Welcome to the first Hoops Wednesday of the season. Football is still rolling toward Homecoming, but over at VyStar Arena both Kennesaw State basketball teams just made a loud first impression. The men beat Midway by 59. The women beat Shorter by 30. Now comes the busy part: three games in four days, starting tonight.
Men: 116-57 over Midway, and the bench did the damage
The defending Conference USA champs scored 58 points in each half Monday night, and every one of the 14 Owls who played scored. We broke down the full game in our Midway recap, so here are the three things that matter going forward.
1. The freshmen are ready now. KSU's six freshmen (Kyler Theophile, Levi Ball, Keriawn Berry, Tobiaz Tolbert, Antwane Daniels and Zyree Brown) combined for 62 points, 27 rebounds, 17 assists and five blocks. Theophile was perfect in his debut: 6-of-6 from the floor, 3-of-3 from deep and 3-of-3 at the line for a game-high 18 points in just 12 minutes. Daniels added 12 points and six assists, and Brown handed out a game-high seven assists without a turnover.
2. The depth is real. KSU's bench outscored Midway's 79-13. That's the kind of number that wears teams down in February, not just in an opener.
3. The defense and the glass travel. The Owls won the boards 64-27, blocked nine shots and turned stops into a 54-6 edge in fast-break points. The blocks pushed KSU's streak of games with multiple blocks to 60 straight, the longest active run in the nation. Avery Thomas II had eight rebounds and three blocks, and CJ Beaumont finished one board shy of a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
The 116 points were the third-most in a game in program history. Midway isn't Western Kentucky, but you can only beat who's on the schedule, and the Owls did it emphatically.
Women: 72-42 over Shorter, and Tianni Kelly's style showed up on day one
The Kelly era started Monday morning with a wire-to-wire win. A 15-0 run made it 22-2, and KSU led 44-21 at the half.
What stood out: pace and pressure. The Owls forced 20 turnovers and turned them into 24 points, scored 24 fast-break points, more than they had in any game last season, and controlled the paint 52-18. "I'm really proud of our defensive effort. I'm proud of our 24 fast break points," Kelly said afterward, per Kennesaw State Athletics.
Junior point guard Kaelyn Flowers, the lone returning starter, set the tone with a career-high 15 points, five assists, five rebounds and four steals. Sixth-year senior Tracey Bershers scored 13 on 6-of-8 shooting in her KSU debut, Shania Nichols added 12, Arissa Jenkins had 10, and Madyson Elliott grabbed 12 rebounds off the bench.
The week ahead
Tonight: Women vs. Clayton State, 6 p.m. ET, VyStar Arena (ESPN+). It's Youth Night, and it's the first meeting with the old Peach Belt rival since 2005. KSU leads the series 20-4, but the Lakers won that last one, 85-71. Clayton State went 11-17 last season and plays this one as an exhibition. Our full Clayton State preview has the details. What to watch: whether the Owls can keep the fast-break number in the 20s.
Friday: Men vs. Austin Peay, 7 p.m. ET, VyStar Arena (ESPN+). This is a real step up. Austin Peay also opened with a blowout, a 109-65 win over Lane, with six Governors in double figures led by Zyree Collins (18 points, eight rebounds), Rashaud Marshall (16) and Cam Ryans (15 on 7-of-10 shooting). The Govs scored 64 points in the paint and forced 22 turnovers, so this is a team that will test KSU's ball security and interior defense. Head coach Corey Gipson is 4-0 in openers at Austin Peay. The two teams meet again Dec. 5 in Clarksville.
Saturday: Women at FAU, 2 p.m. ET, Boca Raton (ESPN+). The women's first road trip goes to an American Conference team that's 0-1 after a 75-48 loss at Miami. Erin Rodgers led FAU with 13 points, but the Owls of Boca Raton shot 31.5 percent and were outrebounded 40-27. If KSU brings Monday's rebounding and pressure on the road, this is a winnable game. It's also the same afternoon as the football Homecoming game against Delaware at 3 p.m., so plan your screens accordingly.
The bottom line
Two openers, two blowouts, and two very different styles: a deep, long men's team that blocks everything, and a women's team that wants to run you off the floor. Friday's Austin Peay game is the first one that should tell us something real about the men, and Saturday at FAU is the women's first test away from home.
Our picks this week: KSU women over Clayton State and at FAU, and the men over Austin Peay in a closer game than Monday's. Three wins would make it 4-0 and 2-0 heading into next week. OwlUp.
Keep the full Kennesaw State schedule handy for a packed weekend of football and hoops, and grab some black-and-gold game-day gear before you head to the arena.
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