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KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State countered a hot shooting Stetson squad by dominating inside the paint and on the boards, and took control of the game late by scoring seven of the final eight points to claim a 75-71 Senior Night victory in ASUN Conference men's basketball action Wednesday from the Convocation Center. This was the first sweep by the Owls.
With the victory, the Owls improved to 7-8 in conference action and have essentially clinched a first-round home game in next month's ASUN Tournament. This will be the first-ever postseason game hosted by the Owls in the school's Division I history. KSU (12-16 overall) is alone in fourth place in the East division and will host the fifth-seed from the West on Tuesday, March 1 in the Convocation Center.
This was the first season sweep for the Owls in four years, as KSU also claimed a win in Deland, Fla., back on Jan. 15. The last time the Owls swept an ASUN team was in the 2017-18 season against USC Upstate.
STAT OF THE GAME: Not only did KSU dominate the boards with a 40-28 margin, the Owls took advantage of their extra chances on offense. Their 14 offensive boards led to a 21-5 advantage on second chance points. That helped fuel KSU's overall 38-22 edge on points in the paint.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: KSU's best response to the long-range shooters from the Hatters was
Chris Youngblood. The sophomore paced the Owls with a team-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. That included 4-of-7 from three-point range, while he grabbed seven rebounds, as well as a game-high four offensive boards.
FIRST HALF: Stetson could not miss from three-point range in the first half, knocking down 9-of-14 from behind the arc. Four treys over a four-minute stretch sparked a Hatter run that turned a five-point KSU advantage into a 34-29 Stetson lead with 3:54 to play in the half. Stetson went up by six with seven seconds to play, but the Owls would call a timeout to set up a last second jumper from
Spencer Rodgers to close KSU within 41-37 at the break.
SECOND HALF: The Owls trailed by at least two possessions for the first eight minutes of the half. A 6-0 run, which was sandwiched by two key baskets from
Isaiah Reddish on his Senior Day, brought KSU within 58-56. It was a tight battle the rest of the way, and after Stetson took its last lead with 3:32 to play at 70-68, Reddish would tie the game on the other end with a dunk. The Owls then went 5-of-6 at the line over the final two minutes while forcing five missed shots and two turnovers to claim the victory.
QUOTEABLE:
"Really proud of our team tonight, I think that game gave us every bit of adversity it could. They've done a great job this year of not breaking when things got tough, and we finished strong tonight. In this league, there are a bunch of good teams and Stetson shot really well in the first half. Despite being down at the half, we came out with good energy, and we did a great job in the final four minutes, to not allow them any good looks, while our execution on the other end to get to the free throw line and convert was big for us."-
Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
NOTES
- It was a balanced scoring effort once again for KSU.
Terrell Burden (14) and Reddish (11) joined Youngblood in double-figures, while all nine Owls that played on Thursday scored for KSU.
- The Owls shot 50.9% (27-of-53) for the game, 41.2% (7-of-17) from three-point range, but struggled at the line, hitting just 58.3% (14-of-24).
- Stetson shot 43.3% (26-of-60) for the game. In the second half however, the Hatters were limited to 37.9% (11-of-29) and just three-of-11 from behind the arc.
- KSU's seven total ASUN wins are the most since the 2016-17 squad finished at 7-7.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls are on the road to finish the regular season, with a Saturday, Feb. 26 contest at Liberty in Lynchburg, Va., with a 1 p.m. start.
