Appalachian State University men's basketball will look to rebound off of its loss to NC State on Thursday with a 1 p.m. clash against James Madison inside the Holmes Center on Saturday afternoon.
Thursday's contest can be heard live locally on WATA 1450 AM in Boone and Blowing Rock. It will also be carried on Appalachian State's flagship station, WKBC 97.3 FM, as well as, WZGV 730 AM, WCOG 1320 AM, and online/worldwide on appstatesports.com and via the TuneIn app.
LAST TIME OUT
• Appalachian State's cold-shooting at NC State led to a 97-64 defeat to the Wolfpack on Dec. 15.
• The Wolfpack finished 34-for-41 from the free throw line and shot 51.8 percent from the field en route to the victory.
• The Apps made just four 3-pointers on 29 attempts.
• Ronshad Shabazz led the scoring with 14 points, while Jake Babic also tallied double-figures with 10 points.
• The double-digit output was the 26th of Shabazz's career and the 11th of Babic's career.
• Appalachian's 76 field goal attempts were a season high, while the Mountaineers' 11 turnovers were a season low.
• Appalachian was outrebounded 45-41, however, the Mountaineers outrebounded the Wolfpack 14-4 on the offensive glass.
TOP HEADLINES AND SERIES HISTORY
• Appalachian State and James Madison will meet for the fifth time in program history this afternoon.
• The Black and Gold own a 3-1 record over the Dukes with over 11 years since their last meeting.
• JMU earned its first win of the series in their last meeting with an 81-79 overtime victory on Nov. 28, 2005 in Harrisonburg.
• App State enters the contest with a 2-1 record on its home floor this season - averaging 96.0 points per game in the Holmes Center.
• The Mountaineers own an all-time winning percentage of .651 (142-76) since the opening of the arena for the 2000-01 season.
• App State is led offensively by leading scorer Ronshad Shabazz who is averaging a team-best 15.3 points per game.
• Seven other Mountaineers are averaging at least 7.0 points per game, while the Apps average 80.0 points per game this season.
• The Mountaineers carry a +4.8 rebound margin over its opponents.
• Accoring to KenPom rankings, the Mountaineers are the 17th youngest team in the country (334/351) with 1.03 average years of experience.
• The Mountaineers non-conference strength of schedule is ranked 26th nationally.
SCOUTING THE DUKES
• James Madison enters today's contest with a 1-8 overall record and getting its first win on Dec. 3 in a 71-59 victory over Longwood.
• The Dukes are recently coming off a 74-67 loss at Western Michigan.
• Two Dukes are averaging double-figures with Jackson Kent (12.6 ppg) and Joey McLean (11.1 ppg).
• Much like the Mountaineers, the Dukes carry a positive rebound margin (+3.9) this season.
• However, the Dukes are turnover prone and have produced a -6.3 turnover margin this season with 149 total turnovers in eight games (18.6 per game).
WHAT'S NEXT
• Appalachian State will close out non-conference play with its final home game before Christmas when it hosts Hampton on Dec. 21.
• Tip time against the Pirates is set for 7 p.m.
