Kennesaw State rolls over Austin Peay

Jan. 27—KENNESAW — Kennesaw State dominated Austin Peay on both ends of the floor Thursday to win its sixth straight game, 84-57, and remain in a first-place tie in the ASUN Conference.

The Owls (16-6, 8-1) set a new program best for victories in the Division I era. The win, in front of a crowd of nearly 2,000 fans at the KSU Convocation Center, was Kennesaw State's 11th straight at home and allowed it to take another step toward a top-two seed for the ASUN tournament.

Kennesaw State and Liberty both moved a full two games in front of third-place Eastern Kentucky and Stetson, and the Owls and Flames are moving toward a potential first-place showdown when Liberty come to Kennesaw on Feb. 16.

"We're not a finished product," Kennesaw State coach Amir Abdur-Rahim said. "We're learning how to win with character through prosperity."

The Owls were prosperous from the opening tip as they never trailed. They built a nine-point lead 6 minutes into the game, led by as many as 15 in the first half and had a 10-point lead at the break.

In the second half, Kennesaw State continued to do the little things. It seemed to get every loose ball, held Austin Peay (8-14, 2-7) to 34% shooting — including 19% from behind the 3-point line — and outrebounded the Governors 50-26.

"I thought we did a really good job tonight though with our defense," Abdur-Rahim said. "Look at our numbers. We held them to 34% — 19% from 3. I don't care who you're playing, if you have numbers like that, you're pretty good, and the defensive end is where we want to hang our hat."

The defensive effort led to 18 points off turnovers and allowed four Owls to reach double figures. Chris Youngblood led the way with 19 points, Demond Robinson had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Brandon Stroud finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Terrell Burden added 10. Kasen Jennings just missed double figures and ended with nine.

Leading 20-18 at the midway point of the first half, Kennesaw State went on a 10-1 run over the next 4 minutes, capped by an emphatic dunk by Robinson. A steal and a dunk by Spencer Rodgers with 1:29 left put the Owls up 39-24.

The lead never was smaller than nine the rest of the way.

With 15:15 left in the game, Stroud connected on a 3 to start a 22-10 run over the next 9 minutes to build a 72-48 lead.

Sean Durugordon and Kelechi Okworogwo each had 11 for Austin Peay.