Monday, March 4
8 p.m. EST – No. 8 Kennesaw State (6-25, 3-13) at No. 1 Lipscomb (23-6, 14-2)
Location: Nashville, Tenn. | Allen Arena
Links: ESPN+ |
Live Stats
Game Notes: KSU
Top Storylines
» The Kennesaw State men's basketball team travels to Nashville to open the ASUN Tournament against No. 1 seed Lipscomb Monday night at 8 p.m. EST. The Owls secured a berth in the quarterfinals for the fifth straight season after downing Stetson in the regular season finale.
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Tyler Hooker was a major key in clinching a postseason berth, tying the DI single-game record with 36 points against Stetson to mark the third time this year he has scored 30 or more points. Hooker was named the ASUN Player of the Week for his performance against the Hatters.
» KSU's two seniors,
Kosta Jankovic and
Kyle Clarke, went out with a bang in the final home game of their careers. Jankovic netted all 15 of his points in the second half, including the game-winning free throws, while Clarke scored eight points and tied his career-high with seven rebounds.
» KSU has been huge around the rim all season, ranking third in the ASUN for rebounds per game (36.5) and fourth for blocks per game (3.4). Three Owls rank among the league's top-20 in both categories.
» Freshman transfer
Danny Lewis snapped his five-game double-digit streak with seven points against the Hatters. Lewis is the only other Owl, besides
Tyler Hooker, to average double-figures, averaging 10.3 points per game.
» After four seasons at the helm of the Owls, Head Coach
Al Skinner stepped down at the end of the 2018-19 regular season. Associate Head Coach
Michael Cotton was named Interim Head Coach for Monday's ASUN Tournament game.
The Matchup
Lipscomb enters Monday's ASUN Tournament quarterfinal as a heavy favorite after winning the ASUN regular season championship and earning the No. 1 overall seed over Liberty. The Bisons finished the regular season 23-6 overall and 14-2 in conference play.
The Bisons are the league's top-scoring team averaging 84.1 points per game, nearly 10 points more than North Florida who sits in second averaging 75.7 points per game. Monday's game will feature the conference's top-two scorers in Lipscomb's Garrison Mathews and KSU's
Tyler Hooker. The two guards are the only two players in the ASUN to average at least 19 points per game with Mathews leading the league averaging 19.8 points per game.
Mathews leads the league with 86 made three-pointers on the year, shooting 41.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Lipscomb's Eli Pepper and Kenny Cooper are two of the league's best off the ball. Pepper ranks fifth in the conference averaging 7.8 rebounds per game while Cooper is second for both assists (3.9) and steals (1.9) per game.
Last Time Out
Tyler Hooker tied the DI single-game record with 36 points as the Kennesaw State men's basketball team outlasted Stetson 83-82 for a dramatic senior night victory to clinch the final spot in the ASUN Tournament.
Hooker set the tone for the Owls early with a three-pointer to open the game. Stetson and KSU traded buckets before a 10-2 run gave the Owls a 15-6 lead at the 15:33 mark.
The Hatters pulled it close with an 8-2 run, but KSU managed to maintain its lead answering Stetson shot-for-shot. A quick 6-0 run for the Owls earned them their largest lead of the game, 34-22, with just under 10 minutes to play, but a 13-1 run brought the Hatters back within one, 36-35, with 5:37 to go.
Stetson earned its first lead of the night, 40-39, following a three-pointer from Leo Goodman. KSU eventually tied the game at 44, but three made free throws from the Hatters gave Stetson the lead at halftime 47-45.
The Hatters came out fired up to open the second half, netting back-to-back treys for an 8-0 run to push their lead to 55-46. After trading buckets throughout the early portion of the second period, KSU finally managed to make it a one possession ballgame, 66-64, following a 7-0 run.
The Owls retook the lead, 71-70, with nine minutes to go after a 7-0 run. The two teams proceeded to trade the lead with Stetson holding a slim 82-81 advantage with just under four minutes to play.
After a nearly three-minute scoreless drought for both teams senior
Kosta Jankovic earned a trip to the free throw line, draining both shots to give KSU an 83-82 lead with a minute to go. KSU fended off two three-point attempts from the Hatters in the final minute to record the win and book its ticket to the ASUN Tournament.
After scoring zero points in the first half, Jankovic was clutch down the stretch scoring all 15 of his points in the second half to secure the win
Hooked On Scoring
Tyler Hooker continued to take his game to another level in KSU's regular season finale, tying the DI single-game record with 36 points against the Hatters. Friday's game marked the third time this season Hooker netted over 30 points and the 11th time he has scored 20 or more. This year, he has failed to reach double-figures in only two games.
The Simpsonville, S.C., native currently averages 19.0 points per game to rank second in the ASUN. Hooker is one of two players in the league to score over 550 points this season with his 588 points placing him 31st in the nation.
After his 36 points against Stetson, Hooker jumped from ninth to fourth on the KSU single-season points scored record list. He needs just 12 points to become the fourth Owl in history to score over 600 points in a single-season.
Hooker hit the illustrious 1,000 career points scored milestone this year following his 23-point performance against Lipscomb. With 1,077 points and counting, Hooker needs just under 200 points to crack the all-time career record list with Israel Brown (1989-93) currently sitting in 10th with 1,268 career points.
Part of Hooker's success this year can be attributed to his accuracy from the free throw line, leading the league with 153 made buckets from the charity stripe, a mark that ranks 27th in the NCAA. Hooker is currently shooting 83.2 percent at the line to rank fourth in the conference.
Rounding out his stellar performance this season, Hooker ranks fifth in the league for both total assists (92) and total steals (47).
