Stats may not tell the entire story in basketball, but if the final score of Friday’s matchup between KSU’s men’s basketball team and the Tennessee Volunteers could provide a sense of pride, there was no doubt Owls head coach Lewis Preston would buy into the numbers.
Tennessee (1-0) flexed its Southeastern Conference muscle by building a 61-34 lead over the Owls with 11:40 left in the contest, but KSU (0-1) finished the game strong against the Volunteers bench en route to a formidable 76-67 result at Thompson Boling Arena.
“I’m very proud of our effort, especially in the second, especially the last ten minutes of the game,” Preston said. “I thought our guys did a phenomenal job except for pretty much the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half in regards to withstanding some of the runs they had and handling some adversity, fighting back and showing some level of toughness and pride that we can build upon.”
KSU held with the Volunteers early, which meant the daunting task of dealing with All-SEC forward Jarnell Stokes. Stokes finished the contest with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting, five rebounds, five assists, three blocks and five steals in 34 minutes of action.
Despite facing a tough opponent on the road, the Owls settled into the contest early. Myles Hamilton, a freshman guard from Cleveland, OH., knocked down his first career field goal at the 12:35 mark of the first half to give KSU an 11-10 lead.
Just a minute earlier, freshman point guard Yonel Brown, who started the game for the Owls, hit a three- pointer for his first career bucket.
Tennessee’s experience proved beneficial as the half progressed, and the Volunteers were able to pull away for a 42-30 advantage at intermission.
KSU could not duplicate its fast start in the second-half, as the Volunteers opened the gates with a 9-0 run to begin the period.
Despite falling behind, the Owls still managed to outscore their opponent in the second-half, 37-34. Senior forward Aaron Anderson had KSU’s most impressive stat- line with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 12 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Delbert Love had a nice showing as well, finishing with 16 points on 7-of-17 from the field and 2-of-7 from beyond the arc. Brown’s freshman debut concluded with 10 points and three assists.
“I’ll take a lot more positives out of this because we could have put our heads in the sand and let them have their way, but we fought back,” Preston said. “I’m very happy with the way they stepped up, very happy with the way Aaron Anderson played.”
“The team was just very efficient,” Preston said. When the final horn sounded, KSU had out- rebounded Tennessee 31-29, and owned the offensive board total to the tune of 15-8.
KSU also got in its own way, as it missed the final scoring differential in free throws, alone, finishing 14-25 from the charity stripe.
Tennessee had four players in double figures, including Kenny Hall who hit 5-of-6 from the floor for 13 points. Skylar McBee and Jordan McRae also finished with 14 points a piece.
Despite the loss, the Owls showed some significant progress under Preston in his second season opener as head coach of the men’s basketball team.
Last season, in a similar environment against the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison, WI., the Owls were thumped 85-31.
KSU handed a defeat of similar nature to Piedmont College (Divison III) in its exhibition opener last Thursday, 82-43, which shone on the team much brighter than last year’s exhbition result—a 70-68 nailbiter against West Georgia (Division II).
KSU will play its next four games on the road, including a trip to Richmond, KY., to compete in the Eastern Kentucky Tournament, hosted by Eastern Kentucky University.
The Owls will face off against the hosting Colonels on Friday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m., before turning around to play Radford on Saturday and Towson on Sunday.
KSU’s home opener at the Convocation Center will invite an in-state foe in the Georgia Southern Eagles on Nov. 21 at 7 p.m.
