KSU at Indiana Box Score (PDF)
Follow KSU Men's Basketball - X | Instagram
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – For the second straight year, Kennesaw State went on the road to favored Indiana and silenced the crowd with a second-half lead thanks to stellar outside shooting, but the Hoosiers rallied with a big run to hold off the upset, handing the Owls an 100-87 setback in the final non-conference game for both teams on Friday night in front of 16,689 fans in Assembly Hall. The KSU trio of
Terrell Burden,
Simeon Cottle and
Jusaun Holt came just one point shy of having three players finish with 20+ points, as the three combined for 60 in pacing the Owls, but that was counted from Indiana with a career-high 34 points from Malik Reneau. With the loss, KSU finished the non-conference slate at 9-5, while the Hoosiers improved to 10-3.
STAT OF THE GAME: The Owls, shorthanded in the post after starting forward
Demond Robinson left the court with an injury at the four-minute mark and did not return, were outscored 52-26 in the post by the Hoosiers, who shot 61% (36-of-59) for the game.
STAT OF THE GAME #2: KSU stayed in the contest thanks to a season-best performance from three-point land. The Owls made 9-of-18 in the first half (50%) and 8-of-17 (47.1%) in the second half and finished 17-of-35 (48.6%) for the night. The 17 three-pointers are the third most in a game in school history, and the most since the team hit 18 against Toccoa Falls on Nov. 28, 2020.
THE TURNING POINT: The Owls trailed by 62-58 four minutes into the second half when a
Rongie Gordon layup started a 10-2 spurt for KSU. After Cottle tied the game with a pair of free throws, Indiana scored on the other end to go back up two. Cottle and Burden then drained back-to-back treys to give KSU its largest lead of the game, 68-64 with 13:16 to play. Indiana responded, going on a game-changing 21-3 run over the next seven minutes to take control of the contest.
THE FIRST HALF: Indiana raced out to an 18-8 edge, mostly thanks to a surprise three treys from Mackenzie Mgbako, who came into the game shooting 22.7% from three-point range. The Owls didn't back down, staying close to the Hoosiers thanks to hitting from deep themselves. After Indiana made the lead 44-34 with 3:49 to play, the Owls went on a 10-2 spurt, closing within 46-44 on a Burden layup, before going into halftime down 50-46.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH ANTOINE PETTWAY
"Hard fought game tonight, Indiana's a really talented group. I thought Reneau had an awesome game for them, but I still love the fight our guys gave tonight. We had great performances, individually and collectively as a team. We fought to the very end, and that's what I ask of them. We wanted games like this to prepare us for the ASUN, when you're in a one-bid league, conference play is what matters the most, we're happy to have nine wins at this point, wished we got a tenth tonight, but I still consider myself super lucky to be able to coach these guys."
NOTES
-The 87 points scored by the Owls is the most ever in school history against a Power Five school, topping the 80 points scored against Georgia Tech on Nov. 15, 2010.
-Cottle led the way for KSU with 21 points and six assists, while Burden followed with 20 points and nine assists. Holt also just missed a double-double, finishing with a career-high 19 points and a career-high nine rebounds.
-For the game, KSU shot 45.1% (32-of-71) from the floor and attempted just eight total free throws (6-of-8). IU meanwhile was sent to the line 33 times (21-of-33).
-The Owls forced 18 turnovers and finished with a 20-13 edge on points off turnovers.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls are off until Saturday, Jan. 6, when they will open up defense of their Atlantic Sun title when they host Queens at 5 p.m. in the Convocation Center.
