Shoot our way to success

[PointGuard]

Hooray! Randy's BACK! And his outside bombers from Kennesaw State are continuing to roll.

[RandyR17]

2/27/2020
#18 Kennesaw St (26-1, 13-1) @ Stetson

Opponent Notes
- We won the previous meeting, 91-74
- STETS on an 4-game losing streak

1st Half

Great start, making our 1st 4 attempts from deep. STETS with 5 TOs already
15:42, Up 19-2

STETS cut our lead to 9. And then we went on a 14-0 run. STETS with 10 TOs. PG Mark Collier leads all scorers with 11 pts. We're 9-14 3PT (64%)
8:24, Up 39-16

STETS offering no resistance on defense


Halftime, Up 60-37

We shot 57% FG in the 1st half … on the road!
We're 14-24 3PT (58%)

Adjustments
- Off Reb Crash: -1
- Def Reb Crash: +1
- use m2m defense exclusively


2nd half

(reminder: check Shoot 3s box)

Slow start in the 2nd half. STETS able to come close to within 14 pts with less than 11 mins remaining in the game. But that's the closest they came. After that, we went on a 16-4 run to increase our lead to 26. We coasted the rest of the way


Final Score: Kennesaw St - 99, Stetson - 77
Box Scores

Collier 18, 2, 5, 4 tos, 4 3PT
Gaines 14, 8, 3, 4 stls, 3 3PT (*)
Florence 13, 5, 0, 3 3PT
Woods 12, 7, 5, 3 blks, 4 3PT
Takaki 12, 4, 0, 2 3PT
Eschmeyer 11, 5, 1
Jefferson 11, 2, 1, 2 3PT
Rickey 5, 1, 3, 1 3PT
Walker 3, 0, 0, 1 3PT
Leath 0, 1, 0
Brown 0, 1, 0
Brinker 0, 1, 0
Grandison 0, 0, 1

Team Comparison:
FG%: 44 to 53%
REB: +2 (we had 14 off rebs)
TO: +14 (STETS with 24 TOs)
Paint: Even
2nd Chance: +8
Fast Break: +6

7 players scoring in double figures
We shot 20-52 3PT (38%)


Atlantic Sun Standings
(Conf, Overall, RPI rank)

#18 Kennesaw St, 14-1, 27-1, #33
North Florida, 10-6, 13-16, #247
Liberty, 7-8, 11-17, #317
Stetson, 7-8, 9-19, #336
Jacksonville, 7-8, 11-17, #231
Lipscomb, 6-9, 11-17, #230
Florida Gulf Coast, 6-9, 7-21, #344
NJIT, 6-9, 9-19, #337
North Alabama, 5-10, 12-16, #305

[RandyR17]

3/2/2020
Last game of regular season
Florida Gulf Cost (7-21, 6-9) @ #18 Kennesaw St (27-1, 14-1)

Opponent Notes
- We won the previous meeting, 94-85. It was close game, only decided in the last few mins. We committed 22 fouls in that game

1st Half

We are scoring inside the paint, to balance our outside shooting. C Dupree Eschemeyer with 6 pts. FGCU with 5 TOs
15:55, Up 15-4

We're playing solid both ends of the floor. FGCU shooting just 36% FG, and 8 TOs
10:01, Up 30-10

FGCU's shooting caught fire somehow, but a little too late for them. We shot 60% FG in the 1st half


Halftime, Up 58-31

We have 18 pts in the paint
PG Mark Collier leads all scorers with 14 pts
We're 13-24 3PT (54%)

Adjustments
- Def Reb Crash: +1
- use m2m defense exclusively


2nd half

(reminder: check Shoot 3s box)

No semblance of defense showed by both teams in the 2nd half, which we didn't mind as this game is over early. Players getting any shot they want


Final Score: FGCU - 73, Kennesaw St - 101
Box Scores

Takaki 21, 4, 4, 6 3PT (*)
Collier 19, 4, 4, 5 3PT
Eschmeyer 14, 6, 2
Florence 14, 2, 1, 4 3PT
Jefferson 11, 4, 1, 3 3PT
Leath 6, 2, 0
Gaines 5, 4, 1, 1 3PT
Woods 5, 2, 9, 3 blks, 4 tos, 1 3PT
Rickey 4, 0, 4
Brown 2, 3, 1
Walker 0, 1, 1

