CONWAY, S.C. –
Isaac Johnson tied his career-high with 22 points as App State men's basketball never trailed in a 78-58 road victory over Coastal Carolina on Saturday.
The 20-point victory is the largest Sun Belt road win for App State since joining the league in the 2014-15 season.
Johnson also scored 22 points last season at Alabama. He drained a trio of three-pointers, while adding six rebounds and three steals in the win.
The Mountaineers (11-10, 5-5 SBC) defense was tough all afternoon, limiting the Chanticleers (11-10, 4-6 SBC) to 58 points. Coastal Carolina entered the game averaging 78.9 points, which ranked second in the Sun Belt. App State also forced the Chanticleers into 18 turnovers, including 14 in the opening half, turning the 18 total misuses into 21 points.
In addition, App State held Coastal Carolina to 15.4 percent (2-of-13) shooting on three-pointers. The Chanticleers entered the game ranked second in the conference, shooting 36.2 percent from deep.
App State came out of the gate strong, scoring the first eight points to build an 8-0 advantage. Following a Chanticleers basket, the Black and Gold scored the next seven points to open a 15-2 edge. Following a Coastal Carolina three, the Mountaineers used treys from
Justin Forrest and Johnson to take a 21-4 lead. App State opened as large of a lead as 19 points in the opening frame and took a 40-22 lead into the intermission.
In the second half, Coastal Carolina opened play with a 12-2 spurt to pull within eight points at 42-34. After the teams traded baskets, App State used an 8-0 run to push its lead back to 16 at 52-36 with 14:39 remaining. The Chanticleers pulled within 12 points at 54-42, but the Black and Gold answered with a 9-2 run to push its lead back to 19 points. The Mountaineers expanded their lead to 23 points at 71-48 on an old-fashion three-point play by Forrest with 4:00 left to put the game away.
Forrest finished with 19 points, four rebounds and four assists.
O'Showen Williams added a near double-double with 17 points on 6-of-10 (60.0 percent) shooting and nine rebounds. Off the bench,
Kendall Lewis had 10 points and five rebounds.
App State finished 24-of-55 (43.6 percent) from the field and went 21-of-28 (75.0 percent) from the free throw line.
DeVante Jones paced Coastal Carolina with 17 points and six rebounds. Tommy Burton had 12 points and Keishawn Brewton tallied 11 points.
App State will continue its Sun Belt road swing with a pair of contests in Arkansas next weekend. The Black and Gold will battle Arkansas State on Thursday at 8 p.m. EST and league leading Little Rock on Feb. 1 at 3 p.m. EST.
