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KENNESAW, Ga. – Playing a third game in six days finally caught up to Kennesaw State, as the Owls came out flat on offense, allowing North Alabama to go on a game-deciding 18-2 run to end the first half in an eventual 71-58 loss Saturday night in the Convocation Center in ASUN Conference men's basketball action. The loss dropped KSU to 9-11 overall, 4-3 in league action while UNA moved to 9-12, 2-6 in the conference.
Though all nine Owls that saw action scored in the game,
Chris Youngblood was the only one in double-figures with 13, along with a game-high eight rebounds. UNA meanwhile was paced by freshman Daniel Ortiz with a game-high 21 points.
STAT OF THE GAME #1: The Owls were averaging eight made three-pointers a game in ASUN play coming into the contest with UNA. On Saturday, they were held to just 3-of-12 (25%), including 1-of-6 in the opening half. The Lions meanwhile knocked down four of their eight attempts from downtown in the opening 20 minutes.
STAT OF THE GAME #2: KSU had been averaging just under 10 turnovers a game, but finished with 12 against the Lions. More damaging, UNA was able to turn that into a 16-6 edge on points off turnovers.
STAT OF THE GAME #3: The Owls earned 21 trips to the free throw line but were unable to take advantage, converting just 11-of-21 for 53.8%. UNA finished 7-of-10 for 70%.
FIRST HALF: A very competitive first half saw a total of 11 lead changes, with KSU taking an early charge thanks to two early baskets from
Brandon Stroud and
Spencer Rodgers, two players that had been held scoreless on Thursday. Youngblood added a jumper to give KSU a 6-3 edge at the 16:44 mark. Both teams then used a pair of runs at each other to keep the momentum changing, with the Owls taking their largest lead of the half at 25-21 thanks to a 7-0 spurt, capped by two Youngblood free throws with 6:32 to play.
UNA then took over with an 11-0 run over a 1:48 span, as back-to-back-to-back treys put the visitors up 32-25.
Isaiah Reddish stopped the run with a pair of free throws, but UNA then ended the half with the final seven points for a 39-27 advantage.
SECOND HALF: The Owls opened the second half on a 5-0 spurt, with
Demond Robinson's free throw bringing KSU within 39-32 at the 17:45 mark. The hosts were never able to come any closer than seven in the final stanza. That included three times in the final six minutes, in which every single one was answered by a Lion three-pointer, layup for free throws.
QUOTEABLE:
"I think there is an excitement that each elite team plays with, and tonight we didn't have that excitement, and North Alabama did. Three games in six days, four games in eight days, that's part of college basketball, we knew the schedule and we gave into a little bit of fatigue. They did a really good job of driving the ball. We needed to be better with pace on offense. We want a point a possession on offense. Tonight our guards didn't have pop, we played slow on offense and that led to slow on defense."
– Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
NOTES
-The next highest scorer for KSU was
Jamir Moultrie with nine off the bench, while Stroud added eight points and seven rebounds.
-KSU was held to its lowest shooting performance in ASUN play at 40% on 22-of-55 from the floor.
NEXT TIME OUT: KSU concludes its four-game homestand on Monday, Jan. 31 when it hosts Liberty in a rescheduled contest at 7 p.m. in the Convocation Center. It will be Youth Sports Night for KSU, and kids all encouraged to wear their youth sports jersey to the contest. All kids 12 and under will also receive free admission to the contest.
