Tag: Kennesaw State Owls

Former Alabama forward Jusaun Holt transferring to Kennesaw State

Former Alabama forward Jusaun Holt will transfer to Kennesaw State to play for former Tide assistant, Antoine Pettway

Former Alabama forward Jusaun Holt announced that he was transferring to Kennesaw State on Monday afternoon. Holt spent last season playing for Mike White and the Georgia Bulldogs.

Holt began his college career in Tuscaloosa as a part of Alabama’s 2021 recruiting class. Holt was regarded as a four-star prospect out of St. Francis Day School in Roswell, Georgia.

In one season with the Crimson Tide, Holt averaged 0.7 points per game while averaging 7.0 minutes per game. After the 2021-2022 season ended, Holt entered the transfer portal and chose to transfer to Georgia.

As a sophomore, Holt averaged 3.2 points per game and 3.3 rebounds per game. Although his numbers were slightly improved during his time in Athens, he still struggled to be an efficient shooter.

After the 2022-2023 season concluded, Holt re-entered the transfer portal. Now, he will be heading to Kennesaw State where he will play for former Alabama assistant coach Antoine Pettway. Pettway recruited Holt out of high school, so it is fitting that the two reunite at the college level.

Needless to say, it will be interesting to see what type of role Holt carves out on the Owls’ roster next season. Pettway has already landed some notable transfers through the transfer portal. On Monday, he landed a former four-star in Jusaun Holt.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the Alabama basketball program.

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Kennesaw State to meet with Alabama assistant Antoine Pettway for HC opening

Kennesaw State is scheduled to meet with Alabama assistant coach Antoine Pettway for its head coaching vacancy.

Alabama assistant coach Antoine Pettway is scheduled to meet with Kennesaw State officials on Thursday regarding the team’s head coaching vacancy.

Pettway has played and coached for the Crimson Tide. He helped lead Alabama to three NCAA Tournament appearances as a player. As a coach, he has played a crucial role in helping Alabama land some of the nation’s top prospects and developing them for the next level.

Several of the players that fit into both categories are Collin Sexton, John Petty, and Jaden Shackelford. Each helped lead the Crimson Tide to NCAA Tournament appearances.

Pettway is one of the more vocal members on the coaching staff and plays a key role in helping Alabama prepare for its opponents. He is a fan-favorite among the Alabama community.

Kennesaw State made its debut in the NCAA Tournament in 2023. The Owls fell in the first round to No. 3 seed Xavier. Following the season, head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim accepted the head coaching job at South Florida.

Pettway is an intriguing option given his assistant coaching experience and success as a recruiter. If Pettway were to be offered and accept the job, he would become the third assistant coach to leave Alabama this offseason for a head coaching opportunity. The other two being Bryan Hodgson (Arkansas State) and Charlie Henry (Georgia Southern).

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the latest news surrounding the Alabama basketball program.

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Second half flurry keeps Xavier’s March Madness run alive

Jack Nunge, Souley Boum save Xavier’s season, for now.

The college basketball world had its eyes on the No. 3 Xavier and No. 14 Kennesaw State matchup on Friday. We already saw No. 2 Arizona and No. 4 Virginia fall on day one of the tournament.

Heading into the second half, the higher-seeded Xavier Musketeers found themselves in a hole, 43-36. With 9:56 remaining in the game, the Owls held a 61-48 lead. That is when the wheels came off for this Cinderella story.

It would be seven-plus minutes without a made field goal for Kennesaw State. It allowed Xavier to make a run to re-take the lead at 62-61 with 4:47 remaining on a Jack Nunge free-throw attempt.

This one would come down to the wire as Xavier clung to a 68-67 lead with just 18 seconds remaining. A Nunge block with two seconds left would all but seal it for the Musketeers as they would survive. Souley Boum would make four straight free throw shots to give them the win, 72-67.

Xavier awaits the winner of Iowa State and Pittsburgh on Sunday in the Round of 32.

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Colin Castleton drops 33 as Gators pick up second win of Golden era

Colin Castleton was a force on the hardwood Friday night as Florida took down Kennesaw State behind his career-high 33 points.

The Gators are 2-0 to start the [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] era following an 88-78 win over the Kennesaw State Owls Friday night.

Center [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] was the story of the night, leading all scorers with a career-high 33 points. After the game, Castleton admitted that the game plan was to exert use his physical advantage over smaller defenders, and things worked out perfectly. Castleton still has a long frame that could stand to add some weight, but he looked like one of the best big men in the country against an opposing center that was four inches shorter than him.

