The comfortable confines of Varsity Gym provided a welcome respite for the Appalachian State men's basketball team after the Mountaineers spent most of Tuesday braving Boone's first cold snap of the winter.

While flurries continued to fall around campus, the Mountaineers were busy with a practice heavy on defense indoors. After opening practice with work on two-man breaks, shooting in transition, and individual position work, the squad turned its attention to continued improvement in defensive closeouts on the perimeter.

Additionally, extensive time was devoted to defending ball screens with the defense forcing four turnovers in approximately 15 possessions of live action against ball screens. Breaking out of half-court defense, the team also continued to work on its transition defense and further implementation of the full-court pressure defense.

The practice closed as always, with limited scrimmage action and a flurry of three-pointers as ASU's marksmen, especially Ryann Abraham, continued their hot shooting.

Unanimous preseason team captain Tyler Webb was pleased with Tuesday's session and the team's continued improvement.

"Given the distractions, our focus was good today, we worked hard and really got the intensity where it needs to be," he said.

The distractions from a typical practice was Varsity Gym being fully utilized for the afternoon as volleyball and track practice and preparations for tonight's wrestling intrasquad match were all taking place inside the cavernous building.

"The bigs main focus was on stopping penetration and keeping the ball out of the paint," said Webb.

He added that, "We need to start rebounding better and blocking out more consistently," echoing head coach Houston Fancher's desire to not only get solid rebounding from his big men, but also the guards to develop a 'gang rebounding' mentality from the 1-5 spots.

During 5-on-5 rebounding drills, that gang mentality was in full effect as every rebound was contested and fought for tooth-and-nail. Two freshmen, Josh Nirenberg and Andre Williamson, really shined during the drill with Nirenberg's wide body corralling five boards while Williamson's spring-like jumping ability picked four balls off the glass against play far more physical than any officiating crew will allow in regular-season play.

The team's preseason preparation continues tomorrow in Varsity Gym with just 17 days remaining before the season tips off at UNC Wilmington on November 14. The hoops season will move closer to the forefront on Thursday when Houston Fancher participates in the Southern Conference's basketball media day in Charlotte. Fancher will be joined by ASU head women's coach Darcie Vincent and the entire contigent of SoCon coaches to meet with the league's media and share their thoughts on the upcoming season.

The league's preseason poll and all-SoCon teams will also be announced on Thursday afternoon. Be sure to visit www.GoASU.com to see where the league's coaches and media project the Mountaineers to finish.