Follow KSU Men's Basketball - Twitter | Instagram
RICHMOND, Ky. – It was a tale of two halves on Saturday night for Kennesaw State, as the Owls were hot from the floor to open up a nine-point halftime edge, before Eastern Kentucky would hit 52% of its shots after halftime to rally past the Owls for a 77-74 victory in ASUN men's basketball action from the Baptist Health Arena. Despite having its school-record eight-game win streak snapped, KSU (18-7 overall) still remains in a tie for first place in the ASUN at 10-2 thanks to Liberty's road loss at Lipscomb. EKU meanwhile improved to 12-1 on its home court and are just one game back in third place in the conference at 9-3 (16-9 overall).
STAT OF THE GAME #1: The Colonels forced 17 turnovers while committing 13 and more importantly outscored KSU by a 21-12 margin on points off turnovers.
STAT OF THE GAME #2: EKU came into Saturday ranked dead-last in free throw percentage at 64.4% but would shoot a season-best 88.9% at the line, missing just three total attempts (24-of-27). The Owls meanwhile finished 17-of-25 for 68%.
OWL OF THE GAME: Despite the loss, Terrell Burden played an outstanding game for the Owls. The senior guard recorded his first career double-double with a game-high 16 points and a season-high 10 assists, which are tied for the sixth-most in a game in school history. He also added four steals for KSU.
THE FIRST HALF: After falling behind early on Thursday night, the Owls jumped out to a big early last against the Colonels. KSU scored the first eight points of the game, and took a 21-8 advantage on a Demond Robinson jumper with 10:44 to play. EKU made runs to cut the edge down with a constant full court press but the Owls were able to draw enough fouls to hold off the home team. KSU would take a 43-34 advantage into the halftime break. KSU finished the half shooting 15-of-26 for 58%, while the Colonels made just 11-of-30 for 36.7%.
THE SECOND HALF: EKU came out on first to start the second half, hitting its first seven shots from the floor along with going 3-of-3 at the line to close with 54-52 just under seven minutes into the game. KSU lead 56-53 when the Colonels reeled off a 17-6 run over the next five minutes to go up eight, 70-62 with 5:32 to play. The Owls didn't flinch, scoring on three consecutive possessions to close with 70-68. KSU then got the ball back with a chance to tie, but had two straight shots blocked, the second of which was turned into a fast break dunk for EKU. The Owls were whistled for a foul on the basket, leading to a three-point play and a five-point lead. Again KSU fought back, scoring four straight to close within 73-72 with 12 seconds to play. EKU sank four-of-four at the line in the final 11 seconds though to seal the win.
POST-GAME QUOTES
KSU HEAD COACH AMIR-ABDUR-RAHIM
Reaction on coming one basket short of a road sweep on the Kentucky ASUN teams - "I know the heart of my guys, I know the character of my guys. Not for one second did I think that game was over when they went up eight. We've been thought a lot, a ton of adversity, we've been in situations like that before where we folded in past years. I knew we would battle back, but this is part of becoming a championship program, where you go through nights where things don't go your way. Now it's going to be how do we respond, how do we bounce back, how well does our connection stay? I think it's going to stay because again, I know the heart of my guys and I know the character of our guys.
On the play of Terrell Burden this week - "Terrell is a warrior. The growth that he's shown not only on the court with his performance but what he does for us from a leadership standpoint. Right not he's in there heartbroken because he thinks he let his guys down by not making that last shot. But we told him we are with you on everything you do, we are going to live and die with you. Really proud of his performance but it doesn't surprise me and I'm going to go ahead and say it, he was maybe the biggest steal in the state of Georgia the past four years."
NOTES
-This was the first loss for the Owls since an 89-86 loss at North Florida on Jan. 5. Both of KSU's league losses have been by just three points each.
-Brandon Stroud joined Burden in posting a double-double as he finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
-Also in double-figures was Chris Youngblood with 12 and Robinson with 10.
-The Owls held a 38-30 edge on the boards, and both teams finished with nine steals each.
-KSU made 5-of-10 from three-point range in the first half, 2-of-10 in the second for an overall 35% performance (7-of-20).
-The Owls shot 44.6% overall (25-of-56) for the game, while EKU was 24-of-55 for 43.6%.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls will play back-to-back games against travel partner Jacksonville State, starting with a Thursday night, 8:30 p.m. contest in Jacksonville, Ala., in a game streamed live on ESPN+. JSU will then make the return trip to Kennesaw for a Saturday, Feb. 11 contest in the Convocation Center at 5:00 p.m.
