WKU Men’s Basketball will travel to Kennesaw, Georgia Thursday looking to keep their three-game win streak alive against the Kennesaw State Owls, who are 5-2 in the Conference USA.
Both teams are part of the six-way tie for third place in CUSA.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Head Coach Hank Plona said about the conference tie.
The Hilltoppers have an opportunity to jump up in the standings significantly with a win this week, as well as a chance to prove their new-found offensive success is here to stay.
WKU’s current three-game winning streak produced three of their four highest-scoring games. It also produced two of their three best shooting games from beyond the arc, including the New Mexico State game in which they shot 50% from three.
“We can’t just think we’re gonna make every 3-point shot after Saturday night,” Plona said. “We need to be prepared to succeed when our offense is good and we’re scoring and when our offense is struggling a bit and it takes some work to score.”
The Owls are coming off a six-point home win over FIU. Freshman guard Adrian Wooley led the way against the Panthers with 18 points.
Wooley leads the Owls in scoring on the year averaging 18 points per game. In Conference USA play, the Hilltoppers are number one in points scored and the Owls are number two.
KSU struggles shooting threes as they sit last in the conference in 3-point percentage with 24%.
The Owls lead the conference in offensive rebounds while the Hilltoppers lead in defensive rebounds, so expect a battle to control the glass.
“Their numbers are high but part of that happens because of the speed of the game,” Plona said. “We’ve gotta make sure that on both ends of the floor that’s an area where we’re successful.”
The Hilltoppers defeated KSU at home earlier in the season 85-69. Tyrone Marshall Jr. led the way with a 20-point night. Marshall is coming off a 24-point night in the Hilltoppers’ victory over New Mexico State, but his good game has been overshadowed by Don McHenry’s 27-point outing.
Sports Reporter Nathan Mueller can be reached at [email protected].
