#23 Amir Taylor rises for a layup against Georgia State on Dec. 6 at VyStar Arena. Photo by Jackson Louneonbonh
Freshman Amir Taylor shined in men’s basketball’s dominant 92-69 win over Georgia State at VyStar Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Just over a minute into the first half, freshman guard Kaden Rickard connected on a 3-pointer to give the Owls a 5-2 advantage, and never again did Kennesaw State surrender the lead.
The Owls quickly took firm control, jumping out to a 29-11 lead by the 10:52 mark of the opening half.
Despite an ugly, foul and turnover-filled final 10 minutes of the second half, KSU remained in firm control, taking a 43-28 lead into the half and never leading by fewer than 10 points during the stretch.
In the opening moments of the second half, the Owls’ top scorer Simeon Cottle was ejected after being tagged with a flagrant 2 foul after making contact above the shoulder of GSU’s Micah Tucker with his elbow, the first ejection of his career.
” [The officials] said he hit him with an elbow to the face — contact above the shoulders,” KSU coach Antoine Pettway said. “[Simeon] is a competitor, he apologized to the team. I made sure I went to [Tucker] and apologized for it — [Cottle] is not perfect, we got to learn from those mistakes.”
The Panthers were never able to make things interesting, allowing the Owls’ lead to grow as large as 28 in the second half as the hosts cruised to a 92-69 win.
Taylor stole the show in the paint, finishing with his first career double-double and career-highs of 18 points and 12 rebounds.
Taylor, who’s been a recent addition to the starting lineup, said his performance was the result of a personal gripe he holds against Georgia State.
“Really I just got something against Georgia State,” Taylor said. “So, I feel like I had to go out there and play.”
When asked to elaborate, Taylor said he wouldn’t speak on it any further.
Fellow freshman Darius Washington III also impressed, finishing with 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting off the bench.
“That’s one of the things we tell our freshmen when they come here, like, you’re going to be in the fire,” Pettway said. “If you want to go somewhere and watch somebody, Kennesaw State is not the place for you. Those dudes have the talent, and they just need the experience.”
Rickard, who had struggled offensively through the first month of the season posted one of his better offensive performances thus far with 12 points on 3-of-3 shooting.
Braedan Lue finished with one of his better outings of the young season, posting 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting while adding six rebounds.
The victory marked the third straight for the Owls over the Panthers in what has become an annual non-conference matchup.
“I think this game is huge,” Pettway said. “When I got the job, [Georgia State’s] Jonas Hayes called me and said this is something he wanted to start and we’re going to do it every year — I think it’s extremely important.”
KSU improves to 7-2 and will play just once more at home in December, when it is set to host Southern Wesleyan on Monday at noon.