Team Comparison:
FG%: 52 to 49%
REB: +1
TO: +11 (FGCU with 21 TOs)
Paint: +6 (We had 34 pts)
2nd Chance: +10
Fast Break: +4


We still managed to reach the century mark, despite our season's leading scorer - SG Joel Woods (15 ppg) - scoring only 5 pts today. Woods played more as a facilitator today
We shot 20-48 3PT (42%)


Atlantic Sun Standings (Final)
(Conf, Overall, RPI rank)

#18 Kennesaw St, 15-1, 28-1, #33
North Florida, 10-6, 13-16, #247
Jacksonville, 8-8, 12-17, #231
Lipscomb, 7-9, 12-17, #230
Liberty, 7-9, 11-18, #317
Stetson, 7-9, 9-20, #336
Florida Gulf Coast, 6-10, 7-22, #344
NJIT, 6-10, 9-20, #337
North Alabama, 6-10, 13-16, #305

[RandyR17]

We achieved our objectives of being a run-and-shoot team, and heavy on 3pt shots
Tempo: 80.4 (#1); #2 team has 78.0
Pts per game: 93.6 (#1); #2 team has 79.7 ppg
FGA per game: 76.3 (#1); #2 team has 64.2
3PA per game: 48.7 (#1); #2 team has 30.8
FTA per game: 8.8 (last); expected
Ast per game: 20.6 (#1); #2 team has 20.1

Shooting %
FG%: 0.447 (#119); #1 team has 0.511
3P%: 0.388 (#16); #1 team has 0.432; if we can maintain above 0.350 and with the volume of 3PT shots attempted, we should have a chance on every game
FT%: 0.744 (#113); #1 team has 0.847

Rebounding
Off rebs per game: 9.7 (#10); #1 team has 13.2; shooting a lot of 3s means more opportunities for long rebounds, and better chance to grab them on the offensive end
Rebs per game: 37.7 (#7); #1 team has 42.5

Other stats that should benefit for playing our fast-paced offense
TOs per game: 9.6 (#1): #2 team has 11.9; ; we take the 1st available shot, which minimizes a lot of passing and hence turnovers
Opp stls per game: 4.6 (#1); #2 team has 5.1

We give up a lot of pts on defense because of the pace, but efficiency wise, our defense is not that bad (see below)
Opp pts per game: 74.3 (#293); #1 team has 56.6

Other stats
Blks per game: 6.8 (#28); #1 team has 9.6
Stls per game: 8.6 (#38); #1 team has 12.1

Overall
Offensive rating: 117.3 (#1)
Defensive rating: 93.9 (#62); #1 team has 78.7
Net Rating: 23.4 (#2); #1 team has 27.1

[RandyR17]

Only 15 players in the country have made at least 90 3PTs, including our players:
- SG Joel Woods (120, #1)
- SG Cedric Takaki (106, #4)
- PG Mark Collier and SF Adam Gaines (96, T#7)

[RandyR17]

Start of Conference Tournament

3/5/2020
NJIT [8] (9-20, 6-10) vs #17 Kennesaw St (28-1, 15-1)

Opponent Notes
- Previous meetings: (W)94-84, (W)102-82


1st Half
Slow start for both teams. NJIT with 5 TOs, allowing us to get some fastbreak pts. We just made our 1 3PT, after missing our 1st 5 attempts.
14:56, Up 11-4

NJIT continues to throw the ball away (8 TOs). Our defense is the story of the game so far, offsetting our poor outside shooting. We're 2-11 3PT (18%)
9:52, Up 22-12

Our scoring has picked up a notch, both inside and outside.
6:54, Up 37-20

NJIT made their last 3 attempts from deep, including a buzzer beater, to still keep them in this game.


