Wednesday, February 6
7 p.m.  – Kennesaw State (4-19, 1-7) at Jacksonville (10-14, 3-6)
Location: Jacksonville, Fla. | Swisher Gym
Links: ESPN+ | Live Stats
Game Notes: KSU

Top Storylines
» The Kennesaw State men's basketball team opens the second half of ASUN play Wednesday night, taking on Jacksonville at 7 p.m. to close out its two-game road swing through Florida.
» Bryson Lockley was one point and one rebound shy of recording back-to-back double-doubles in KSU's last game at Stetson, logging nine points and nine boards. He has recorded at least nine rebounds in four of the last five games to rank fifth in the conference averaging 7.5 boards per game.
» The Owls recorded 40 rebounds against the Hatters, marking the seventh time this year KSU has logged 40 or more rebounds in a game. On the year, KSU is averaging 36.8 boards per game to rank third in the league. That mark would break the all-time DI single-season record at KSU.
» Bobby Parker and Danny Lewis have been on fire as of late, recording 10 or more points in four of the last five games. The duo combined for seven of KSU's eight made three-pointers at Stetson. In ASUN play, Parker is averaging 11 points per game while Lewis averages 8.8.
» Antonio Spencer has been on a tear recording at least two blocks in the last three games to jump to 10th in the league with 20 total blocks. Isaac Mbuyamba leads the team with 23 blocks to put him in a tie for sixth in the league.
» Tyler Hooker extended his double-digit scoring streak to 21 games after netting a team-high 18 points at Stetson. Hooker has recorded at least 15 points in four straight games, including a career-high 33 at North Alabama. He currently ranks second in the conference averaging 19 points per game.

The Matchup
Jacksonville and KSU square off to open the second half of the ASUN season. The Dolphins won the first meeting this year, 90-70, in the Convocation Center. Since that game, JU has gone 2-5 to bring its conference record to 3-6, 10-14 overall.

Jacksonville has two of the ASUN's top-10 scorers in JD Notae and Jace Hogan. Notae is sixth in the league averaging 15.4 points per game while Hogan is ninth averaging 12.9. Notae also ranks in the league's top-10 for assists (4th), steals (3rd) and rebounds (9th).

Sophomore Jalyn Hinton is another big threat for the Dolphins, leading the conference with 50 blocks on the year. Four Dolphins rank among the league's top-15 shot-blockers as Jacksonville leads the conference averaging 5.5 blocks per game.

As a team, JU ranks third in the conference shooting 45.9 percent from the floor for the season. The Dolphins are also the fourth highest scoring team in the league, averaging 75 points per game.

Last Time Out
Three Owls scored over 15 points, led by Tyler Hooker's 18, while Bryson Lockley was within spitting distance of back-to-back double-doubles at Stetson, but the Hatters pulled away thanks to a hot-shooting second half to down KSU 92-75.

Danny Lewis got the Owls going with a three-pointer to open the game, but Stetson responded with a 9-0 run to lead 11-5 with 15 minutes to play. After trading buckets, a dunk from Bryson Lockley followed by a trey from Bobby Parker made it a one-basket game, 15-13, halfway through the period.

The two squads continued to trade buckets until back-to-back jumpers from Antonio Spencer and Tyler Hooker put the Owls in front 26-25 at the 5:30 mark. KSU and Stetson traded the lead six times over the next three minutes until a three-pointer from the Hatters sparked a 9-0 run to close out the half for Stetson. Hooker's last second buzzer-beating three-pointer pulled the Owls within five, 39-34, at the half.

Parker led the way for KSU, recording 10 points and seven rebounds in the opening period.

Hooker kept it rolling to open the second half with KSU's first four points as the Owls went on a 6-2 run to pull within one point, 41-40, in the opening minutes. The Hatters answered with an 8-2 run of their own to gain some cushion, eventually pushing their lead to double-figures, 55-44, at the 13:12 mark.

KSU chipped away at Stetson's lead, getting as close as four points, 62-58, following a jumper from Lockley with under nine minutes left. That would be as close as the Owls would get as Stetson proceeded to go on a 13-2 run to lead 83-67 at the 3:39 mark.

Three Hatters recorded 10 or more points in the second half as Stetson shot 58.3 percent for the period to earn the final score of 92-75.

Got It On Lock
Bryson Lockley has done it all for the Owls this season, recording his fourth double-double of the year in KSU's game against North Florida, nearly earning his fifth at Stetson with nine points and nine rebounds. He has recorded at least nine boards in four of the last five games, averaging 10 points and 9.2 rebounds over that span.

Against UNF, Lockley scored a career-high 17 points to go along with 12 rebounds, the fifth time this season he has recorded at least 10 boards.

The Houston, Texas native leads the team and ranks fourth in the ASUN averaging 7.5 rebounds per game. In conference play, that average jumps up to 8.8. He is one of four players in the conference to record over 170 rebounds on the year.

He has nearly doubled his scoring production from a year ago, averaging 7.3 points per game compared to 3.7 last season. This season he has scored in double-figures in seven games, compared to only two games during the 2017-18 campaign.

Lockley is second on the team with 41 assists on the year, good enough for 26th in the league. He is one of two Owls, the other being Tyler Hooker, to record over 100 points (168), 40 assists (41) and 10 steals (15) on the year. He is also third on the squad for blocks with seven.

