020 signing class.

The class, which features one four-star recruit, two three-star recruits, three Georgia products and a multitude of size and talent, will be the first for Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim.

The Owls add five players to the 2020 freshman class, including top Georgia prospects and East Coweta High School teammates Chris Youngblood and Brandon Stroud. With the addition of Langston Hughes' Kasen Jennings, KSU adds three of the top-25 prospects out of the Peach State.

Rounding out the class are two big inclusions to the paint in Mayson Quartlebaum and Cole LaRue. Quartlebaum, who comes to KSU all the way from Lawrence, Kan., is the eighth-ranked recruit out of the Sunflower State and the son of Kansas men's basketball Director of Operations Fred Quartlebaum. LaRue is a 6-9 power forward out of Mobile, Ala. The No. 14 prospect out of Alabama, he helped guide McGill-Toolen High School to a quarterfinal berth in this past year's state tournament.

ROAD WARRIORS
The Owls will play 18 of their 11 games on the road this year. With only four home non-conference games the Owls will get their travel legs under them right away before hitting league play.

KSU will travel a long and difficult road before ASUN play 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.

LOOKING AHEAD
After This weekend's two games, the Owls will take a week-long break for the Thanksgiving holiday before heading tho North Carolina to face Elon (Dec. 2) and UNC Greensboro (Dec. 4).

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