#12 Perry Smith Jr. soars for a layup late in Kennesaw State’s win over Paine College. Photo Credit: Jackson Louneoubonh.
Kennesaw State men’s basketball posted its largest margin of victory in school history, dismantling Paine College 105-30 to open its season Monday night at VyStar Arena.
The newly named VyStar Arena welcomed 2,025 fans to watch what will be one of men’s basketball’s greatest mismatches all season.
The Owls wasted no time at all jumping on the Lions, opening the game on a 40-4 run.
KSU hit its first 12 three-point attempts, and finished the first half 21-of-27 from the field, taking a 60-10 lead into the locker room.
Simeon Cottle, Trey Simpson and Ramone Seals combined for 42 points on 14-of-14 shooting from the field in the first half.
The Owls cooled off somewhat in the second half, but still outscored Paine 45-19 to earn the 105-30 victory.
Cottle and Simpson each finished with 17 points to lead the team in scoring, while Seals finished with 13 after playing just four minutes in the second half.
Freshman guards Kaden Rickard and Darius Washington III each played 18 minutes and each scored nine points on a combined 7-of-10 shooting from the floor.
Freshman big man Amir Taylor played his first official minutes as an Owl, finishing with three points and three rebounds in 28 minutes, while transfer Perry Smith Jr. impressed in the paint, finishing with 10 points on on 5-of-6 shooting in just 11 minutes.
“Perry is an enforcer,” Owls coach Antoine Pettway said. “He can score with his back to the basket, but he plays with a high motor and he wants to win. He’s super competitive. It’s going to be a two-man rotation, sometimes a three-man rotation [at center] with Braedan Lue there because he’s a mismatch at the five spot for us as well. So, they’re going to play that spot by committee and I feel like we should win those spot with those three guys in there.”
It took Braedan Lue a half to get going offensively, but the sophomore forward who made the start at five finished with eight points on 3-of-5 shooting.
Walk-ons Charles Stone, Eric Holland Jr. and Dozie Onyirimba all logged minutes late in the second half and each earned themselves spots in the scorer’s book — most notably Onyrimba, who finished with four points, five rebounds and a block.
“Dozie is a baller, man,” Pettway said. “He was one of the best rebounders in the state of Georgia coming out as a senior. He does it in practice every single day — he has a big-time motor on the glass. I love that, man. I love seeing him [Stone] and [Holland] able to get in the game and make a shot.”
Notably, forward Jamil Miller was absent from the team pregame, and it was announced shortly after he was no longer with the team due to personal reasons.
“[Miller] and his mom met with me 48 hours before the first game and told me that he needed to go back home for personal reasons,” Pettway said. “So, he’s not going to be with our team going forward. Wish him the best, love him. He’s a guy that came in last year and made a great, immediate impact for our team. We’re forever going to be grateful for that.”
