Opponent Q&A: Kennesaw State

C-KENNESAW_STATE
Who: Kennesaw State Owls (3-6)
Where: Hinkle Fieldhouse
When: Monday, December 8th at 7:00 pm
TV: Fox Sports 1
Radio: 93.1 WIBC

The Butler Bulldogs have a quick turnaround after a hard-fought 65-56 victory over the Northwestern Wildcats to play the Kennesaw State Owls, a school that joined Division 1 athletics in 2009 and plays in a league that’s been no stranger to upsets in the NCAA tournament, first with Florida Gulf Coast 2 years ago, then with Mercer (now in the Southern Conference) last season. To gain some knowledge on the opponent (and just the University itself), I had some questions for Jon from the KSU Owl Howl, a blog dedicated to the coverage of the Kennesaw State athletic programs.

Butler Hoops: It appears the Owls have started to find their way, winning 3 out of the last 4 heading into Kent State on Saturday. What’s been the key to turning things around a little after an 0-4 start?

KSU Owl Howl: For starters, not having to play Syracuse and California to open the season always makes things easier. We opened against four teams who played in March last year. The travel schedule was brutal, opening in Syracuse New York on the 14th, flying to California for the 16th, then flying home and having to drive 2 hours to Macon on the 19th, followed by flying to North Dakota for two games in two nights on the 21st and 22nd.

Once this team got the win on the neutral North Dakota State campus against Alcorn State, they gained confidence, used it to build on the positives, and then took care of business at home against Samford and Chattanooga. The execution, and ball movement was better and the intensity and rotations on defense were better as well.

The key is to play smart and not forget that to be successful they have to get to the basket and work the ball inside rather than jack up threes. They’re now learning how to win and if they can keep the intensity at home against Kent State, it’s safe to say the next test is learning how to win on the road, which they clearly did not do after getting blown out by Florida International. Luckily, I believe that that was just one of those nights where everybody was cold, but I expect more focus heading into a big game vs. a great team like Butler.

Butler Hoops: Jimmy Lallathin found himself in a similar situation as Chris Holtmann in leading the Owls as an interim coach and eventually getting the full-time gig. What is it about him as a coach in your opinion that convinced Vaughn Williams that he was the right guy for the job?

KSU Owl Howl: I think AD Williams would have to answer this question, but if I had to take a guess (I don’t know the financial situation), the main reason would be because Williams developed a relationship with Coach L over those 2.5 years and trusted his abilities as a coach. Coach L also has the trust and respect of his players on what is now a largely junior/senior laden team. He knows his players which allowed the team to maintain some stability and eliminate any potential mass turnover that might have come with an outside hire. I’m sure he conveyed to Williams why the results had not been there, where he sees room for improvement and why he could not get that done as an assistant coach.

Butler Hoops: Despite his lack of size, Yonel Brown really is successful at scoring the basketball. What are his strengths as a player and who are some other guys that Butler fans will need to keep an eye out for Monday night?

KSU Owl Howl: Yonel has improved every year. A new offense and more freedom, in addition to new assistant coach David Rivers, who backed up Magic Johnson with the Lakers, might have helped speed up his development. This year he’s improved on all of his percentages thus far and is using his body and his angles well when he takes it to the basket, despite his size. He actually set the KSU record for most FT attempts in a game the other day. I’d love to see what he could do if he were 6’3” instead of 5’9”.

The thing about this team is that in the wins, guys are picking each other up, so I can’t say that there’s definitely this guy or that guy who will be the top contributors. Other names to watch for are Delbert Love and Nigel Pruitt; they are upperclassmen who can catch fire quickly. Orlando Coleman is a big time dunker who made number 4 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 just one week ago. Auburn transfer Willy Kouassi can change so many shots at the rim, so I can’t forget about him.

Butler Hoops: What are going to be the keys to the Owls pulling off the upset Monday night?

KSU Owl Howl: Staying true to the game plan and not letting the pressure of national TV or the household name of Butler alter the team’s performance. This team has shown they can get red-hot but also have shown they can go equally ice-cold. They have to avoid any big lulls offensively, bad fouls, bad turnovers and find ways to score the ball when things get tough.

Other random KSU facts:

This is a school that is really known for their baseball team. Last season the Owls went to the super regional in baseball, and had a first round pick (Max Pentecost), 11 overall to Toronto. He was the first catcher to win the Cape Cod League MVP since Jason Varitek in 1993. He was also the Johnny bench Award winner, given to the nation’s best catcher.

KSU had two first round picks in the 2009 MLB draft (one was a sandwich pick) in Chad Jenkins and Kyle Heckathorn. Willie Harris, who played in the majors from 2001-2012 for several teams was a standout for KSU in the D2 days.

Despite being a school that not a ton of people up North know about, this school has a ton of students compared to Butler. Kennesaw State is currently at 25,000 students, with plans to expand to around 30,000 after the acquisition of Southern Poly technical school.

I want to thank Jon for his time and insight into the program. You can follow the KSU Owl Howl on twitter and visit the site at www.ksuowlhowl.com for all your Kennesaw State athletics news and notes. So what are going to be the keys to victory for the Bulldogs?

Keys to Singing the War Song:

1. Stay focused – This is a game that Butler should win, and handily. But Kennesaw State beat Chattanooga this year at home by 8, which is a team that Butler struggled with before pulling away in the 2nd half, and they’ve shown signs the last few weeks of improved play. With the leadership this team has, this shouldn’t be a huge issue, but especially given the upsets of this past weekend, you don’t want to get caught napping, especially on your home floor.

2. Pound the paint – Kennesaw State has been giving up over 50% shooting on the interior over the course of the season, and nearly 60% of the points they’ve given up are from inside the arc. Butler won’t get many opportunities this season to get their front line going, but this could very well be one of them. The Owls have some solid size on the interior, but if Butler can get some easy looks for them, particularly in transition, this could really help their confidence going forward.

3. Pressure the back court – Kennesaw State’s major weakness as a team so far this season is their propensity to turn the ball over and is 343rd in the country in offensive turnover rate, which is also probably why their 2 point defense appears to be lax, due to the number of fast break points they appear to give up. Butler has been a great defensive team this season in terms of generating turnovers, despite the lack of them generated during the Northwestern game. If Butler is able to do that and get some easy baskets, this would really help propel them to a victory.

So what do you think the keys to the game are? Who should Butler be on the lookout for from the Owls? Let us know in the comment section or in the message board.

Go Dawgs.

Photo Credit: Kennesaw State Athletics

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