Box Score
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. – After trailing by 14 in the first half, Kennesaw State stunned first-place New Mexico State as the Owls finished the game on an 18-2 run over the final six minutes to claim their first-ever road win in Conference USA play, 69-56 over the Aggies on Thursday night from the Pan American Center. The Owls moved to 12-7, 4-2 in league play with their third straight win, while NMSU fell to 11-8, 4-2 in CUSA.
OWL OF THE GAME: Sophomore forward Frankquon Sherman came off the bench to post his first double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
STAT OF THE GAME: After going cold from the floor in the first half, the Owls scorched the nets in the second half, hitting 16-of-30 (53.3%) from the field and 50% (6-of-12) from three-point range against the top field goal defense in the conference. KSU also turned it up defensively in the second half, limiting the home Aggies to just seven total field goals after halftime, and 21.9% shooting (7-of-32).
THE FIRST HALF: It was the Owls that couldn't buy a bucket at the start of the game, and they were held to just four total points in the opening eight minutes, both off dunks, and trailed 20-8 with eight minutes left in the half. An 8-0 run, capped by a trey from Ricardo Wright, brought the Owls within 20-16, but that was quickly answered by three straight treys from NMSU. The 9-0 run made it a 29-16 contest with under five to play, and another three-pointer gave the Aggies their largest lead of the game, 34-20 with 2:35 on the clock. Layups from Simeon Cottle and Wright cut the edge to 10 going into the break.
THE SECOND HALF: A Braedan Lue jumper and another from Delaney Heard started a 19-7 run for KSU coming out of halftime. With the score 41-36 in favor of NMSU, Heard's two free throws began a 7-0 run, with a pair of makes at the line from Adrian Wooley putting the Owls up 43-41 with 12:16 on the clock. The lead would change hands twice and the score was tied four times over the next six minutes. After Adrian Wooley drained a three for a 51-48 advantage for KSU, NMSU scored the next six points, going up 54-51 with 6:01 on the clock. The Aggies would not score again for over four minutes. A three-point play from Wooley tied the game, while Cottle drained a pair of threes and Heard added a steal and layup along with a three-pointer to cap a run of 14 unanswered, making the score 65-56 with 1:38 to play.
POSTGAME QUOTES – HEAD COACH ANTOINE PETTWAY
"I'm super proud of my team, they continue to fight and believe and that was the difference tonight. Great character win for our team, felt like the guys dug deep to get a road win in a hostile environment against a well-coached team. New Mexico State is a veteran group that plays the right way, so it was a great challenge for us but our guys kept playing and stayed together. We were able to get stops after stops and then our shots started to fall. I just loved our overall grit on the defensive end tonight. In the second half, we had great efforts from Frankquon and Delaney. Both of those guys are winners that make winning plays routinely every single day and so we trust them and know what to expect from them. They are all about the team and about Kennesaw State, and so happy to see the success they had tonight for us."
NOTES
- The 14-point deficit was the largest the Owls have overcome for a victory since an 88-81 win over Liberty on Feb. 16, 2023 in Kennesaw in which KSU also trailed by 14 points.
- Wooley has scored 20+ points in eight of the past 10 games as he finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting.
- Also in double-figtures was Cottle with 11, while Heard and Sherman both finished with 10.
- KSU shot 43.3% (26-of-61) for the game, and was 10-of-14 (71.4) at the line. NMSU meanwhile was just 30.8% (20-of-65) form the field, and 7-of-12 at the charity stripe for 58.3%.
- The Owls held a 40-31 edge on the boards, leading to a 15-10 advantage on second chance points.
- KSU recorded 10 blocks in the game. The last time the Owls had double-digits in blocks as a team was 11 against UNC Asheville in an overtime win on Dec. 5, 2023.
- For the second straight game, senior Andre Weir recorded five blocks, which are tied for the second-most ever in a game in KSU's D1 history and just one off the all-time record.
- This was the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls stay in the Southwest as they will face UTEP in El Paso, Texas on Saturday night. The game will tip off at 9 p.m. (ET) and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
