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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Kennesaw State rode a big team defensive effort and a career-performance from sophomore
RJ Johnson to claim its fourth straight victory, 81-65, on Saturday afternoon in Conference USA men's basketball action at Western Kentucky in E.A Diddle Arena. With their first-ever road victory at WKU, the Owls moved to 12-6 overall and 4-3 in CUSA action, putting them in a three-way tie for third place. The Hilltoppers fell to 11-7, and also 4-3 in the conference with just their second home loss of the season.
STAT OF THE GAME: Kennesaw State was imposing on defense, holding WKU to a season-low 29.4 field goal percentage from the floor (20-68). The Owls also limited the home team to 30.3% (10-of-33) from three-point range, while they owned the boards as well with a 49-40 advantage.
OWL OF THE GAME: Johnson was unstoppable on offense for the Owls, as he scored a game and career-high 31 points while adding nine rebounds and five assists to just one turnover. He also added two blocks in the win, and was 11-of-13 at the free throw line, including 8-of-8 in the second half.
THE FIRST HALF: Johnson got the Owls off to a strong start, scoring seven in the first four minutes of the game to give KSU an early 9-7 lead. Both teams shot well to start the half, until the Owls started to pick it up defensively, especially in the paint. After allowing the Hilltoppers to make 5 of their first 12 shots, KSU limited them to just five of their next 19, finishing the game at 32.3% (10-of-31). That make a huge impact in the final six minutes as after WKU went ahead 27-26, the Owls reeled off the next 10 points of the game, going up 36-27 on a three-point play from Johnson. Four straight points from freshman
Amir Taylor gave KSU its largest lead of the half at 43-31 in the final minute, before the Hilltoppers ended the half with a trey to make it a nine-point game at the break.
THE SECOND HALF: WKU opened the with 10 straight points, making it a 13-0 run when adding in the final trey of the first half. That put the Hilltoppers up 44-43 with 16:26 on the clock. Johnson countered with five straight for KSU, while Teagan Moore converted a three-point play with 14:36 to play to make the score 48-47. Johnson scored on a layup to put KSU back up three, and then the Owl defense took over, forcing the Hilltoppers to miss their next 13 straight field goal attempts, over a seven-minute stretch. KSU took advantage by going on an 11-1 run to open up a 61-49 lead with eight minutes to play. Coming up big in that run was reserve guard
Jaden Harris, who scored his first career points as an Owl, knocking down a pair of treys one minute apart while Johnson added one as well from long range. A trey from WKU closed the deficit to nine, but
Frankquon Sherman scored six unanswered to put the Owls back up 15. Back-to-back threes brought the Toppers within 11, before KSU made eight straight free throws for a 19-point lead with a minute to play.
POSTGAME QUOTES – HEAD COACH ANTOINE PETTWAY
"I'm super proud of the resilience of this group. These brothers banding together, we came out in accomplished our mission on the road. A lot of different guys, made a lot of big contributions in the game. We're proud of this entire group on staying focused and staying committed and believing in fight. Go Owls!"
NOTES
- The 16-point victory was the second-largest win margin ever for KSU in a CUSA road game, while also snapping a three-game road losing streak.
- Sherman posted his team-high fourth double-double of the with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
-
Braedan Lue and
Amir Taylor both finished with nine points each, while
Kaden Rickard and Harris finished with eight each.
- KSU shot 40.7% (24-of-59), and 36.9% (11-of-30) from three-point land.
- After making just 8-of-13 at the line in the first half, KSU connected on 14-of-16 in the second for 76% overall for the afternoon.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls will go on the road again next week for a two-game, five-day trip to Texas and Louisiana. First up will be a Wednesday, Jan. 21 contest at Sam Houston in Huntsville, Texas. The game will tip off at 7:30 pm (ET) and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
The Owls Fund
The Owls Fund is the primary fundraising arm of Kennesaw State Athletics with the goal of supporting our student-athletes, coaches and each of our 18 NCAA Division I programs. Through initiatives such as Legacy Lockers, the Dot Martin Scholarship Golf Classic, sport-specific giving opportunities, general donations and season tickets, The Owls Fund connects fans with KSU's programs and student-athletes. Members receive exclusive benefits such as hospitality seating areas and events at Kennesaw State home games, and more. Join The Owls Fund here and discover more opportunities on how you can support Kennesaw State Athletics.
