#4 Kaden Rickard matching up against a defender, Nov. 10, 2026 at VyStar Arena. Photo by Jackson Louneoubonh
Using a second half which it won 56-46, Kennesaw State men’s basketball took down Winthrop 88-79 on Tuesday night at VyStar Arena.
Following the Owls’ second straight sluggish first half, they found themselves down 13-4 with 13:59 to go in the first half.
From there, KSU went on 5-0 and 6-0 runs late in the half to pick up some momentum heading into the locker room and bring the deficit to just one in a fairly low scoring 33-32 first half.
“First half we didn’t play well again,” Owls coach Antoine Pettway said. “We gotta start getting off to a better start. The second half, we went in the locker room, we adjusted and I just talked to them and told them ‘give it all you got. Faith over fear’.”
After the break, both offenses started clicking, and the Owls took a 46-42 lead, their biggest of the night on a three-pointer by Levi Ball early in the second half. Ball finished with 19 points and was active on defense as well, grabbing three steals.
While the game stayed within a five-point deficit, KSU never gave up its lead in the second half, the complete opposite of the first half where the Owls never held a lead.
Holding a 77-71 lead with just under three minutes remaining, Kaden Rickard hit a big three-pointer to put KSU up nine and all but put the game away.
Rickard finished the night with 14 points and five assists, 10 of his points coming in the second half.
Tying Ball for scoring leader on Tuesday was Amir Taylor, who was one rebound short of a double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds, with 17 points in the second half.
“I feel like just spacing it out, we had opportunities to attack,” Taylor said. “If (Winthrop) came down, I pitched it out and I trusted my teammates that they’re gonna knock down the shot.”
Offensive rebounding leading to second-chance points was a huge factor in securing the comeback win. The Owls finished with 42 rebounds, 14 of them on the offensive glass.
“(Rebounding) was a major emphasis coming into the game,” Pettway said. “We got to win the backboard and we gotta start controlling the glass because we’re taking a lot of open shots. I thought in the second half, we did a tremendous job.”
For the Eagles, forward Keshawn Fisher and guard Seifeldin Hendawy made a big impact as they combined for 49 points, nearly two-thirds of the team’s total. Fisher led the way with 27 while Hendawy had 22.
With the win, KSU improves to 3-0 in the non-conference schedule and already has two comeback victories against Division I opponents in the early going.
The Owls will turn right around and host LaGrange for the fourth straight home game on Thursday at 7 p.m. at VyStar Arena.
