By: Mark Wasik
2024-25 KSU Schedule | Season Tickets
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KENNESAW, Ga. – For the second time this season, the Conference USA Men's Basketball Player and Freshman of the Week both hail from Kennesaw State, as Simeon Cottle was named Player of the Week while Adrian Wooley is this week's Freshman of the Week, the conference office announced on Monday afternoon.
This is Cottle's second weekly honor of the season, while it's the third for Wooley in just the first five weeks of the season. KSU has now also claimed Freshman of the Week honors in four of the first five weeks in the Owls' first year in CUSA.
In the Owls' lone game last week, KSU found itself down nine with 12 minutes to play. Cottle and Wooley then took over the game, as they outscored Georgia State 21-14 by themselves the rest of the way for an 81-77 victory. A three from Wooley put KSU up 71-70, the first lead for the Black and Gold since the first half. Following a pair of free throws to put GSU back up, Cottle answered with a layup and two free throws to give KSU the lead for good, and he would score the Owls' final 10 points of the game, including making eight consecutive free throws in the last 2:38.
A 6-2 junior guard from College Park, Ga., Cottle scored 27 points against the Panthers for the second straight season. In addition to his late game heroics, he was on target the entire second half, scoring 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Cottle also made one of the biggest plays in the first half, converting a four-point play with under 20 seconds to go to bring KSU within three points going into halftime.
Wooley, a 6-5 freshman guard from Tuscaloosa, Ala., was sensational for the Owls as he played all 40 minutes and scored a team, game and career-high 28 points in rallying KSU past Georgia State for the second straight win in the series. He almost single-handedly kept KSU in the game in the first half, after scoring almost half the team's total first half points (17 of KSU's 36 first half points). He was 5-of-9 from the floor in the opening 20 minutes with three made treys, and finished 9-of-17 from the floor and 4-of-8 from three-point range. Both his nine made field goals and four made three-pointers were new career-highs.
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).