Halftime, Up 54-39

We have 12 fast break pts. NJIT has 11 TOs
PG Mark Collier leads all scorers with 13 pts, 3 asts
We're 8-21 3PT (38%)

Adjustments
- Off Reb Crash: -1
- use m2m defense exclusively


2nd half

(reminder: check Shoot 3s box)

We know NJIT can also put pts on the board in high volume, and they have a decent start in the 2nd half to chip away our lead
15:03, Up 64-53

NJIT still keeping this game close, as our outside shooting starts to freeze again. We're 11-32 3PT (34%)
9:52, Up 71-63

We scored 5 straight; NJIT also scored 5 unanswered. With our lead just at 8, we came up with a timely 12-2 run to get ourselves further separation
4:50, Up 88-70

That last run was enough for us to hang on for this win


Final Score: NJIT - 83, Kennesaw St - 96
Box Scores

Collier 21, 1, 4, 4 3PT
Takaki 16, 5, 2, 3 3PT
Eschmeyer 14, 6, 0
Gaines 13, 7, 3, 4 stls, 4 tos, 3 3PT
Woods 12, 7, 11, 3 stls, 4 3PT (*)
Jefferson 8, 1, 0
Brown 5, 1, 1, 1 3PT
Florence 4, 2, 2
Leath 3, 0, 0, 1 3PT
Rickey 0, 3, 2

Team Comparison:
FG%: 46 to 52%
REB: Even (+8 in off rebs)
TO: +7 (NJIT with 19)
Paint: -2
2nd Chance: +5
Fast Break: +12

Relatively modest performance in terms of shooting the ball, but we just kept on pushing the pace and still almost scored 100
This is SG Joel Woods' 3rd double-double of the season
We shot 16-47 3PT (34%)

[RandyR17]

Conference Tournament Semis

3/6/2020
Lipscomb [4] (13-17, 7-9) vs #17 Kennesaw St [1] (29-1, 15-1)

Opponent Notes
- Previous meetings: (W)80-58, (W)89-68
- In the 2 games we played, LIPS shot a combined 8-40 3PT (20%)


1st Half

Another slow start for us. We're 1-7 3PT (14%)
15:05, Down 5-8

Compounding our woes in offense is our 5 TOs. We're 2-11 3PT (18%)
12:30, Down 8-16

Our defense and offensive rebounding (7 off rebs) keeping us in this game. SG Frank Rickey, who was scoreless in our last game, got a couple of 3s, to help us claw back in this game. We're 5-18 3PT (28%)
8:53, Up 20-19

We forced LIPS to 14 TOs in the 1st half, and frustrate their offense. We were able to connect a few 3s during the last 3 mins of the game. At one point in the game, we were down by 11, and made a +18 turnaround


Halftime, Up 39-32

We have an 11-0 advantage in 2nd chance pts. 7 of our 9 off rebs were from our guards
SF Adam Gaines is having a nice all-around game so far, 9 pts, 8 rebs, 4 asts, and 2 stls
We're 10-34 3PT (29%)

Adjustments
- use m2m defense exclusively


2nd half

(reminder: check Shoot 3s box)

SG Cedric Takaki has scored 8 of our 10 pts in the 2nd half, including a pair of 3s
17:13, Up 49-39

LIPS coming up a series of defensive stops to keep this a close game. I call a timeout
15:39, Up 49-43

LIPS came to within 2. And then PF Austin Florence and SG Cedric Takaki combined for a 8-0 run. We're 14-41 3PT (34%)
13:43, Up 57-47

SG Cedric Takaki continues to provide spark off the bench, leading us with 20 pts
9:57, Up 65-52

LIPS offense has stalled for much of the 2nd half, and slowly but surely, we are increasing our lead. We're 18-49 3PT (37%)
5:19, Up 74-59

Excellent defense in the 2nd half, to turn this otherwise close game, into another blowout. We gave up only 7 pts in the last 10 mins

Final Score: Lipscomb - 59, Kennesaw St - 86
Box Scores

Takaki 26, 3, 1, 8 3PT (*)
Rickey 17, 3, 1, 5 3PT
Collier 11, 0, 6, 3 3PT
Gaines 9, 11, 4, 3 3PT
Florence 8, 4, 0, 2 3PT
Eschmeyer 6, 7, 0
Woods 4, 9, 8, 5 stls, 3 blks
Grandison 3, 1, 0, 1 3PT
Jefferson 2, 4, 2, 4 blks
Brinker 0, 1, 0
Walker 0, 1, 0

