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Quote:KENNESAW STATE

GETTING INSIDE

Kennesaw State's season ended on a dismal note when the Owls dropped both of their two games on the final weekend.

An 81-46 thrashing from East Tennessee State followed by an 80-51 loss to USC Upstate were the sixth and seventh consecutive losses for the Owls, who finished with only seven wins overall and three in 20 Atlantic Sun games.

The Owls won only one of their final 12 games and only two of their last 22 outings after winning five of their first seven, including a road win at Colgate.

The problems were many, starting with a career-ending knee injury to J.D. Pollock. The guard was hurt after playing just seven games and just two games after scoring 24 points against Colgate.

Jay Mitchell, a 6-foot-9 forward who transferred from Texas Tech, was a late arrival after having ankle surgery and never became the consistent contributor that was hoped for, though he did come up with a key play in an early win over Florida Gulf Coast.

The Owls shot only 38.1 percent for the season, last in the league, and averaged only 58.3 points a game. Only North Florida (56.6) was less productive.

They allowed their opponents to shoot 47.1 percent, making them the most generous team in the league, and they were last in rebounding margin. Opponents averaged 6.4 more rebounds a game than the Owls.

They had no players in the league's top 10 in scoring. Sophomore guard Kelvin McConnell checked in at No. 16 with his 11.9 average, and two others, freshman guard Kurtis Woods and junior forward Jon-Michael Nickerson averaged 10.5 and 10.1, respectively.

Nickerson was the top rebounder at 5.6 a game, which was 14th in the league.

In conference games, only McConnell (11.4) and Woods (11.1) averaged in double figures. Nickerson was the top rebounder for the Owls in league games with a 4.8 average.

If there is a bright side, it is that Pollock and Jeff Croft, a 6-4 guard who played only sparingly, were the only seniors on the roster.

NOTES, QUOTES

FINAL RECORD: 7-22, 3-17 Atlantic Sun, 11th place.

WHAT WENT RIGHT: The Owls started off well by winning five of their first seven games. The streak included a win at Colgate, which would turn out to be their only road victory of the season in 15 opportunities. Later, in A-Sun play, the Owls lost by only three points on the road to league regular-season champion Jacksonville.

WHAT WENT WRONG: The injury to J.D. Pollock took away a starter on a club thin in experienced depth. The Owls lost their next eight games when he went out with a bad knee. He was among the leaders in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio early on. The Owls split their first two conference games at home in December, but then had to go on the road for six of their next eight in January, and that was the start of the losing.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Ever since the injury I have had time to adjust to things. I have shed a lot of tears, but the reality is that I am proud of being a part of this team, the program and the university." -- G J.D. Pollock, whose senior season was limited to seven games because of a knee injury.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

THE GOOD NEWS: All five starters return, led by guards Kelvin McConnell and Kurtis Woods. A season of experience for the sophomore and freshman, respectively, should be a big boost. The best thing about the 2009-10 season, however, will be that the Owls will be eligible for the conference tournament, which should give them something to play for. It's no coincidence that the bottom four teams in the standings were the four in the transition period to Division I and weren't eligible this season.

THE BAD NEWS: The Owls have a long way to go with their inside game. The addition of 6-foot-9 Auburn transfer Matt Heramb will help there, but the Owls need more than just one guy to step in. The problem for the Owls is that the losses began to get worse as the season wore on -- 29 points to USC Upstate in the season finale, 35 to East Tennessee State the game before that. Of their last 12 defeats, 10 were by double digits.

KEY RETURNEES: G Kevin McConnell is a 3-point threat who has shot 38.7 percent from long distance in two seasons. He led the Owls in scoring with his 11.9 average. G Kurtis Woods started all 29 games as a freshman and averaged 11.1 points a game against conference foes. F Jon-Michael Nickerson is capable of becoming a consistent double-figure guy. G Spencer Dixon had 19 starts as a freshman and improved as the season wore on.

ROSTER REPORT:

--F Matt Heramb should be a welcome addition next season after sitting out 2008-09 following his transfer from Auburn. Heramb, a 6-9 junior, averaged 3.0 points and 1.4 rebounds a game in 27 appearances for Auburn in 2007-08.

--G Spencer Dixon led the Owls in assists and was 14th in the league in conference games with his 2.75 average. He averaged 2.69 in all games. He also was sixth in steals (1.85 per game) in league play while averaging 1.59 steals in all games.

--G Kelvin McConnell's 3-point percentage of 36.0 in A-Sun games ranked 15th in the league.

USA Today

Very accurate and in depth article. Doesn't mention anything about Cummings or Green but I am surprised they had as much info as they did. We should be improved next year, and with some decent size in the post, we should do a better job on defense and on the boards. We have been at our best in the past when he go through our post players as the primary scorers, so hopefully next year's influx of post players will severely help our offense as well.

Thanks for the article. It definitely does a good job of illustrating how difficult a year we had, and I appreciate the sentiment that we got some bad breaks...no excuses, but we certainly weren't a fortunate team this year.

Ouch!

Did we make a bet on this past season?

Thank goodness we didn't. Our bet is for next year. If we finish 6th or higher I win. If we finish worse than 6th than you win. 1 month of avatar time again for the loser.