NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Fresh off a dominant victory in the opening round of the Sun Belt Tournament, the fifth seeded Appalachian State men's basketball team will face off with fourth seed Texas Arlington in the Sun Belt Tournament Quarterfinals on Friday at 3 p.m. EST (2 p.m. CST) at Lakefront Arena.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
- The Mountaineers earned their first ever Sun Belt Conference tournament victory on Wednesday, topping 12 seed Little Rock 93-64.
- App State is now 1-1 all-time in the tournament and fell to eventual champion Troy in last season's tournament 84-64 in the first round.
THE SERIES
- The Black and Gold and the Mavericks will meet for the 10th time, with UTA holding a 7-2 edge.
- This season, the teams split their two matchups, with each winning on their home floor. App State posted a 80-76 victory in Boone on December 31, with the Mavericks recording a 89-77 victory in Arlington on February 1.
EARLIER THIS SEASON
- In the first meeting between the two schools this season on December 31 in Boone, Appalachian built a 20-point halftime lead. The Mavericks made a late charge but the Mountaineers would hit their free throws down the stretch for the 80-76 win. Ronshad Shabazz finished with 21 points, while O'Showen Williams added 14 points in a reserve role. Craig Hinton and Griffin Kinney each added 11 points.
- On February 1 in Arlington, App State took an early eight-point lead and had a 39-35 halftime edge. UTA was able to take a two-point lead late in the game and went 16-of-18 from the free throw down the stretch to seal the victory. Ronshad Shabazz had 31 points, with Griffin Kinney adding 13 points and eight rebounds.
LAST TIME OUT
- On Wednesday, the Mountaineer notched their first ever Sun Belt Tournament Conference victory, with a 93-64 win over 12 seed Little Rock.
- A total of five players reached double figures for App State. Off the bench, O'Showen Williams scored a game-high 22 points on 6-of-8 (75.0 percent) shooting and a perfect 3-of-3 mark on three-pointers. Justin Forrest added 19 points on 6-of-8 (75.0 percent) shooting and a 4-of-5 (80.0 percent) clip from deep.
- Griffin Kinney and Ronshad Shabazz each scored 12 points, while Isaac Johnson posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
- The Black and Gold scored the first seven points of the game and closed the first half on a 14-1 run to take a 46-25 lead into the intermission. Little Rock trimmed the Appalachian lead to 17 points in the second half, but App State came right back with 10 straight points to put the game away.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
- The Mountaineers win on Wednesday was the largest postseason victory for the program since a 82-50 win over Baron in the 1949 North State Conference Tournament.
- Appalachian State enters the contest on Friday ranked this in the Sun Belt in scoring (76.3 ppg) and rebounding (39.0 rpg).
- Isaac Johnson now has three double-doubles on the season after his 11-point, 11-rebound performance on Wednesday. He has recorded double digit rebounds in 13 contests this season.
- Over his last five games, Justin Forrest is averaging 13.0 points on 23-of-49 (46.9 percent) shooting and 3.6 rebounds.
- In two games as a starter, Craig Hinton is averaging 14.0 points on 10-of-15 (66.7 percent) shooting and a 5-of-10 (50.0 percent) mark from beyond the arc, to go along with 6.5 rebounds.
SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS
- UT Arlington earned the fourth seed in the Sun Belt Tournament after finishing 19-12 overall and 10-8 in conference play.
- Kevin Hervey was named First Team All-Sun Belt and ranks second in the conference in scoring (21.1 ppg) and rebounding (8.7 rpg).
- Erick Neal earned Second Team All-Sun Belt honors and is averaging 16.2 ppg, while leading the league in both assists (210) and steals (61). Neal is also shooting 38.6 percent on three-pointers, which ranks second in the Sun Belt.
UP NEXT
The winner of Friday's game will advance to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament semifinals and will take on either top seed Louisiana or No. 9 seed Texas State on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. EST (11:30 a.m. CST).