Team Comparison:
FG%: 37 to 36%
REB: +5 (+8 in off rebs)
TO: +9 (LIPS with 21)
Paint: -8
2nd Chance: +16 (16-0 advantage)
Fast Break: +4

Led by SGs Cedric Takaki and Frank Rickey, our bench outscored their counterparts 48-7 !
We shot 22-59 3PT (37%)

[RandyR17]

Conference Tournament Finals

3/7/2020
North Florida [2] (15-16, 10-6) vs #17 Kennesaw St [1] (30-1, 15-1)

Opponent Notes
- Previous meetings: (W)101-83, (W)113-79; we're averaging 107 pts against them!


1st Half

NFL has done a good job controlling the pace, not allowing us to run all the time. ANother slow start in shooting. We're 1-6 3PT (17%)
14:58, Up 9-8

SG Joel Woods, who was 0-8 3PT in the last game, has a pair of 3s already. Our centers, Dupree Eschemeyer and Xavier Jefferson, have combined for 11 pts. But NFL has managed to keep themselves close, because they are limiting their turnovers (4)
9:42, Up 24-19

We are starting to heat up, making 5 straight 3s. We're 9-19 3PT (47%)
5:25, Up 39-29

We cooled-down towards the end of the 1st half, and we allowed NFL to come back. Disappointed


Halftime, Up 45-42

We only had 2 fastbreak pts in the 1st half
PG Mark Collier leads all scorers with 11 pts, 4 asts
We're 10-24 3PT (42%)

Adjustments
- Off reb crash: +1
- Def reb crash: -1
- use m2m defense exclusively


2nd half

(reminder: check Shoot 3s box)

We knocked down 4 3s already in the 2nd half, including a pair from SG Joel Woods. But NFL still managing to hang close, getting a lot of inside baskets. We're 14-33 3PT (42%)
14:44, Up 61-55

NFL was able to cut our lead to just 2. We go on a mini 5-0 run, to give us some breathing room
10:00, Up 70-63

It's NFL's turn to make a 6-0 run. This is going down the wire. We're 16-42 3 PT (38%)
7:32, Up 70-69

NFL's persistence has paid off, and they take the lead. I call a timeout
6:12, Down 72-73

A 3 by SG Frank Rickey. A pair of FTs by NFL. We are in the penalty
5:26, Tied at 75

We turned the ball over. NFL getting another FT. C Xavier Jefferson makes a 3! Jefferson makes a block on the other end. We go back to Jefferson on the outside, and he hits another 3! We're 19-46 3 PT (40%)
4:22, Up 81-76

NFL missing shots. SG Cedric Takaki, who has been relatively quiet today, makes a 3! We are on a 9-1 run
3:16, Up 84-76

A converted 3pt play for NFL. They are not giving up
2:26, Up 84-79

We added a FT. NFL gets an off reb on the other end, and on their 2nd chance opportunity, they hit a 3; that hurts. Timeout. We have to increase def reb crash
1:43, Up 85-82

We came up empty on our play. and then NFL connects on a jumper
1:00, Up 85-84

We had 2 opportunities to make a 3; both missed. NFL got the def reb. They call a timeout
0:40, Up 85-84

We came up with a defensive stop, and got the rebound. NFL forced to foul. SG Joel Woods converts both FTs. Another timeout by NFL.
0:20, Up 87-84

NFL shoots a 3. Miss. We get the rebound. Game over! Close one. Conference tournament champs!


