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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Despite a strong start to the game and one of its best shooting performances of the season, Kennesaw State suffered an 88-62 road loss to Wofford Sunday afternoon at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
The Owls (3-6) finished shooting 48.9% (22-of-45) from the floor. Turnovers hurt KSU on Sunday however, as the team turned it over 16 times. That helped give Wofford (6-3) an extra five shots from the floor, and an overall 23-9 edge on points off turnovers. The Terriers were also sent to the line 29 times on their home court and made 26 of those attempts for 89.7%. That ended up a +17 point advantage at the free throw line as KSU had less than half the attempts (9-of-13 for 69.2%).
The loss overshadowed an outstanding game from sophomore guard Chris Youngblood, who recorded his second career 20+ point game with a team-high 20 on 7-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-5 from three-point range.
FIRST HALF: KSU could not miss to start the game, connecting on its first five shots on the floor and holding onto the lead for the first six and a half minutes of the contest. Wofford managed to keep pace though, and took advantage of Owl turnovers to key an 11-0 spurt to go up 20-12 midway through the half. Five straight from KSU made it a three-point game, and the Owls closed within 32-20 on Youngblood's three-pointer with 2:49 to play. That was the final points of the half for KSU though. The Terriers scored seven unanswered to go up 39-30 at the break.
SECOND HALF: The teams traded baskets in the opening minutes of the second half, and KSU would keep within distance for the six minutes. Kasen Jenning's third straight basket for the Owls made the score 51-41 with 13:59 on the clock. A three from the home team started a 13-1 run, capped by a four-point play for a 22-point advantage. KSU came no closer than 15 the rest of the way.
QUOTEABLE: "Before the game we talked about this game was going to be about who imposed their will in two areas. How well we took care of the ball and on the offensive glass, if we could create second chance opportunities. If you look at the box score, we had six offensive rebounds for two points, but turned it over 16 times for 23 points. They got 10 offensive rebounds for 12 points Anytime you go on the road and give up 35 points between turnovers and offensive rebounds it's going to be hard to win, especially against a good program like Wofford. We need to get better in those areas, and understand what it takes to win on the road and learn from this loss." – Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
NOTES
-Also finishing in double-figures for KSU was Spencer Rodgers with 12, 10 in the first half, and Jennings with 11 off the bench.
-Both teams were impressive from long range, with the Owls knocking down 9-of-19 (47.4%) and Wofford finishing 10-of-25 (40%).
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls are back home for a Saturday, Dec. 11 contest against Voorhees College at 1 pm in the Convocation Center, in a game that had originally been slated for a 4 pm start.
