VCU Rises From the Dead to Beat Kennesaw State

Final Score: VCU 64, Kennesaw St. 61. 

Location: Siegel Center in Richmond

Current Records: VCU 4-2. KS 4-3. 

In a Nutshell: For most of the game the energetic Kennesaw State squad seemed to have the Rams number. VCU's first lead over the visiting Owls came with two minutes left in the game. Led on offense by 24 points contributed by substitute point guard Jay Nunn (the regular point, Ace Baldwin, is recovering from a wrist injury and operation), the cold-shooting Rams -- 40.9 percent from the field -- found a way to win the game. This helped: VCU went 24-for-33 from the charity stripe; KS went 9-18.

NOTES

    

Nunn connected on 7-of-11 from the floor, including 4-of-5 in the second half, to spearhead the VCU comeback. He also connected on 8-of-12 free throws

After trailing for the entire first half, the Rams outscored the Owls 36-27 in the second half.

    

Junior guard Zeb Jackson supported the offense with nine points and four assists for the Rams. Jackson's four assists are a new career-high.

  

 VCU’s defense held firm against the Owls, forcing 16 turnovers, which led to 19 points.

   

 Sophomore forward Jalen DeLoach supplied a strong second half and finished with six points, seven rebounds the three blocks for the Rams.

 

Junior guard Josh Banks gave the Rams vital minutes off the bench with seven points. He was a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.  

 

Demond Robinson led the Owls with 15 points and ten rebounds. 

 

VCU closed the game on a 14-4 run. Nunn kicked off VCU’s final push with a 3-pointer with 5:13 left that pulled the Rams within 57-53. 

 

 After strong defense from both sides, Banks made both ends of a one-and-one opportunity at the free throw line with 3:24 left and cut the lead to 57-55. With 2:33 remaining, DeLoach stuck back an offensive rebound with 2:26 on the clock to tie the game at 59-all, the first tie of the game.

 

After the Owls tied the game with two free throws, VCU grabbed a one-point lead from sophomore guard Nick Kern’s free throw with 16.1 seconds remaining. VCU forced a miss on the ensuing possession, and Jackson hit a pair of free throws with 1.7 left for the final margin. In the final ten minutes, VCU outscored Kennesaw St. 23-13.

 

This was the first time these two schools have played one another.

*

VCU Head Coach Mike Rhoades: "They stuck together. I thought that we had some bad body language in the first half, but they came together and said that we need to figure this out. In the second half we took it one possession at a time and even when they scored, we stayed level, we just battled the entire half. I said to the guys that we showed grit in the second half. For some teams, games like this they come in and try to stay close and see what happens, but Kennesaw State came in here and tried to win the game. And we found a way to win it, and we have to take a big step now.”

Zeb Jackson: “I have never experienced anything like what the fans brought tonight. When I was at Michigan, because the fans weren’t all the way back because of the COVID years, I never felt that. The fans gave me a whole bunch of energy that I did not even know that I had. They definitely helped us pour out the effort at the end of the game, and I think it affected Kennesaw State as well. I felt great listening the fans.” 

BOX SCORE.

 

NEXT UP

 

VCU takes on SEC opponent Vanderbilt on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Siegel Center. The game will be broadcasted on CBS Sports Network.

-- Info provided by Chris Kowalczyk, VCU Assistant A.D.