BOONE, N.C. -- Appalachian State men's basketball will officially open the 2018-19 season, presented by AutoStar Nissan, on Tuesday evening inside the Holmes Center versus Mars Hill at 7 p.m.
TICKETS
Season tickets and individual game tickets are currently on sale. Season tickets can be purchased by
clicking here or by calling the Appalachian State ticket office at 828-262-2079. Single game tickets can be purchased by
clicking here or by contacting the Appalachian State ticket office at 828-262-2079.
THE SERIES
- This is the 15th all-time meeting between the two schools, with the Mountaineers holding a 10-4 edge
- App State has won the last seven meetings by an average of 26.3 points
- The Black and Gold won the last meeting by a 102-74 count in the 2002-03 season opener
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
- Head coach Jim Fox begins his fifth year at the helm and returns a total of 13 players (including redshirts) from last season's squad that posted 15 victories. In addition, the Black and Gold finished in a tie for fifth place in the Sun Belt and earned the No. 5 seed in the Sun Belt Tournament
- In a 97-44 win in an exhibition over Ferrum on Thursday, App State saw six players reach double figures in scoring. Justin Forrest led the way for the Mountaineers with a game-high 16 points and a game-high tying eight rebounds. Isaac Johnson tallied 12 points, four rebounds and four steals. Bennett Holley had 11 points and six rebounds, Tyrell Johnson scored 11 points and added five rebounds and Ronshad Shabazz tallied 11 points to go along with four assists. Joseph Battle chipped in with 10 points for the Black and Gold
- Shabazz is a two-time All-Sun Belt honoree and was tabbed as Preseason First Team All-Sun Belt by the league's 10 head coaches. He averaged 18.5 points and dished out 100 assists in 2017-18. He is just 14 points shy of entering the top-10 for career points
- Forrest returns for App State after averaging 13.5 points and leading the team with 42 steals. He reached double figures in 25 contests last season
- Isaac Johnson led the team in rebounding at 8.4 rpg, which also ranked fourth in the Sun Belt. Johnson also tallied a team-high three double-doubles last season
SCOUTING THE LIONS
- Mars Hill went 4-24 in the 2017-18 season and see Nassyr Daniel and Austin Gilyard return after being named to the South Atlantic Conference All-Freshman Team last year
- Daniel averaged 8.9 points and 6.1 rebounds, while shooting a team-best 57.0 percent from the field
- Gilyard, averaged 11.5 points, which ranked second on the team, while shooting a team and conference best 88.6 percent from the free throw line
UP NEXT
Appalachian State will hit the road to take on Alabama on Sunday evening at 7 p.m. EST on the SEC Network in a non-bracket game of the Charleston Classic. App State will then begin play at the Charleston Classic on Nov. 15 against No. 24 Purdue at 5 p.m. on ESPN2.
