Owls Flying High: A Promotion / Relegation Dynasty

[jksander]

December 19, 2020
Central Florida (6-3) @ Kennesaw State (4-5)

Central Florida opened the game on a 9-2 run in the first three minutes, and with 12:46 to go in the half this was a complete disaster, our Owls trailing the Knights 4-18 and looking completely lost. We weren't shooting well and we weren't making shots happen, which meant Central Florida was completely having its way with us. We closed the gap somewhat, but had our work cut out for us in the second half, trailing 25-35 at the break. We were no more inspired in the second half, trailing 34-49 with 11:17 remaining and our starters (aside from Larue Ragin) completely zoning out. This was a humiliating game from start to finish, and we lost deservedly 49-69.

Player of the Game: Larue Ragin (12 pts 1 reb 4 stl 1 blk)
Honorable Mention: Shane Ross (12 pts 1 reb 1 blk) in 12 minutes.

[jksander]

December 20, 2020
The way they played against Georgia this team looked like heroes, fighting and grabbing for every opportunity in a fight they were outmatched in. The way they looked against Central Florida, they were just disinterested. If coach Valvano can get the team to see this game as a turning point, proof that no matter who the opponent is you've got to put in 40 full minutes, this Owl squad could be as good as any in conference play. Here's hoping he can motivate this young squad well, as they have too much potential to squander a whole season playing like they did last night.

[jksander]

December 26, 2020
Kennesaw State (4-6) @ Kansas State (3-8)

The week of tough practices had us raring for a chance to show we weren't as bad as the Central Florida game suggested, and we came out on fire, up 10-2 with 16:29 to go in the first half against a Kansas State squad that looked primed for relegation from Conference “D”. But we knew we were playing against a team with far more resources than us, and any attempt to let up on the gas was going to shut our chances down quickly. Our defense was strong and kept them playing at our preferred pace, so we still held a 14-10 lead with 10:54 to play, but they retook the lead moments later and we found ourselves in a slugfest. Ragin put us ahead 19-18 with 7:11 to go on an easy inside jam, and another Ragin dunk kept us ahead 23-21 with 6:05 to go. Back and forth it went, but K-State pulled away down the stretch, up 27-32 with 1:39 left. From there they found their offense and we went into the break needing a serious lift. Halftime: Kennesaw State 32, Kansas State 40.

The difference in halves was apparent, and this time Kansas State wasted no time letting us think we could run away with it. We trailed by ten with three minutes expired, but we kept playing our game and were able to climb back in on a 6-0 run before they called timeout with us trailing 43-47 with 15:42 remaining in the game. They then extended their lead back to double-digits and we struggled to put anything significant together. Ragin had the game of his life, willing us back into the game down the stretch from 18 down, but it was too little too late. We lost this one 76-79 and never (even in the end) threatened to take the lead when it mattered.

Player of the Game: Larue Ragin (27 pts 8 reb 2 ast 3 blk)
Honorable Mention: Damion Christie (10 pts 5 reb 2 ast 1 stl 1 blk)

[jksander]

Conference “V” Standings
(01) North Dakota (7-4) – RPI: 68 ... We play on road Jan 23
(02) Omaha (7-4) – RPI: 129
(03) TX Rio Grande Valley (5-6) – RPI: 138
(04) Longwood (5-6) – RPI: 183 ... We play on road Feb 13
(05) SC Upstate (5-6) – RPI: 229 ... We play at home Jan 9 and on road 2/23
(06) Houston Baptist (4-7) – RPI: 167 ... We play at home Jan 19
(07) Massachusetts-Lowell (4-7) – RPI: 215 ... We play on road Jan 16
(08) Florida Gulf Coast (4-7) – RPI: 218 ... We play at home Jan 12
(09) Kennesaw State (4-7) – RPI: 237
(10) SIU Edwardsville (4-7) – RPI: 298 ... We play on road Jan 26
(11) California Baptist (3-8) – RPI: 271 ... We play on road Feb 2
(12) Presbyterian (3-8) – RPI: 302 ... We play on road Jan 2 and on road Feb 16
(13) Incarnate Word (3-8) – RPI: 312 ... We play at home Jan 5 and on road Feb 20
(14) Bryant (3-8) – RPI: 333 ... We play at home Feb 6
(15) Abeline Christian (2-9) – RPI: 327 ... We play at home Jan 30
(16) North Alabama (1-10) – RPI: 347 ... We play at home Feb 9

