Starting off right

Both the men's and women's basketball teams started off their respective seasons with a win.

The men beat Princeton 55-53 Friday night in New Jersey, while the women edged out an 84-83 win against Indiana State Saturday at Rose Arena.

Some highlights from the men's game:

Chris Kellermann: career-high 28 points and 13 rebounds. His first double-double of his career.

Jacolby Hardiman; game-winning steal with less than 10 seconds left.

Robbie Harman: 3-for-4 from the free throw line with less than one minute remaining.

Princeton's freshman point guard Doug Davis: 25 points in debut.

I talked to coach Ernie Zeigler and Kellermann after the game.

Kellermann on the environment: “It was pretty neat playing there. They’ve got a good fanbase. There wasn’t as many many students as I thought there was going to be, but it’s a great tradition and a pretty good basketball environment overall.”

Zeigler on his team's performance: “It was a total team effort. Robbie Harman was a rock down the stretch, going to the foul line. Good teams win one-possession games. We battled through adversity during the game. We struggled with handling the ball and making free throws, but we did not wilt.

“It’s very gratifying. I’m just really more pleased for my players, because they’ve been dealing with adversity off the court in terms of some of the issues with their teammates. Rough start for these guys. But these kids came prepared to execute. They came prepared to battle and I’m just really happy for all 10 guys that came on this trip and battled for us.”


Stay tuned for a preview of Monday's home opener against Missouri State, which begins at 7 p.m. at Rose Arena. Kellermann on the game: “We definitely owe them one from last year. Especially since we’ve got the “Rock the Rose” on Monday too. Hopefully that’s going to get everybody fired up to come to the game. I think everybody’s feeling really good coming into this one and a lot of guys from last year are looking for revenge on them. So it should be an exciting game and a good environment.”

-Dan