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KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State jumped out to a 25-point halftime lead and held off Delaware's late offensive flurry as the Owls claimed a 90-82 Senior Day victory in Conference USA men's basketball action on Saturday night from VyStar Arena. KSU moved to 18-11 overall with the victory and stand alone in fourth place in the conference at 10-8. The Blue Hens dropped to 9-20, 5-13 in CUSA action.
OWL OF THE GAME: Jaden Harris saved his best game of the year for his Senior Day, as he led the Owls in scoring for the first time this year with 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting, highlighted by a 6-of-10 performance from three-point range. He also added five assists and a pair of steals in the victory while going 4-of-4 at the free throw line.
STAT OF THE GAME: The Owls shot a season-high 57% from the floor, going 29-of-51, while also finishing 10-of-23 at the three-point line.
THE FIRST HALF: Delaware opened the game with a pair of threes for an early 6-2 edge. After that, it was all Kennesaw State, as the Owls scored the next 18 points of the game. Harris hit a pair of treys during the run, the last to put KSU ahead 20-6 just seven minutes in. Delaware made a run to close the deficit to single digits at 26-17. That was answered by a 15-0 run from the Owls that featured three treys from three different players, the last of which made it a 41-17 lead with 3:53 on the clock. Another Harris trey to end the half gave KSU a 50-25 edge going into the break. The Owls shot 67% (18-of-27) in the opening half, while holding Delaware to 27% with just six made field goals.
THE SECOND HALF: KSU led by over 20 for most of the opening 10 minutes of the second stanza, and went up 74-50 on a putback by
Frankquon Sherman with nine minutes left to play. Delaware then got hot on offense, hitting six straight shots and connecting on four three-pointers in the final seven minutes to close it within single digits. It never got closer than nine until the final basket as the clock hit zeros to account for the final eight-point margin.
POSTGAME QUOTES – HEAD COACH ANTOINE PETTWAY
"We defended at such a high level that it got us a big lead. I'm super proud of our guys for taking the initiative on defense. We had such a big lead we were able to keep them at bay despite their rally in the second half.
Jaden Harris, senior night, came out and hit six threes and we needed every single one of them. But I told the guys in the locker room, with the team we have this year, we're going to need different guys to show up each night, and tonight it was Jaden's turn."
NOTES
- This marked both Harris' first 20+ point game of the year, and the first time he's led the Owls in scoring.
- Also in double-figures for KSU was Sherman with a double-double (15 points, 14 rebounds), along with
RJ Johnson (13 points),
Trey Simpson (11 points),
Braedan Lue (10 points) and
Amir Taylor (10 points).
- KSU held a 38-18 edge in the paint and 31-11 on points off the bench.
- The Owls finished with a 13-2 record at home, the second-best home record in program history (D1 era), trailing just the 15-1 record of 2022-23.
- KSU has reached double-figures in conference wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time ever, and the third time in the past four seasons after going 10-8 in its inaugural year in CUSA.
- Saturday also marked the final home game for
Perry Smith Jr.,
Eric Holland and
Charles Stone. All three, along with Harris, were honored at a pregame ceremony.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls will finish the regular season with a pair of games in the Southwest, starting with Thursday's nationally televised game on CBS Sports Network at UTEP in El Paso, Texas. The game will tip off at 9 p.m. (ET).
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.
