Owls Grounded in Miami – Kennesaw State University Athletics

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MIAMI – Kennesaw State struggled to find its shot on offense all night long, falling behind by 10 at halftime before eventually dropping a 76-61 road contest at FIU in Conference USA men’s basketball action on Thursday night. The loss dropped KSU to 16-13 overall, 8-8 in league play.

STAT OF THE GAME: KSU shot just 35% (18-of-52) from the floor and 5-of-22 from three-point range (23%).  

THE FIRST HALF: Adrian Wooley and Simeon Cottle combined to score the Owls first eight points, and a pair of free throws from Cottle gave KSU an 8-7 edge with 14:23 on the clock. The Panthers then scored the next six points of the game to go up 13-8 and never trailed again. A 10-0 run gave FIU its largest lead of the half at 14, 29-15 with five minutes to play. KSU made a run to climb back into the contest thanks to a 6-0 run, while a Frankquon Sherman free throw in the final minute made it a 10-point margin at the half, 34-24 in favor of FIU.

THE SECOND HALF: The Owls kept it close for the majority of the second half after scoring the first four points after the break. A three-pointer from Cottle cut the lead to 38-33 with 15:30 on the clock, but FIU countered with a 7-0 run go to back up 12. KSU kept fighting, and slowly cut the lead down to six thanks to a Ricardo Wright jumper with 6:31 to play. That was followed by a 6-1 run from the Panthers, who would lead by at least nine points the rest of the way.

NOTES 

– Wooley led the Owls with a game-high 20 points, while Cottle added 14. Wright was the only other player in double-figures with 10, in just 13 minutes of action.

– KSU was limited by foul trouble the majority of the game and were whistled for a season-high 28 fouls. That resulted 41 trips to the line for the Panthers, and they connected on 34 of those to shoot 83% for the night.

– Also key in the loss for KSU was turnovers, as it committed 20 on the night to 14 for FIU. The Panthers recorded 12 steals in the contest.

– KSU did win the battle of the boards 34-30, and second chance points went KSU’s way 8-4.

NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls will move onto Virginia to face Liberty in a nationally televised game on the CBS Sports Network on Sunday. The game will tip off at 1 p.m. in Lynchburg.

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