Box Score | Postgame Interviews: Antoine Pettway – Adrian Wooley – Simeon Cottle
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ATLANTA – Kennesaw State's backcourt duo of Simeon Cottle and Adrian Wooley teamed up to outscore Georgia State 21-14 by themselves over the final 12 minutes to rally the Owls to an 81-77 victory in a Friday night battle between the two Atlanta Metro rivals in the GSU Convocation Center. With their second straight win over the Panthers, and first-ever on GSU's home court, the Owls improved to 7-3 overall.
OWL OF THE GAME: KSU had two players score 20+ points for the first time since the 2024-25 season finale, as Wooley scored a career-high 28 points on 9-of-17 shoot, 4-of-8 from three-point range while also adding four assists. Cottle meanwhile posted a season-high 27 points on 8-of-18 shooting and a perfect 9-of-9 at the free throw line. The 27 points by Cottle matched what he scored against the Panthers a year ago in KSU's 88-77 win in Kennesaw, which was at that point was a career-high.
STAT OF THE GAME: After taking a 61-51 lead with 13 minutes on the clock, GSU was shut down by the Owl defense. The Panthers were held to just five made field goals over its final 20 attempts while also turning the ball over seven times.
THE FIRST HALF: Georgia State started hot from the floor, knocking down its first six shots from the floor, including three from three-point land, while added in a pair of free throws for a 17-6 lead barely five minutes into the game. That was also the Panthers' largest lead of the night. The Owls climbed back into the game on a 11-1 run, and went up 27-25 on a Rongie Gordon layup with five minutes left in the half. GSU quickly responded, going on a 14-4 run of its own over the next four minutes. Down 39-31, the Owls got 1-of-2 from Wooley at the line, while Cottle completed a four-point play with 19 seconds on the clock to make it 39-36 game at the half.
THE SECOND HALF: Four three-pointers for GSU in the first six minutes after the break helped to push the edge back to 10 at 58-48. The Panthers' fifth three-pointer of the night, at the 8:20 mark, gave GSU a 66-58 lead. Cottle and Wooley then took over, as back-to-back baskets from Cottle along with a Wooley layup cut the deficit to two. After a GSU basket, Cottle and Jamil Miller drove in the lane for two more layups to knot the score at 68-68, while a three-pointer from Wooley gave UNLV the lead back at 71-70. The Panthers hit two free throws on the other end for a 72-71 lead with 3:54 on the clock. That was the final lead of the night for the home team, with Cottle again getting to the basket for a layup with 3:42 that put the Owls up 73-72. Cottle would go eight-of-eight at the line over the final 2:38 to seal the win.
NOTES
- This was KSU's first victory when trailing by double-digits in a game since an 80-77 win over Queens on Jan. 4, 2024. In that contest, KSU was down 13 points before coming back to win.
- The Owls shot 50% (15-of-30) from the floor in the second half, and were 26-of-61 for 42.6% for the game. KSU also made 20o-fo-27 at the free throw line for 74.1%.
- GSU was held to 40% (26-of-65) for the night, and made just 16-of-25 at the line for 64%.
- KSU won despite losing the battle of the boards 45-36. Second chance points were even however at 15-15.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls are off for over a week, before returning to action with a two-game road trip to California. KSU will start the trip by facing Santa Clara on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 10 pm (ET), and will then close out the week with a Saturday, Dec. 21 contest at San Jose State at 10:30 pm (ET).
