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KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State recovered from a slow start, opening the second half on a 20-2 run on the way to 99-56 victory over LaGrange in the Owls' season opener on Monday night in men's college basketball action from the Convocation Center. KSU won its home opener for the third-straight season while scoring the seventh-most points in a game in school history.
OWLS OF THE GAME: Senior
Terrell Burden and junior
Chris Youngblood picked up right where they left off a year ago, as the two combined for 39 points in just 45 combined minutes of action to pace KSU. Youngblood led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-5 from three-point range, while grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. Burden meanwhile flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting while also collecting seven rebounds and seven assists.
STAT OF THE GAME: KSU shot 63.3% in the second half (19-of-30) from the floor, including 7-of-15 (46.7%) from three-point range, on the way to scoring 57 points. The Panthers meanwhile were held to just 19 points.
THE FIRST HALF: LaGrange kept knocking down shots to open the contest, and took advantage of KSU's struggles from outside to open up a seven-point edge, 22-15, with 8:53 to play in the half. A 12-3 run from the Owls, which featured three treys and a conventional three-point play, would tie the game at 27-27, and KSU took the lead for good on a Burden jumper with five minutes to play. The Owls took a 42-37 lead into the halftime break.
THE SECOND HALF: KSU kept up the momentum going, scoring 20 of the next 22 points to go up 62-39 with 13:58 to play on a jumper from
Alex Peterson. Another large spurt, this time 24-6 over six minutes, gave KSU a 40-point advantage.
QUOTEABLE:
"Not the first half we wanted, though some of it was expected, the first time we've played in front of a crowd this season, we had a little nervousness and overthinking. Really proud of how we responded though and felt we got back to our brand of basketball. I thought our ball energy was really good tonight, we shared the ball well, defensively our ball pressure was on, to the point where we were doing what we had practiced. And our bench energy was really good in the second half as well."-
Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
NOTES
- This was the first time the schools have played since the 1995-96 season, and first with Kennesaw State as a Division I school. LaGrange still leads the all-time series 13-7.
- KSU's 99-point scoring outburst is the seventh-highest in program history. Other notable stats included made field goals at 36 (tied for eighth-most), and a 59% field goal percentage (fifth-highest).
- LaGrange was held to just 21.2% (7-of-33) shooting in the second half, and 33.9% (21-of-62) for the game.
- All 12 scholarship players that dressed out scored for the Owls on Monday night.
- KSU newcomers Simeon Cottle and Quincy Ademokoya had impressive debuts for the Black and Gold. Cottle, a freshman from College Park, Ga., scored 11 points in his first collegiate game, while Ademokoya, a transfer from Temple, added eight points.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls will be on the road as they will face Florida for the first time in school history on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. in Gainesville.