While most of the night belonged to Castleton, [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] and [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag] also hit double digits before the night ended.

It wasn’t all fun and games, though. The Gators struggled to shut down the Owls the same way they did against the Stony Brook Seawolves, and opposing SEC teams will take advantage of the sloppy defense. Still, “there’s no such thing as a bad win,” at least for a team that’s shooting to make the NCAA Tournament at the end of the year. Every little bit counts and the start of the Golden era has been fun for the Florida faithful.

It’s a bit too early to make any bold assumptions about this team, but there is certainly a feeling of optimism based on the early returns under Golden.

How to Watch: Florida basketball vs Kennesaw State on Friday night

With tipoff fast approaching, here’s what you need to know to follow Florida’s Friday night matchup with Kennesaw State.

The Florida Gators host the Kennesaw State Owls inside the O’Connell Center in Gainesville on Friday, Nov. 1, in the second game of the 2022-23 men’s basketball season, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

The two programs have never met before on the basketball court and both enter the matchup with 1-0 records after blowing out their respective season-openers. The Gators notched an 81-45 rout over the visiting Stony Brook Seawolves while the Owls hosted the Lagrange College Panthers for a 99-56 drubbing.

Take a look below at everything you need to know to follow the action, as well as our prediction and betting lines.

3 important numbers to note ahead of Florida-Kennesaw State matchup

Here are the three key numbers from the press release ahead of Florida basketball’s Friday night affair in the O’Dome.

Florida basketball gets set to host the Kennesaw State Owls in the O’Connell Center for both programs’ second game of the 2022-23 campaign. The two teams both arrive on Friday night with 1-0 records after blowing out their respective opponents to open the schedule on Monday.

The two schools have never faced each other before, which adds intrigue to the start of [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag]’s tenure in Gainesville as the head coach of the Orange and Blue. After a historic run under the legendary [autotag]Billy Donovan[/autotag], the Gators are now picking up the pieces after the conclusion of the [autotag]Mike White[/autotag] era last season.

Take a look below at the three “numbers of note” from the pregame press notes released by Florida basketball’s PR team.

Florida vs Kennesaw State: Betting odds for Gators-Owls game

Take a look at the lines for Friday night’s men’s basketball action in the O’Connell Center.

Florida basketball got off to a strong start to the [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] era on Monday night with an 81-45 rout of the Stony Brook Seawolves to open the 2022-23 schedule. On Friday night, the Gators will once again host a lesser opponent on their home floor in the second matchup of the season against the Kennesaw State Owls out of Atlanta, Georgia.

The visitors also won their season opener with a 99-56 home win over the Lagrange College Panthers — also played on Monday. The Atlantic Sun program will have its hands much more full in the O’Connell Center, however.

Florida and Kennesaw State’s men’s basketball teams have never met on the parquet prior, making Friday night’s matchup the first ever between the two programs. Take a look below at the betting odds from BetMGM heading into the second game of the young season for the Gators.

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Best photos from LSU’s shocking comeback win against Kennesaw State in NCAA Tournament opener

The Tigers’ 10-run rally in the eighth fueled the improbable come-from-behind win.

For most of Friday night’s NCAA Tournament debut for the No. 2-seeded LSU Tigers, it looked like coach Jay Johnson’s team was heading for the loser’s bracket and an elimination game on Saturday.

Facing the three-seeded Kennesaw State Owls in the Hattiesburg Regional, LSU trailed 11-4 entering the eighth inning after rough outings from starting pitcher [autotag]Ma’Khail Hilliard[/autotag] and reliever [autotag]Riley Cooper[/autotag] spotted KSU a big lead. But an unreal 10-run inning flipped the script as the Tigers executed one of the most impressive comebacks of the season, winning 14-11.

Now, they avoid potential elimination and instead advance to the winner’s bracket, where they will face regional host Southern Miss at 6 p.m. CT. The Golden Eagles won their first-round matchup by a 2-0 margin against Army on Friday.

In the meantime, here were the best shots as the Tigers stunned the Owls and avoided a first-round upset.

Tigers stun Kennesaw State with 10-run rally in eighth inning to open NCAA Tournament

LSU pulled off one of the wildest comebacks you’ll see all season to begin the Hattiesburg Regional.

Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug.

For the first seven innings of Friday night’s NCAA Tournament opener, LSU was definitely the bug as it was manhandled by the Kennesaw State Owls 11-4 — that is until an incredible comeback happened.

The Tigers scored 10 runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to come back and win 14-11 in Game 1 of the Hattiesburg Regional.