We play 13 of our 15 fellow Conference “V” schools, with three teams getting home-and-home matchups, none of whom are top 200 RPI schools. We only play North Dakota once, but they are a top 100 RPI school right now and we only get to play them on their court. Overall it doesn't look like a bad draw, as we won't play Omaha or TX Rio Grande Valley at all unless we meet in the conference tournament. And we start the confence with four of our first six games at home (though we finish February with three of our last four on the road).

There are no real resume boosting games in a conference like ours. And there are a lot of wild-cards. Even the teams on the bottom right now could turn out to be our biggest rivals when it comes to fighting for promotion.

[jksander]

January 2, 2021
Kennesaw State (4-7, 0-0) @ Presbyterian (3-8, 0-0)

Presbyterian played well early and built an 8-14 lead on us with 13:19 to go in the first half. And we looked far from comfortable early as they continued to shut our offense down early on, dominating as they built their lead to a dozen (up 13-25) with ten minutes remaining. Our top players were rendered mostly useless and the remainder of the half was unremarkable beyond the hole we dug ourselves. Halftime: Kennesaw State 25, Presbyterian 40.

The second half was simply a continuation of the worst game we've played all year offensively. Our starters might as well have stayed home and our depth issues overall are well known. We trailed 33-50 with 11:12 to go in the game, and we were strangled by the Blue Hose defense from there, losing this one badly, 55-72.

Player of the Game: Larue Ragin (10 pts 3 reb 1 ast)
Honorable Mention: Chris Snyder (8 pts 3 reb 2 ast 3 stl 1 blk)

[jksander]

January 5, 2021
Incarnate Word (3-9, 0-1) @ Kennesaw State (4-8, 0-1)

The first half was ugly at the start, but we defended well enough to lead 12-11 with 9:11 to play in the half despite shooting 25 percent from the field to that point. A pair of free-throws from Chris Snyder kept us ahead 16-13 with 6:07 to go, but fans were getting restless. Neither team could shoot, and this game was looking like we were merely staving off disaster. We led by ten at the half but neither team had looked decisive on the court. Halftime: Incarnate Word 21, Kennesaw State 31.

The Cardinals had a hot hand early with a pair of threes, but we kept our cool and focused on defense while we looked for solid ground on offense, leading 40-31 with 14:20 to go in the game. But Incarnate Word kept it close and our fans remained restless, waiting for us to find a way to put this win to bed and end our current losing streak. Chris Snyder hit a beautiful triple with 8;35 to go, keeping us ahead 48-40, but it was still a two possession game going into the final four minutes. A 6-0 run, capped by a pair of Roach free-throws, made it a 61-50 lead with 2:35 to play, and our goal was to put it away from there. It was never picture perfect, but we held tough down the stretch to win 63-53.

Player of the Game: Chris Snyder (22 pts 1 reb 1 blk)
Honorable Mention: Larue Ragin (14 pts 4 reb 2 ast 5 stl 1 blk)

[jksander]

January 9, 2021
SC Upstate (7-6, 2-0) @ Kennesaw State (5-8, 1-1)

After falling behind 4-11 early, Jim Cullen nailed a three with 12:47 to go in the half, tying it up 13-13 and lighting up this place. But we didn't capitalize on it, and SC Upstate rebuilt their lead to eight, up 16-24 with 9:12 remaining. Down by as many as 12 late in the half, we pulled within six on a Brandon Manley jumper to make it 28-34 with 2:33 to play, the last scoring event of the half. Halftime: SC Upstate 34, Kennesaw State 28.

Chris Snyder nailed a three with 19:21 to go to pull us within three, but we let Upstate run with it from there and were struggling 35-46 with 14:54 left in the game. From there we were invisible offensively and this one was a non-starter. We'd go on to lose 49-76.