Bracketology
If the Owls can upset No. 1 seed Lipscomb Monday night, they would head to the winner of No. 4 FGCU and No. 5 NJIT for a semifinal matchup Thursday (Mar. 7).
This is KSU's fifth straight appearance in the ASUN Tournament. The Owls are 2-6 all-time in the conference tournament with their first win coming in 2010, KSU's first appearance in the postseason tournament. In 2010, the eighth-seeded Owls upset No. 1 Lipscomb 72-69 to reach the semifinals.
The Owls have made two appearances in the ASUN semifinals, once in 2010 and again in 2017.
The Block Is Hot
KSU has been dominating the rim lately recording three or more blocks in 10 of the last 12 games, including a program record 12 blocks against North Alabama.
Five Owls logged at least two blocks against UNA to help set the new single-game program record. KSU's 12 blocks is three stuffs shy of the ASUN single-game record.
Tyler Hooker and
Ugo Obineke each recorded career-highs with three and two blocks, respectively.
As a team, the Owls are fourth in the conference averaging 3.4 blocks per game, a mark that ranks among the top-10 in KSU DI single-season history. KSU has logged 105 total blocks this season, marking only the second time in the last eight seasons the Owls have hit the century mark for blocks. That mark is currently fifth on the DI single-season record list.
Isaac Mbuyamba leads the team and ranks seventh in the conference with 33 total blocks. After his three blocks at FGCU, Mbuyamba moved into a tie with Devon Kirksey (1997-98) for 10th on the KSU single-season record list.
With 60 blocks in his career, the Portland, Ore., product has jumped into a tie for ninth on the KSU all-time blocks list with Herman Smith (1986-90).
In KSU's recent game at Jacksonville, Mbuyamba logged his second game this year with five or more blocks, logging five stuffs to tie the previous DI single-game record. At Gardner-Webb Mbuyamba recorded a career-high six blocks to set the DI single-game record for KSU, falling just one block shy of the overall program record of seven set by Ron Ruffin in 1995.
Antonio Spencer has been another threat to opposing offenses, recording 26 blocks, 16 during league play, to rank ninth in the league.
Mbuyamba, Spencer and
Bryson Lockley are three of the 14 players in the league to record at least 20 blocks on the year.
Lockley has logged at least one block in seven of the last eight games, including a career-high four stuffs at North Florida to move into 11th with 21 blocks.
Now Boarding
KSU is currently averaging 36.5 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.
The Owls surpassed 1,000 rebounds on the season following their game against North Alabama. KSU has logged 1,132 rebounds this year to rank third on the DI single-season record list, marking only the fourth time in DI history the Owls have pulled down over 1,100 boards in a year.
The Owls recorded a season-high 51 rebounds in their 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 seventh in the conference averaging 7.1 rebounds per game while
Isaac Mbuyamba (5.2 rpg) and
Tyler Hooker (4.7 rpg) rank tied for 14th and 19th, respectively.
Three Owls have recorded 10 or more rebounds in a game this season with Lockley accomplishing the feat six times, followed by Mbuyamba three times and
Kosta Jankovic once.
Oh Danny Boy
Freshman transfer
Danny Lewis has found his groove as of late, netting 10 or more points in five of the last six games, nine of the last 11. At Liberty, Lewis went off for a career-high 27 points.
Lewis drained six three-pointers against the Flames, shooting a career-high 55.6 percent from the floor, to mark his second straight game with at least three made treys.
The Atlanta, Ga., native began conference play averaging only three points over the first three games, closing out conference play averaging 12.5 points per game over the final 13 games.
For the year, Lewis is averaging 10.3 points per game, joining
Tyler Hooker as the only Owls to average over 10 points per game. That average is good enough for 23rd in the conference.
After netting at least one three-pointer in 10 of the last 11 games, Lewis has moved into ninth in the league with a 36.7 shooting percentage from beyond the arc.
At The Stripe
The Owls have been one of the hottest shooting teams from the free throw line during ASUN play, shooting 73.1 percent at the line to rank second in the league.
On the year, KSU is fourth overall in the league for both made free throws (402) and free throw percentage (69.3). KSU has recorded 20 or more free throws in three games this year, including 31 against Eastern Kentucky, a mark that is tied for third most all-time in a single-game.
KSU's 69.3 shooting percentage from the free throw line this year would rank second on the DI single-season record list.
Tyler Hooker has been a major factor in the Owls production at the stripe, leading the conference with 153 made free throws on the year, one of four players with over 100 made buckets. That mark is good enough for 27th in the NCAA.
He is also ranked fourth in the league shooting 83.2 percent at the line. Hooker 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.
With 153 made free throws on the year, Hooker is currently ranked third on the KSU single-season record list. Hooker also ranks among the top-10 scorers for career made free throws, recording 281 free throws to rank eighth. This year he has made 10 or more free throws in three games.
Bryson Lockley has been another clutch shooter at the line with 77 made free throws to rank 11th in the league. Lockley is shooting 67.0 percent from the line to rank 16th in the league.
Skinner To Step Down Following Season
After four seasons at the helm of the Owls, Head Coach
Al Skinner stepped down following the conclusion of the 2018-19 regular season.
Skinner finished his tenure at KSU with a 41-81 record over his four seasons at KSU, leading the Owls to 25 wins from 2014-17, tying the best three-year stretch since moving to Division I (25 wins from 2005-08). The Owls best finish in the ASUN came during the 2016-17 season when KSU went 7-7 in league play to tie USC Upstate for fourth.
Looking Ahead
The Owls will either wrap up the 2018-19 campaign or travel to the winner of No. 4 FGCU and No. 5 NJIT for the ASUN Semifinals Thursday (Mar. 7).
