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Score: Kennesaw State 87, Carver College 40
Records: Kennesaw State (1-0, 0-0), Carver College (0-3, 0-0)
Key Players: Chris Youngblood (17 pts, 5-of-9 on three-pointers), Spencer Rodgers (13 pts, 4 rebs), Kasen Jennings (11 pts, 4 rebs, 3 asts, 3 stls), Alex Peterson (8 pts, 9 rebs), Terrell Burden (9 pts, 4 rebs, 4 asts), Armani Harris (7 pts, 7 rebs).
 
THE STORYLINE:
The Kennesaw State men's basketball team started off the 2020-21 campaign with a statement win, downing Carver College 87-40 Wednesday evening. Three Owls finished the night in double-figures led by freshman Chris Youngblood's 17 points as the Owls shot 52.3 percent from the floor, the first time KSU has finished shooting over percent since December of 2018.
 
ABDUR-RAHIM QUOTES:
On the win...
"It feels really good, but it's not so much about us, as much as it's about the people here in our department and the leadership at our University. It takes a lot of people getting their hands dirty and working hard to get us to this point, it's really a testament to AD Milton Overton's leadership, President Pamela Whitten's leadership. These young men that we have in this program have been really disciplined in doing the things we've asked them to do to get to this point. It feels really good to get a win, but it feels really good to have everyone share in this experience."

On Chris Youngblood...
"Early on I thought we did a really good job of sharing the ball, the ball didn't stick a lot. We got into a three-four minute span where, after he made those threes, we started settling for threes and not moving the ball as much. But the threes he made, he works his butt off. If you ever come into the gym at 8:30-9 o' clock he's in here shooting. It's the reason why he's ready to play and be successful in the games. But his teammates, they find him because they know the work he puts in and they trust him and he trusts them. I felt really good about where we were other than about four minutes in the first half and about three minutes in the second half. We're working for something bigger and better. And Carver, I thought they did a really good job of coming in, they had seven players playing hard, they were competitive. But we got to points where we were kind of lackadaisical with the ball, we had 13 turnovers and we can't have that many turnovers. He did a great job, the guys did a great job of finding him, and from there we were able to move the ball and we ended up with 14 assists in the game which was one of the big things we talked about."

HOW IT HAPPENED: 
The Owls jumped out in front as Jamie Lewis netted the first bucket of the season to spark a 12-0 run for KSU to open the game. Chris Youngblood sank the first of three straight treys to cap the run as the Owls pushed their lead to 20-4 at the 13:17 mark. Carver closed the gap to 10 with a quick 6-0 run, but that would be as close as the Cougars would get as KSU closed out the final seven minutes on a 14-2 run to lead 39-17 at the break.
 
Youngblood led all scorers with 11 points in the first half, going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. Defensively, KSU stifled the Cougars holding them to 22.9 percent shooting and 1-for-9 from three-point range.
 
KSU kept its foot on the gas to open the second half as Lewis drained a jumper before Spencer Rodgers netted the Owls fifth triple of the night. The Owls pushed their lead to 30 points, 49-19, behind a layup from Lewis with 17:09 still to play. After a quick back-and-forth, KSU continued to pull away as a dunk from Brandon Stroud opened a 13-1 run to make it 70-27 with just over eight minutes left. Carver managed to cut the lead to under 40, but an 11-1 run, featuring six points from Kasen Jennings, in the final three minutes put the Owls on top 87-40 at the final buzzer.

NOTES
- KSU set Division I single-game records for fewest points allowed (40) and largest winning margin (47).
- Chris Youngblood's five three-pointers fell two shy of the single-game record.
- The Owls out-rebounded Carver 50-32, marking just the second time in the last three seasons KSU has logged 50 or more rebounds. That mark is also five shy of the DI single-game record.
- 14 of KSU's 15 players saw action against Carver, with each Owl recording at least one point.
- The Owls' 14 assists marked the most dimes since KSU's last victory against Gardner-Webb in December of 2019.
- KSU forced 20 Carver turnovers.
- The Owls blocked six total shots, led by freshman Cole LaRue with two.

UP NEXT
The Owls will close out the week hosting Toccoa Falls this Saturday at 4 p.m.

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