Mountaineers to Host Coastal Carolina in Regular Season Finale

BOONE, N.C. -- The Appalachian State men's basketball team will close out its regular season on Saturday, hosting Coastal Carolina at 3:30 p.m. inside the Holmes Center. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN3.

TICKETS
Tickets are available for the game. Appalachian State basketball single game tickets can be purchased online by clicking here, by phone at (828) 262-2079 or in person at the Appalachian State athletics ticket office, located at the Holmes Center (Monday - Friday; 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.). 

App State will also be running special ticket deals for the Watauga County School System. All Watauga County School System Faculty and Staff get into the game for $5. In addition, all Watauga County School System student get in for free with accompanying guest being $5.

SENIOR DAY
The Mountaineers will honor their two seniors, Craig Hinton and Griffin Kinney, before the start of the game.

• Hinton joined the Black and Gold as a transfer and played his first season for the Mountaineers in 2016-17. In his career, he has appeared in 59 games, making seven starts and is averaging 4.2 points on 86-of-178 (48.3 percent) shooting, to go along with 3.2 rebounds. This season, he has posted career-highs in points (4.6 ppg), rebounds (3.3 rpg), assists (25) and blocks (19).
• Kinney has played in 119 total games in his career, starting in 91. He owns a career scoring average of 7.4 ppg on 50.8 percent (324-of-638) shooting, to go along with 4.8 rpg. Kinney is enjoying his best campaign as a Mountaineer this season, posting career-bests in scoring (9.9 ppg), shooting percentage (58.0 percent) and free throw percentage (72.2 percent).

THE SERIES

• This is just the fourth all-time meeting between the two schools.
• After splitting the season series last season, Appalachian State won the first meeting in Conway this season by a 81-66 score on February 10.

EARLIER THIS SEASON

• On February 10 this season, the Mountaineers posted a 81-66 road win at Coastal Carolina.
• O'Showen Williams netted a career-high 20 points in the win, while adding five rebounds and three assists.
• Ronshad Shabazz added 19 points and three rebounds, while Griffin Kinney chipped in with 14 points.
• The Black and Gold trained by a point at the break, but used an early 7-0 spurt in the second half to open up a six-point edge. The Apps expanded their lead to 11 points and used a late 10-0 run to put the game away. In all, the Mountaineers outscored the Chanticleers 49-33 in the second half.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS

• The Mountaineers enters play with a 13-17 mark on the season and stand at 8-9 in the Sun Belt. The Black and Gold are currently tied for seventh place with Coastal Carolina in the conference.
• Ronshad Shabazz has now poured in 576 points this season, which ranks seventh on the single-season scoring list.
• Over his last three games, Justin Forrest is averaging 14.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 steals.
• Isaac Johnson has recorded 11 or more rebounds in three of his last four games and is averaging 7.0 points on 10-of-15 (66.7 percent) shooting and 10.3 rebounds during that span.

SCOUTING THE CHANTICLEERS

• Coastal Carolina stands at 14-16 on the season and is tied for seventh place in the Sun Belt with Appalachian State with a 8-9 mark.
• The Chanticleers have won three straight after an 88-81 victory at Arkansas State on February 24. Tyrell Gumbs-Frater tallied a career-high 24 points off the bench on 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) shooting. Zac Cuthbertson added 19 points in a reserve role and Amidou Bamba and Artur Labinowicz each finished with 15 points.
• Cuthbertson leads Coastal Carolina in scoring (14.7 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg), with Jaylen Shaw right behind averaging 14.5 ppg.
• Shaw has also dished out a team-high 166 assists and also has a team leading 51 steals.

UP NEXT
App State will set its sights on the Sun Belt Tournament in New Orleans. The tournament is set to begin on March 7, against an opponent and at a time that has yet to be determined.