By: Mark Wasik
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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Kennesaw State jumped out to a big early lead and never trailed, setting a new school postseason record for points as the sixth-seeded Owls upset third-seed Western Kentucky 96-87 on Thursday night in the Conference USA Men's Basketball quarterfinals at the VBC Propst Arena. The win moves KSU to 19-13 overall, tied for the second-most wins in school history (D1 era), and to the CUSA semifinals for the second straight year. The Owls will face second-seed Sam Houston State on Friday at 3 p.m. (ET) on CBS Sports Network.
OWL OF THE GAME: Freshman forward
Trey Simpson broke out of a scoring slump, as he posted a team-high 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting and a perfect 9-of-9 performance at the line. The 26 points are both the second-most in his career, and the second-most ever by a KSU freshman in a postseason contest. He showed up at the biggest moment of the game, as following the only tie in the second half with eight minutes left, he converted back-to-back layups to put the Owls up four and they led by at least three points the rest of the way.
STAT OF THE GAME: The Owls dominated the paint with a 46-26 advantage. KSU finished the game 24-of-41 on two-point attempts (58.5%), while holding the Hilltoppers to 42% (13-of-31) from inside the arc.
THE FIRST HALF: The Owls exploded out of the start, with back-to-back threes from
RJ Johnson leading to a quick 6-0 lead, which grew to 19-8 on another three-pointer, this time from
Braedan Lue, with 13:02 to play in the half. KSU, which never trailed in the half, again led by 11 at 26-15 on a layup from freshman
Kaden Rickard. WKU then started to chip into the lead, as the Hilltoppers would go 7-of-14 from three-point range in the opening stanza. They first closed the margin to five, 36-31 after their sixth three-pointer of the game. The Owls kept up the pressure, and a Simpson three at the shot clock buzzer pushed the edge back to 46-38 with under two minutes to play. WKU would hit three free throws to make it a 46-41 margin at the break.
THE SECOND HALF: KSU scored nine of the first 11 points to go up 55-43, and still led by double-digits, 58-48 on a free throw from Johnson. WKU then slowly cut into the lead, and would tie the game at 72-72 on a Teagan Moore three. That was followed by Simpson's putbacks. The Hilltoppers would hit another three with 7:21 on the clock to close within three. That would be the final field goal for WKU for the next seven minutes of the game, going 0-of-6 from the floor. The Toppers did get to the line, closing within 85-82 with two minute to play.
Frankquon Sherman answered with a three-point play on the other end, part of a 10-3 run to seal the win.
POSTGAME QUOTES – HEAD COACH ANTOINE PETTWAY
"Great, hard-fought victory today, against a very well-coached team in Western Kentucky. We knew it was going to be a tough battle. It's always hard after you beat a team twice to try to beat them a third time, but we weren't wavering on our belief, and we came out and we fought, and we competed. I think everybody in our starting lineup scored in double figures. We knew it was going to have to be a team effort. So proud of these dudes. I asked them to just lose their self in the game, and just love and serve their brothers. Be who we have been all season long. And these guys just do it every single time. Every time we challenge them, they answer the call."
NOTES
- Five Owls finished in double-figures. Joining Simpson was Sherman with a double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds), Johnson (18 points),
Braedan Lue (16 points) and
Amir Taylor (11).
- KSU's 30 made free throws (30-of-42 for 71%) was a new postseason high.
- The Owls shot 51% (30-of-59) for the game, and 53.6% (15-of-28) in the second half.
- The victory gave KSU its first-ever 3-0 season sweep over a team in its Division I history, after winning both meetings in the regular season.
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.
