Kennesaw State men’s basketball huddles during NCAA Tournament game against Gonzaga on March 20. Photo Courtesy of KSU Athletics
PORTLAND, Ore. – Kennesaw State men’s basketball’s late rally fell short on Thursday night at Moda Center in a 73-64 loss to Gonzaga in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Making its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament, Kennesaw State gave national force Gonzaga all it could handle for 40 minutes, nearly erasing multiple double-digit deficits twice in the second half.
The Owls opened up a 14-7 lead in the first half largely due in part to seven straight points from freshman guard Kaden Rickard, but were unable to maintain the advantage through the first 20 minutes.
After freshman forward Amir Taylor picked up his second foul with 8:27 to play in the opening half, KSU’s offense took a clear step back as the Bulldogs surged to a 33-27 halftime lead behind a 10-0 run in the final 1:39 of the period.
Less than three minutes into the second half, Gonzaga built what was its largest lead of the game at that point, 42-31.
The Owls responded with an 11-1 run of their own, drawing back within a point at 43-42 sparked by Taylor finding success on both ends.
KSU played nearly an entire shot-clock’s worth of good defense on the Bulldogs following possession, but a contested Emmanuel Innocenti three-pointer fell to push the Gonzaga lead back to 46-42 and the Owls never again drew within a possession.
The Bulldogs swelled their lead to as large as 14 points, but KSU still refused to go away by using a late three-pointer from Frankquon Sherman and a series of trips to the free throw line to pull back within striking distance at 67-62.
A layup from Jalen Warley and a jumper from Graham Ike helped see out the victory for the heavily-favored Gonzaga.
“We had a hard-fought game versus a really, really well-coached, really talented Gonzaga team tonight,” Owls coach Antoine Pettway said. “Super proud of my guys, they never wavered all season.”
Taylor, who like most of KSU’s roster made his first appearance in the NCAA Tournament and finished tied with RJ Johnson for a team-high of 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor.
One of the Owls calling cards all season has been their three-point shooting ability, which the Bulldogs limited greatly. KSU shot just 3-of-17 from beyond the arc and just 1-of-14 outside of Rickard.
“It was getting back and setting our defense,” Bulldogs coach Mark Few said. “Or shadow and just try to put two on them early and then we’d take that from them.”
Johnson shot 4-of-12 from the field to finish with his 15 points, Sherman recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Rickard also finished in double figures with 14 points.
For the Bulldogs, Ike led all scorers with 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while Davis Fogle with 17 points and Warley with 12 points joined him in double figures.
