Men's Basketball Eyes Third Straight Win on Saturday Versus ULM

BOONE, N.C. -- Appalachian State men's basketball will look for its third straight victory on Saturday against ULM. Tip is set for 2 p.m. inside the Holmes Center. The contest can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on the Appalachian Sports Network.

T-SHIRT GIVEAWAY
The first 100 students in attendance will receive a free App State basketball t-shirt.

TICKETS
Single game tickets are on sale and can be purchased by clicking here or by contacting the Appalachian State ticket office at 828-262-2079.

THE SERIES

• This will be the seventh all-time meeting between the two schools, with the Warhawks leading the series 4-2
• .App State won the lone meeting last season in Monroe by a 79-73 score.

LAST TIME OUT

• The Black and Gold rolled to a 104-77 victory over Louisiana on Thursday evening.
• 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.
• App State also forced the Ragin' Cajuns into 21 turnovers, scoring 26 points off the miscues. In all, the Mountaineers registered a season-high 12 steals.
• 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.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS

• With a win on Thursday, the Mountaineers stand at 7-14 on the season and 2-6 in Sun Belt play.
• The 104 points scored by the Black and Gold in Thursday's victory are the most the Mountaineers have ever scored against a Sun Belt opponent since joining the league in 2014-15.
• App State has forced its opponents into 21 turnovers in back-to-back games.
• The Black and Gold have shot 70.0 percent or better from the charity stripe in 13 straight games and are shooting 80.1 percent from the free throw line during that stretch.
• Isaac Johnson posted his ninth double digit rebounding game of the season on Thursday, pulling down 14. He leads the Sun Belt in rebound average at 9.0 rpg. His rebound average is tied for 41st in the nation and his 190 total rebounds sits in a tie for 40th.

SCOUTING THE WARHAWKS

• ULM fell 92-81 at Coastal Carolina on Thursday evening to drop to 11-9 on the season and 4-4 in the Sun Belt.
• Travis Munnings paced the Warhawks with team highs of 23 points and eight rebounds. Daishon Smith added 21 points and four steals, while Michael Ertel and JD Williams had 15 points and 11 points, respectively.
• Smith is averaging 20.7 points, which sits in a tie for second in the Sun Belt. He is also shooting a league best 88.4 percent from the charity stripe.
• Ertel (15.1 ppg), Munnings (13.7 ppg) and Williams (12.4 ppg) are also averaging double figure scoring for ULM.
• The Warhawks are shooting a league best 78.5 percent from the free throw line.

UP NEXT
The Mountaineers will hit the road for a pair of games in Texas next week. App State will battle Texas State in San Marcos on Thursday at 8 p.m. EST, followed by a 3 p.m. EST contest with UT Arlington on Feb. 9. Both contests will be broadcast on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Appalachian Sports Network.