Balling Out
Red-shirt junior Tyler Hooker has been on another level this season, scoring 10 or more points in all but one game, 20 or more points in seven contests. In KSU's recent game at North Alabama, he netted a career-high 33-points, his second game this year with 30 or more points, falling just three points shy of tying the KSU DI single-game record.

The Simpsonville, S.C., native ranks second in the ASUN averaging 19.0 points per game and is one of three players in the league to score over 400 points on the year, recording over 300 points in back-to-back seasons.

In ASUN play, Hooker is averaging 20.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, logging five or more rebounds in all but two league games.

If he can continue at this pace, Hooker would become just the fifth Owl in DI history to average over 19 points per game in a single-season. Hooker also has the chance to rank among KSU's top-10 single-season scorers all-time for total points.

So far in his career, Hooker has logged 926 points as an Owl, putting him within range of joining the illustrious 1,000-point club before the season is over.

Not only is he deadly from the floor, but he has been lights out at the free throw line, leading the league with 115 made buckets from the charity stripe while ranked fifth with an 83.3 shooting percentage.

Rounding out his stellar performance this season, Hooker also ranks among the conference's best for steals (6th) and assists (T-9th).

Heating Up
New additions to this year's roster, Bobby Parker and Danny Lewis have stepped up their games during conference play, hitting double-digits in four of the last five games.

In conference play, Parker is second on the team, 17th in the league, averaging 11.0 points per game, compared to 6.5 points per game during the non-conference slate. Over the past five games, Lewis is averaging 12.2 points per game after averaging only three points throughout the first three games of league play.

Parker has been the Owls best three-point shooter in conference play, netting 13 buckets from beyond the arc to rank tied for 14th.

Both Parker and Lewis have become regular starters for the Owls after getting the nod against Liberty.

At The Stripe
The Owls have been one of the hottest shooting teams from the free throw line during ASUN play, shooting 70 percent or better in five of the last seven games. In conference play, KSU is second in the league shooting 73.0 percent at the line.

The Owls are fifth overall in the league with 309 made free throws, having made 10 or more free throws in nine straight games. KSU has recorded 20 or more free throws in three games, including 31 against Eastern Kentucky, a mark that is tied for third most all-time in a single-game.

KSU's 68.2 shooting percentage from the free throw line would rank among the top-10 DI single-season performances.

Tyler Hooker leads the conference with 115 made free throws on the year, one of two players with over 100 made buckets. He is also ranked fifth in the league 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.

Hooker broke the century mark on the year after going 13-of-14 from the charity stripe at North Alabama, tying his career-high set earlier this season against EKU. He needs only one more made free throw to tie Herman Smith (88-89) for 10th on the KSU single-season record list.

Following the UNA game, Hooker broke onto the top-10 career made free throws list, surpassing Delbert Love (2011-15) for 10th with 243 made buckets. This year he has made 10 or more free throws in three games.

Bryson Lockley has been another clutch shooter at the line with 66 made free throws to rank eighth in the league. 

Now Boarding
So far this year, KSU is averaging 36.8 rebounds per game to rank third in the ASUN. If maintained, that average would set a new DI single-season record previously established in 2016-17.

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

The Owls pulled down a season-high 51 rebounds in their recent game at North Alabama. That total is the second-most rebounds in a single-game, just four boards shy of the KSU DI record, while marking only the third time in DI history that the Owls have secured 50 or more rebounds.

Three Owls are currently ranked among the conference's top-20 for rebounds per game. Lockley ranks fourth in the conference averaging 7.5 rebounds per game while Isaac Mbuyamba (5.2 rpg) and Tyler Hooker (4.7 rpg) rank 16th and 19th, respectively.

Three Owls have recorded 10 or more rebounds in a game this season with Lockley accomplishing the feat five times, followed by Mbuyamba twice and Kosta Jankovic once.

It's A Block Party!
Freshman Antonio Spencer has been dominating the rim as of late recording two or more blocks in three straight games, including a career-high three blocks against North Florida. Spencer and Isaac Mbuyamba are two of 10 players in the league to record at least 20 blocks on the year.

Mbuyamba leads the team with 23 blocks to rank sixth in the ASUN while Spencer is 10th with 20 total.

Spencer and Mbuyamba have combined for 43 of KSU's 66 total blocks on the year.

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

We'll Take That
The Owl defense played havoc in their recent game at North Florida recording 15 steals while forcing 24 turnovers. Three Owls finished with at least three steals with Isaac Mbuyamba and Danny Lewis setting career-highs with four swipes each.

KSU's 15 steals marks a season-high while tying the second-most swipes in a single game in KSU DI history. The last time the Owls recorded 15 or more steals in a game was against Truett-McConnell in November of 2013.

The Owls' 24 turnovers forced is another season-high and marks the first time since February of 2016 that KSU has forced 20 or more turnovers. North Florida finished the game shooting 34.4 percent from the floor, its worst shooting percentage this season.

Like The Energizer Bunny
Tyler Hooker and Bryson Lockley have long-lasting batteries ranking among the ASUN's top-10 for minutes per game.

Hooker ranks second averaging 35.8 minutes per game followed by Lockley in seventh averaging 31.5 minutes per game.

Hooker has played 40 or more minutes in five games this season.

Looking Ahead
The Owls return to the Convocation Center Saturday to host NJIT in the annual Pink Day game slated for 4:30 p.m.
 

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