Player of the Game: Chris Snyder (11 pts 2 reb 1 ast 1 stl)
Honorable Mention: Griffin Casper (8 pts 2 reb 1 ast)

[jksander]

January 12, 2021
Florida Gulf Coast (6-8, 2-1) @ Kennesaw State (5-9, 1-2)

Florida Gulf Coast led confidently from the beginning, and with 7:17 to go in the half they were ahead 22-12 with no signs of relenting. But a Manley three put us within four, down 24-28, with 2:25 left in the first half, and though the rest of the half trickled away with little result, at least we seemed to be back in the fray. Halftime: Florida Gulf Coast 30, Kennesaw State 26.

When we need to come out strong, we fade away. FGCU put up a 9-2 run to open the first four minutes, but another Manley three pulled us within six, down 33-39, with 14:27 remaining, and after a flurry of offense on our end, Nick Granberry became the hero of our bench by nailing a jumper in traffic to tie it 39-39 with 13:26 left in the game! But we ran out of gas seemingly immediately and FGCU led 50-41 with ten minutes remaining. We fought back to within three thanks to a long inside shot by Roach, trailing them 49-52 with 6:42 left in the game, but let FGCU score at will from there – an 11-0 run over the next three minutes sealed our fate. We lost this one 58-70 and played like we didn't want to be here.

Player of the Game: Kareem Roach (13 pts 10 reb 1 stl 2 blk)
Honorable Mention: Larue Ragin (14 pts 1 reb 1 ast 1 blk)

[jksander]

January 16, 2021
Kennesaw State (5-10, 1-3) @ Massachusetts-Lowell (5-10, 1-3)

With six losses in our last seven games, this season's getting away from us fast. We needed to come out with a sense of urgency today, and by and large we did not. Lowell led by ten early, and with 11:48 to go in the half we trailed 12-19. and by halftime we trailed 36-47. Six minutes into the second half we trailed by 20, and it was all done from there. This was a by-the-numbers blowout, 75-94.

Player of the Game: Kareem Roach (15 pts 8 reb 1 ast 1 blk)
Honorable Mention: Damion Christie (11 pts 7 reb 2 ast 1 stl 1 blk)

[jksander]

January 19, 2021
Houston Baptist (7-9, 3-2) @ Kennesaw State (5-11, 1-4)

Longwood (10-6, 5-0) is quickly running away from the rest of the conference, as we fight tonight at home to inch back toward the middle of the pack. After half a dozen early lead changes we were knotted 18-18 against the Huskies with 8:37 remaining in the first half. A Manley dunk put us ahead 20-18, but we remained in a back and forth affair as neither team was willing to relent. Houston Baptist expanded to their biggest lead of the game, up 24-29 with 4:41 left in the half, but we kept ourselves in this one and were able to say we drew last blood to pull it within two at the buzzer. Halftime: Houston Baptist 37, Kennesaw State 35.

Seconds into the half we tied it, and with 16:38 to go we took a 43-42 lead on a patented Ragin deuce. But we couldn't pull away, finding ourselves knotted 47-47 with 14:03 left in the game. Our biggest lead of the game at three points for most of the game, we held a single point lead with 7:17 to go, up 58-57 on the Huskies. And once Houston Baptist retook the lead, they found ways to capitalize that we didn't, building a 62-69 advantage with just 2:13 left in the game. Ragin got a bucket to make it a five point differential, but Houston Baptist put up five straight points to seemingly seal the deal with 71 seconds left. Over the next 50 seconds, however, Ragin and Christie kept us in with four made free throws and Manly dunked it with :18 to go, making it a four point game. But that was all she wrote, as we weren't able to stop them down the stretch to create room for a comeback. Another brutal loss, 70-74.

After nine ties and 32 lead changes, losing in the end was just one more brick in this season's demoralizing wall.

Player of the Game: Larue Ragin (19 pts 7 reb 1 ast 2 stl)
Honorable Mentions: Chris Snyder (10 pts 3 reb 1 ast) Shane Ross (10 pts 3 reb 1 ast 1 stl)