[autotag]Ma’Khail Hilliard[/autotag] got the start on the mound, and he had his shortest start of the year, going only 2.2 innings allowing five runs on five hits, two walks and two strikeouts. The Owls drew first blood as they scored on an RBI single in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the inning, [autotag]Jordan Thompson[/autotag] tied the game with an RBI double that scored [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag]. In the bottom of the second, [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] hit an RBI single to give the Tigers their only lead of the ball game as they led 2-1 heading into the third inning.

In the top of the third, the Owls would rally for four runs of their own and take a 5-2 lead over LSU. In the bottom of the third, [autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag] got two of those runs back with a two-run homer to right field to cut the lead to 5-4.

Kennesaw State added two runs in the fourth and four runs in the fifth to build a lead of 11-4 and that score held until the bottom of the eighth inning. In the bottom of the eighth, [autotag]Jacob Berry[/autotag] hit an RBI single up the middle to score [autotag]Josh Stevenson[/autotag] and give the Tigers some hope as they had runners on the corners with zero outs.

Pearson followed that with an RBI single of his own to make it 11-6 Owls. There were still no outs and runners on first and second as Thompson stepped into the box and he proceeded to hit an RBI double to score Berry and put two runners in scoring position with no one out. The Owls opted to bring in a new pitcher before facing [autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag].

It was a golden opportunity for the Tigers to possibly make a miraculous comeback: two runners in scoring position, no outs, Morgan at the plate, and an 11-7 ball game. What would the talented sophomore do?

Morgan hit a two-RBI single to center field and brought both Pearson and Thompson home, and just like that, it was a two-run game.

At this point, it was a battle at the bat rack as everyone wanted a turn. [autotag]Cade Doughty[/autotag] stepped in and hit a single before [autotag]Tyler McManus[/autotag] stepped up to the plate. McManus drew a walk and loaded the bases with no one out.

Jobert grounded into a fielder’s choice, but a run scored in the process to make it 11-10 Owls. Stevenson stepped into the box with runners on the corners and one out. The tying run was only 90 feet away at third base.

Stevenson walked, and the bases were loaded once again. This time, Crews was the man stepping into the batter’s box with a chance to tie the game or take the lead. Crews hit a two-RBI double to left-center field, and the Tigers have the lead.

Pearson stepped in and hit a two-RBI single of his own to extend LSU’s lead to 14-11. Thompson grounded into a double play to end the inning, but not before the Tigers plated 10 runs and took a three-run lead heading into the ninth.

[autotag]Paul Gervase[/autotag] came in to close the game out in the top of the ninth inning. He got the first batter to line out and the second one to strike out before the Owls got a runner on base with a single. Gervase got the next batter to fly out, and the Tigers secured the win. LSU moves on in the winner’s bracket to face regional host Southern Miss on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT.

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How to watch, preview for LSU baseball’s NCAA Tournament opener against Kennesaw State

The Tigers begin their postseason against the No. 3-seeded Owls at the Hattiesburg Regional on Friday night.

The Tigers are hitting the road for the regional round of the 2022 NCAA Baseball Tournament, but they won’t have to go very far.

LSU will take the approximately three-hour trek east to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, for a regional hosted by Southern Miss, the No. 11 national seed. First up for the No. 2-seeded Tigers is a matchup against the region’s No. 3 seed, the Kennesaw State Owls.

The Owls are just 35-26 on the season but made the tournament by virtue of a phenomenal run in the Atlantic Sun Tournament as the third-seeded team. After dropping the first two games, KSU won out and captured the league’s autobid with an upset against Liberty in the championship.

LSU, meanwhile, is coming off a disappointing performance in the SEC Tournament. As the No. 4 seed, it won its first game against Kentucky but dropped the next two matchups, ultimately being eliminated in a rematch against the Wildcats.

The Tigers will hopefully have two of its key players back in infielders [autotag]Jacob Berry[/autotag] and [autotag]Cade Doughty[/autotag], who were held out of SEC Tournament competition last week as a precaution.

We could see LSU’s Day 1 starter on the mound in [autotag]Ma’Khail Hilliard[/autotag], but coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] may choose to save his arm for a potential matchup against the top-seeded Golden Eagles on Saturday. If that’s the case, we would likely see [autotag]Ty Floyd[/autotag] or [autotag]Samuel Dutton[/autotag] take the bump.

The Tigers will look to emerge out of the regional as an underdog, and that run will begin with Friday night’s opener at 6 p.m. CT.

Here’s how you can catch the action in this one.