Final Score: North Florida - 84, Kennesaw St - 87
Box Scores

Woods 17, 5, 4, 4 blks, 4 tos, 5 3PT (*)
Collier 14, 4, 7, 4 3PT
Rickey 14, 3, 2, 4 3PT
Jefferson 13, 6, 2, 3 3PT
Eschmeyer 9, 10, 0, 4 blks
Takaki 9, 1, 0, 2 3PT
Florence 5, 11, 0
Gaines 3, 2, 0, 1 3PT
Brown 3, 0, 0, 1 3PT

Team Comparison:
FG%: 38 to 47%
REB: +2
TO: Even
Paint: -26 (we were outscored, 36-10)
2nd Chance: -7
Fast Break: -8

Somehow we got lucky in this game. NFL shot just 7-26 3PT (27%), and yet this finished as just a 1-possession game
We shot 20-51 3PT (39%)

[RandyR17]

We're in the West Region

[1] #3 Colorado (Pac 12 Reg Season and Tournament Champs)
[2] #7 Providence (Big East 2nd Place)
[3] #13 Pittsburgh (ACC T-3rd Place)
[4] #18 Florida (SEC 5th Pace)
[5] #25 Ohio State (Big 10 Reg Season Co-Champs)
[6] #11 Kennesaw St (A-Sun Reg Season and Tournament Champs)
[7] Iowa (Big 10 T-4th Place)
[8] Michigan (Big 10 T-4th Place)
[9] Washington St (Pac 12 T-4th Place)
[10] Fresno St (MWC 3rd Place)
[11] Belmont(OVC Reg Season and Tournament Champs)
[13] Stony Brook (America East Tournament Champs)
[14] Drake (MVC Reg Season Co-Champs and Tournament Champs)
[15] James Madison (CAA Tournament Champs)
[16] Samford (SOCON Tournament Champs)
[16] South Carolina St (MEAC Tournament Champs)

[RandyR17]

Start of NCAA Tournament

3/17/2020
Belmont [11] (22-10, 14-4) vs #11 Kennesaw St [6] (31-1, 15-1)

Opponent Notes
- BELMT has won 9 of their last 10 games
- BELMT is also offense-oriented team, ranking nationally as follows: 79.8 ppg (#3 National), 19.4 apg (#6), 106.7 Off Rating (#7)


1st Half

BELMT starting out hot, shooting well from the outside. We're 1-4 3PT (25%)
16:59, Down 3-13

BELMT already with 4 blks. I told the team to be patient. We're 3-9 3PT (33%)
13:37, Down 11-18

BELMT continues to shoot well from the floor, 11-15 FG (73%), while our outside shots still looking for consistency. We're 4-13 3PT (31%)
9:44, Down 20-30

We just want to stay close during this half, and try to match BELMT's efficient offense. We're 6-16 3 PT (37%)
6:48, Down 32-39

Our offense froze, and BELMT finished the half with a 20-6 run. BELMT can't seem to miss, 62% FG, 69% 3PT


Halftime, Down 38-59

We only had 2 fastbreak pts in the 1st half
We're 8-27 3PT (30%)

Adjustments
- Off reb crash: +1
- Def reb crash: -1
- use m2m defense exclusively, double everyone


2nd half

(reminder: check Shoot 3s box)

Better start defensively, but we still can't make enough shots to start a big rally. We're 10-34 3PT (29%)
14:33, Down 47-66

We're still not making any progress to get back in this game. A couple of turnovers derailing us even further. Time is running out. We're 11-39 3PT (28%)
9:58, Down 54-76

Still down by 23 with 6 ins remaining. We played the kind of offense we had all season. Not enough shots falling today. Disappointing to exit in our 1st game in the NCAA tournament, but still a good season overall


Final Score: Belmont - 90, Kennesaw St - 76
Box Scores

Collier 17, 2, 2, 5 3PT
Takaki 16, 4, 3, 4 3PT
Woods 13, 4, 4, 3 3PT
Jefferson 11, 9, 2, 1 3PT
Florence 10, 9, 0, 2 3PT
Eschmeyer 4, 6, 0
Gaines 3, 3, 1, 1 3PT
Rickey 2, 5, 1
Brown 0, 2, 0

Team Comparison:
FG%: 32 to 48%
REB: +3
TO: +1
Paint: -6
2nd Chance: +9
Fast Break: Even

We shot 16-56 3PT (29%). The only game where we shot worse was during our 1st loss of the season (28% 3PT). We live and die with the 3, and we didn't survive today