Jan. 9, 2008

KENNESAW, Ga. - After a heart-wrenching overtime loss to Mercer on Saturday night, the Owls will look to turn the tables as Kennesaw State hosts first-place Jacksonville on Thursday evening at the KSU Convocation Center.

Kennesaw State (2-12, 0-1 A-Sun) has lost seven-straight games, but is coming off perhaps their best performance of the season as Shuan Stegall and Tanner Jacobs each recorded a pair of double-doubles in a two-point loss to Mercer.

Stegall scored 22 points and ripped down 17 rebounds, while Jacobs, a true freshman from Louisville, Ky. scored 17 points and grabbed a KSU freshman and Convocation Center record 18 rebounds. His 14 offensive boards also set a new A-Sun mark.

In his 100th game as an Owl, senior Ronell Wooten made it a memorable one as he hit a three-pointer from half-court as time expired in regulation, sending the game to overtime.

Looking for their first win in over a month, Kennesaw State head coach Tony Ingle has been nothing less than optimistic as his squad has seemed to come together, as they normally do after the first of the year. After January 1 under Ingle, Kennesaw State posts a record of 102-46.

The Jacksonville Dolphins have made tremendous strides over the past two seasons and are now considered one of the top teams in the conference. Under head coach Cliff Warren, the Dolphins are off to their best conference start in seven years.

Jacksonville won their first two A-Sun games this season, both at home as they stopped Stetson in triple overtime after coming back from a 19-point deficit and also defeated A-Sun newcomer Florida Gulf Coast.

The Dolphins also bring reigning conference Player of the week Ben Smith to town. The sophomore point guard scored a career-high 33 points against Stetson and scored a game-high 16 points against FGCU.

Not to be outdone, Kelvin McConnell, the Owls freshman point guard, has also been hot recently. The Owls rookie is averaging more than 12 points per game over his last three games and recently struck for a career-high 19 points against Nicholls State.

The Owls and the Dolphins have played four times with Kennesaw State leading the all-time series, 3-1. Jacksonville won the last time the teams met, taking a 76-72 decision last year in Florida.

Tip-off between the Owls and the Dolphins is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday's game is the First Annual T-shirt Switch Night. All fans bringing a non-KSU college T-Shirt to the game can redeem it for a Kennesaw State Athletics T-shirt FREE. All T-shirts collected will then be donated to a local homeless shelter. For more information please call 678-797-2171.