Kennesaw State dominated from the opening tip and upset Georgia Tech 80-63 Monday at the KSU Convocation Center.
A school-record crowd of 4,784 roared its approval throughout the night as the host Owls never trailed. It was Tech’s first-ever trip to Kennesaw for a basketball game and the first-ever home game for KSU against a team from a “Big Six” conference (ACC, Big XII, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-10, or SEC).
“This was the biggest game on campus in the history of the school,” said KSU head coach Tony Ingle. “I told the guys, you’re not just playing for your teammates tonight, you’re playing for anyone that’s ever worn this jersey. People didn’t come to this game tonight to watch you get beat.”
Junior guard Spencer Dixon scored 27 points on 5-10 shooting from the three-point line while LaDarius Green dropped 19, grabbed 12 rebounds and had four blocks.
“Spencer and LaDarius were incredible tonight,” gushed Ingle. “But we came to play. If you want to upset a team, you have to take it to ‘em. You can’t back your way in. You have to be aggressive and you have to go at ‘em.
Dixon made key shots throughout the night, many times ending mini-runs by Tech. The Jackets could not get to within less than five after the early minutes of the game.
“One of the keys to the game was Spencer,” said Ingle. “I said ‘quarterback this team and lead ‘em to victory.’ I said “Can you do that?’ and Spencer said ‘Yes’. Spencer was a Heisman Trophy candidate tonight.”
It was unusual for the Owls to play in front of such a rowdy home crowd, but they seemed comfortable in the wild environment while the Jackets seemed to wilt.
“I personally feed off the crowd,” said Dixon. “It was great to have everyone there. The more people that are there the more we do well.”
The Owls played solid defense tonight against the Jackets and held Tech to 35 percent shooting from the floor. It may have been more of a symptom of Tech’s lack of an offensive identity than anything, but Ingle will take it.
“It’s one of our goals to do that (hold teams in the 30’s shooting)”, said Ingle. “They worked hard on the defensive end.”
The Owls also fared well from beyond the arc. They held Tech to just four threes while drilling 10 of their own.
“That’s what we call our Wendy’s offense- get it to go, cheese on the fries, let it fly.”
Ingle was extremely proud of his team in the postgame press conference and for good reason- in 2004, Tech played for the national title against UConn. That same year, KSU won the Div. II national title.
The Owls have come a long way and are now done with the ordeal that was re-classification. And Ingle’s bunch is not taking a back seat to anyone.
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