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KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State used two huge runs, including a 17-0 run midway through the game and a 14-2 run in the final minutes to rally past Eastern Kentucky for an 82-73 victory in front of a loud Convocation Center crowd Tuesday night in the First Round of the ASUN Men's Basketball Championships.
Playing in their first home game in the postseason since 2004, the Owls (13-17 overall) claimed a win in the ASUN tournament for the first time since 2017, and advance to Thursday's quarterfinals where they will face the top seed from the West, Jacksonville State, in a 7 p.m. (ET) contest in Jacksonville, Ala.
The 82 total points was the most ever scored by KSU in a postseason game, while the 57 second-half points is the most ever by the Owls in a half in postseason action. The Owls also posted the largest comeback in five years, as they trailed by 14 points late in the first half before rallying for the win.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: After scoring just three points in the first half, on the game's first basket, senior
Spencer Rodgers exploded for 19 in the second 20 minutes. He was key to the Owls' run to end the first half and start the second, scoring the first eight points after halftime in a 76-second span. He was just as big in the final run as well, again hitting back-to-back treys and adding a pair of free throws for another 8-0 person run. Rodgers finished the night with 22 points, just one under his season-high, and hit a career-high tying six three-pointers.
STAT OF THE GAME: KSU shot a blistering 67.9% from the floor in the second half. That included a 7-of-10 performance from three-point range, as KSU was able to offset the Colonels' three-point threat. EKU (13-18) came into the fourth in the nation in three-pointers per game at 11.7, but only finished with one more then the hosts on Tuesday (11-of-28 for EKU to 10-of-21 for KSU).
THE FIRST HALF: The Colonels could not miss to open the game, opening up a 13-3 lead less than four minutes into the contest. KSU started to find its shots, and closed within 17-14, but the threes kept falling for EKU, and its sixth of the opening half pushed the lead to 32-18 with 3:48 to play. KSU would not allow another point the rest of the half and would score seven unanswered to close within 32-25 at the break.
THE SECOND HALF: Following Rodgers eight consecutive points,
Demond Robinson added a dunk to give the Owls a 35-32 lead. A pair of treys gave the lead back to EKU, and it would be a tight contest for the next 14 minutes with neither team able to pull away. A three-pointer gave the Colonels a 68-66 lead with 4:50 to play. That would also be their final lead of the game.
Terrell Burden drained a pair of free throws and added a layup to start the Owl run. Rodgers' trey put KSU up 75-68, and after two EKU free throws, he drained another one to put the Owls ahead by eight. Two more free throws and a breakaway
Chris Youngblood dunk sealed the game, giving KSU a 12-point lead with 1:35 on the clock.
QUOTEABLE:
"I thought the first half they did a great job of coming out and putting us out of rhythm, though some of that was us ourselves. In the second half, we settled in, defended at a high level. Offensively, when we share like that and are aggressive, we can be pretty good. This was a testament to our coaching staff; they did a great job of talking to our guys at halftime about settling down and just being who we are. We made those adjustments and came out and played defense the way we did the last 13 minutes of the first half. The crowd really showed out tonight, we have to make this a regular thing. We were all really excited about them, they were loud, they cheered loud all night and we take our hats off to them."-
Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
NOTES
- This was the largest comeback victory for the Owls since the 2016-17 season, as KSU trailed Brewton-Parker by 21 in the first half before eventually winning 80-74 on Nov. 14, 2016.
- The Owls avenged their loss earlier this season to EKU, as the Colonels won on a free throw in the final seconds for an 82-81 win in triple-overtime in Richmond. This was the first win in the all-time series for KSU in five meetings.
- The last time KSU won a postseason game was an 80-78 win over USC Update in the 2017 ASUN Quarterfinals. The Owls lost to top-seed FGCU in the semifinals.
- KSU improves to 3-8 all-time in ASUN tournament play.
- This was the largest win margin for KSU in ASUN tournament history, as its previous two wins were by two and three points.
- Three Owls finished in double-figures, as Robinson set a new career-high with 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Burden added 15 points along with eight assists and four steals.
- KSU shot 50.9% (28-of-55) for the game, and held the Colonels to just 38.8% (26-of-67).
- EKU leads the conference in both turnover margin and steals, but finished with just a +1 margin on Tuesday, while the Owls held the edge in steals 6-4.
