Box Score
Follow KSU Men's Basketball - X | Instagram
RUSTON, La. – Thanks to one of its best defensive efforts of the season, Kennesaw State went on the road Thursday night and completely shutdown Louisiana Tech in a dominating 69-47 victory in Conference USA men's basketball action from the Thomas Assembly Center. The Owls complete a season sweep of LA Tech with the win, their first-ever series sweep in CUSA play, and moved to 15-10 overall, matching last year's win mark. KSU also moved to 7-5 in league play after handing the Bulldogs (17-8, 6-6) their worst home loss in 14 years, and just second at home this season.
STAT OF THE GAME: KSU limited LA Tech to under 35% shooting in each half, and a 34% mark overall for the game (17-of-50). The Owls meanwhile shot 46.2% (24-of-52), 40% on three-point shots (10-of-25).
OWL OF THE GAME: Freshman Jamil Miller broke out of a scoring slump by posting 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He knocked down a pair of threes in the game and grabbed six rebounds as well.
THE FIRST HALF: A steady run of outstanding defensive play and outside shooting pushed the Owls to an early lead, and back-to-back treys put the Owls up 16-6 with 13:30 on the clock in the first half. It was a true team effort in the opening 20 minutes, with four different Owls scoring four or more points. Louisiana Tech climbed back into the game thanks to some outside shooting of its own, hitting three in a five-minute stretch to fuel a 11-4 run. That closed the lead to 20-17, but the Owls responded with a dunk from Frankquon Sherman to go back up five. It was a five-point game with just over two minutes left when Simeon Cottle drained a three to spark a half-ending 11-0 burst by the Owls. KSU hit three treys during the run, including a three from Adrian Wooley at the halftime buzzer, giving the Owls a 39-23 lead.
THE SECOND HALF: The Bulldogs came no closer than 13 points after halftime. With KSU holding a 53-37 lead, Ricardo Wright provided a scoring burst off the bench, outscoring LA Tech by himself 7-2 over the next two minutes to push the lead past 20 for the first time at 60-39. Cottle scored the game's final four points to account for the final 22-point margin.
POSTGAME QUOTES - HEAD COACH ANTOINE PETTWAY
"Total team effort tonight. We said we were going to need everyone playing well to get a road win against a team like Louisiana Tech. I could go down a list of guys that stepped up tonight starting with Rongie Gordon with an amazing job guarding tonight, and then stepping up to hit down two early threes. Jamil Miller, was great to see him get back on track tonight, but it started with his defense. Frankquon Sherman, Braedan Lue, super proud of Ricardo Wright who made big shot after big shot after putting in the work during the week. We won the game tonight with our defense and our rebounding and our grit."
NOTES
- KSU's 22-point win margin is the most ever for the Owls in a Conference USA game. It's also the largest win margin in both a conference game and a road game since a 77-53 road victory at Stetson in Atlantic Sun Conference play on Jan. 15, 2022.
- The last time Louisiana Tech lost a game at home by 20 or more was a 72-30 loss to No. 25 Utah State on March 5, 2011.
- The 15 wins on the season are tied with the 2023-24 squad for the second-most wins in school history in KSU's D1 era.
- Cottle led all scorers with 19 points while adding five rebounds and four assists.
- Wooley also finished in double-figures with an outstanding all-around game of 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
- KSU held a 38-28 edge on the boards, which led to a 10-4 advantage on second chance points.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls move down to Texas to face Sam Houston on Saturday in a 3:30 pm (ET) contest in Huntsville. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
