JONESBORO, Ark. -- Appalachian State men's basketball will play its second consecutive road game, taking on Arkansas State on Thursday evening at 8 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ and can be heard across the Appalachian IMG Sports Network.
SUITS AND SNEAKERS WEEK
- Coaches vs. Cancer Suits And Sneakers Week is a nationwide event when basketball coaches across the country unite for a common cause – saving lives from cancer.
- Coaches and their staff across the nation wear sneakers with their suits during games to raise awareness and help save lives from cancer by raising funds and encouraging people to educate themselves about cancer prevention, screening, and early detection.
THE SERIES
- This will be the 11th all-time meeting between the two schools, with the series tied at 5-5.
- The Red Wolves have won the last three matchups in the series, including a 93-88 win in Boone and a 82-79 overtime victory in Jonesboro last season.
LAST TIME OUT
- App State fell at Coastal Carolina on Saturday 89-72.
- Justin Forrest paced the Mountaineers with team highs of 21 points, four assists and three steals.
- Isaac Johnson added nine points and 11 rebounds.
- Off the bench, Breki Gylfason tallied a career-high eight points, Tyrell Johnson added eight points and five rebounds and Bennett Holley had five points and a season-high four rebounds.
- Coastal Carolina scored the first 16 points of the game to jump out to a 16-0 edge and held a 43-32 lead at the intermission. The Mountaineers cut into the Coastal Carolina lead in the second half, pulling within two points at 56-54 on a layup from Tyrell Johnson. The Chanticleers answered with the next 12 points to push their lead back to 68-54 with just under nine minutes to play. The Black and Gold pulled to within 10 points at 70-60, but a 13-0 spurt by Coastal Carolina gave them a 83-60 lead and put the game out of reach.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
- The Black and Gold enter play on Thursday with at 5-13 overall ond 0-5 in Sun Belt play.
- With their 27-point scoring output on Saturday, the App State bench has now scored 27 or more points in three straight games. During that span, the bench is averaging 29.7 points.
- Isaac Johnson now has eight double digit rebounding games after his 11-rebound performance on Saturday. He currently leads the conference in rebounding, averaging 8.9 rebounds per game.​​​​​​​
- Ronshad Shabazz is averaging a team-high 18.4 points, which ranks eighth in the Sun Belt. Shabazz has reached double figures in 15 of 18 games on the season, including nine games of 20 or more points.
- App State has scored 70 or more points in 16 of 18 games this season and ranks third in the Sun Belt in scoring, averaging 80.6 points per game.
SCOUTING THE RED WOLVES
- Arkansas State dropped to 8-11 on the season and 2-4 in Sun Belt play with a 77-64 setback at Texas State on Saturday.
- Ty Cockfield had 21 points and Marquis Eaton added 12.
- Cockfield (20.9 ppg) and Eaton (12.3 ppg) are both averaging double figures for the Red Wolves.
- Arkansas State in the top rebounding team in the Sun Belt averaging 39.0 rpg and features three players averaging over five rebounds per game in Malik Brevard (5.9 rpg), Salif Boudie (5.5 rpg) and Grantham Gillard (5.4 rpg).
UP NEXT
Appalachian State will continue its road trip through Arkansas and take on Little Rock on Saturday at 4 p.m. EST on ESPN+ and the Appalachian IMG Sports Network.
