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AMES, Iowa – Kennesaw State gave the host Iowa State squad all it could handle Tuesday night in the season opener for both teams, until foul trouble and too many turnovers caught up to the Owls in an 84-73 loss at the Hilton Coliseum in men's college basketball action.
Though the Owls never led, they had several chances late in the first half to go ahead. The second half meanwhile saw the Cyclones go ahead by 17 at one point. That's when the Owls showed they are not the team from a year ago, reeling off a 13-2 run to climb right back into the contest, and KSU was within six points with under four minutes to go. ISU would eventually pull away thanks to several timely long-range jumpers to claim the 11-point win.
FIRST HALF RECAP: Both teams struggled at the start, as the only two baskets in the opening three minutes were a pair of ISU treys for a 6-0 lead. The edge was 14-8 in favor of ISU when Spencer Rodgers drained a trey and added a jumper for a 5-0 spurt to bring KSU within one. The Owls would be as close as one five more times in the opening stanza, the last at 28-27 thanks to another Rodgers jumper. Then came what was perhaps the deciding phase of the game, as KSU turned the ball over on eight of its final 10 possessions of the half, including six of seven at one point. That allowed the Cyclones to slowly extend out to a 37-29 halftime advantage.
SECOND HALF RECAP: The lead for ISU hovered between 6-12 point sfor the first seven minutes after halftime, and it was a 10-point game, 52-42, when Rodgers was whistled for a foul and a technical, giving him five for the game and sending him to the bench. The Owls at first struggled without their top scorer for a year ago, falling behind by 17, 62-45 with 9:50 to play. KSU though showed its fight, scoring the next 10 points of the game. Three different players scored during the run, including Jamir Moultrie as the transfer from NC Central drained back-to-back fast break three-pointers to bring the Owls within 62-55. KSU cut the lead down to six three times, but on the second and third time, ISU responded with a three-pointer both times. The final time came after Nate Springs hit a try from the top of the key to make the score 73-67. The Cyclones answered with a three of their own for a nine-point edge, and the Owls came no closer than eight the rest of the way.
STAT OF THE GAME: A total of 57 fouls were called in the game, 31 on Iowa State and 26 on Kennesaw State. The Owls lost both Rodgers and Moultrie to foul trouble, while the Cyclones lost a total of three themselves, though only one was a starter.
OWL OF THE GAME: Terrell Burden paced the Owls with a game-high 21 points on 4-of-8 shooting, while he drained a career-high 13 free throws (out of 19 attempts).
QUOTEABLE - "Really proud of our guys tonight, to come on the road in a Big 12 environment against a good team, we showed some fight, we showed togetherness. We did a really good job of playing our style defensively, and offensively with our tempo. To get 74 points on the road, that's a good thing. There's no moral victories, but I was proud that we had some adversity, and we didn't lay down, we fought and finished the game playing hard." - KSU Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
NOTES-
- Four Owls finished in double-figures in scoring. Joining Burden was Chris Youngblood with 16 along with a career-high eight rebounds, while Rodgers and Moultrie both notched 12 each.
- KSU shot 43.5% for the game (20-of-46), was 35% from three-point land (7-of-20), and 72/2% at the charity stripe (26-of-36).
- The Owls held a slight 31-29 edge on the boards and recorded 11 steals, but turned the ball over 24 times as well.
- KSU's 73 points was the most it has scored in a road game since an 82-73 loss at Stetson on Feb. 2, 2019.
NEXT TIME OUT: KSU stays in the Midwest as the Owls traveled after the game to Omaha to face the Creighton Bluejays on Thursday, Nov. 11 at 8:30 pm (ET) in a game televised on FS1.
