BOONE, N.C. -- Appalachian State men's basketball scored the first 17 points of the game and never looked back in a dominant 104-77 victory over Louisiana on Thursday evening inside the Holmes Center.
The Mountaineers (7-14, 2-6 SBC) offense featured five players in double figures. Off the bench,
Tyrell Johnson tied his season-high with 20 points, going 7-of-10 (70.0 percent) from the field and 2-of-3 (66.7 percent) from deep.
Justin Forrest added 17 points on 6-of-12 (50.0 percent) shooting and three steals.
Hunter Seacat chipped in with 14 points on 6-of-9 (66.7 percent) shooting and seven rebounds, while
Ronshad Shabazz had 12 points, two rebounds and two assists.
Isaac Johnson posted his sixth double-double of the season with 10 points, 14 rebounds and a career-high five steals.
The App State defense was tough all evening, forcing Louisiana (13-8, 4-4 SBC) into 21 turnovers, scoring 26 points off of those miscues. In addition the Mountaineers committed just nine turnovers in the win.
The Black and Gold held the Ragin' Cajuns scoreless for the first 4:49 of the contest, building a 17-0 lead. App State pushed its lead to 20 points at 24-4 on a dunk from
Tyrell Johnson. Louisiana chipped away at the Mountaineer lead, trimming its deficit to 38-27 with 3:39 left in the first half. From there, the Black and Gold closed out the half on a 13-4 run to take a 51-31 lead into the break.
After the Ragin' Cajuns cut the Mountaineer lead to 18 points early in the second half, App State answered with a 9-0 spurt to push its lead to 62-35 with 16:48 remaining. The Mountaineers opened their largest lead of the night at 72-39 on a free throw from
Tyrell Johnson with 14:17 left. Louisiana would get no closer than 21 points the rest of the night as Appalachian State rolled to the 27-point victory.
App State finished 38-of-76 (50.0 percent) from the field and 17-of-21 (81.0 percent) from the free throw line, while Louisiana went 28-of-62 (45.2 percent) and 16-of-20 (80.0 percent) on free throws.
The win also marks the first ever victory for the Mountaineers over the Ragin' Cajuns.
Appalachian State will return to action on Saturday against ULM at 2 p.m. inside the Holmes Center. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ and can be heard across the Appalachian IMG Sports Network.
