Photo by: Erin Cater
Simeon Cottle continued his dominant stretch and freshman Jamil Miller posted 17 points and seven rebounds in a 84-74 win over Abilene Christian on Wednesday at the Convocation Center.
“Tremendous test tonight from Abilene Christian,” Owls coach Antoine Pettway said. “I knew it was going to be a tremendous test for us, just watching these guys on film, they’re extremely well-coached.”
Kennesaw State extended its winning streak to three and improved to 4-1 on Wednesday night, but this time won by a much smaller margin.
Cottle finished with a team-high 22 points and a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line, good for a 26-of-26 start on foul shots this season.
“Just constant work, being in the gym daily,” Cottle said. “We have a little thing we call free throw game at the end of practice every day. Just getting consistent reps and just doing that has allowed me to be successful.”
Miller’s 17 points was a career-high for the freshman through the first five games of his career, and he did it on efficient 5-of-6 shooting from the field while snagging seven rebounds.
“I feel like I could’ve even gotten more (rebounds),” Miller said. “Seven boards, that’s what I need to do for the team, I’m going to be keep being on the glass.”
The first half saw the Wildcats jump out to a 5-0 lead before the Owls rallied off a 11-2 run to take an 11-7 lead with 14:40 to play in the first half. Throughout the remainder of the period, the teams traded leads, with Abilene Christian attaining the largest at 40-34.
After a 6-2 run to close the half, the Owls headed into the locker room trailing 42-40.
On the first possession of the second half, Adrian Wooley threw down a dunk to tie the game at 42-42, grabbing the attention of the crowd.
After the Wildcats scored the next four points, the Owls went on a 10-2 run to jump back in front 52-48.
KSU would not trail again, and would swell its lead to as large as 12 when Ricardo Wright hit a layup to make the score 76-64.
Abilene Christian did draw back within two points with under 30 seconds to play at 80-78, but Cottle converted four straight free throws to put the game away, 84-78.
Freshman Adrian Wooley stayed hot in the scoring column, posting double-figures again with 17 points while playing all 40 minutes.
For Abilene Christian, Quion Williams led all scorers with 19 points followed closely by Leonardo Bettiol who had 18 and four steals before fouling out.
The Owls return to play against 24th-ranked Rutgers on Sunday at the Convocation Center, featuring Cobb County’s McEachern High School products Ace Bailey and Jamichael Davis.
“Just having that caliber of team willing to come to the Convocation Center, that’s a major plus for us,” Pettway said. “They have two of the best players in the country – Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey who’s from here, and those dudes are spectacular.”
