LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- App State men's basketball will look for a weekend sweep on Saturday afternoon at Sun Belt leader Little Rock. Tip is set for 3 p.m. EST on ESPN+ and the Appalachian Sports Network from Learfield IMG College.
THE SERIES
- This will be the 14th meeting between the two schools with Little Rock holding a slim 7-6 edge
- The Trojans snapped a four-game losing skid to the Mountaineers with a 73-57 win in Boone on Jan. 18
PREVIOUS MEETING
- The two teams met in Boone on Jan. 18, with the Trojans posting a 73-57 win
- Jovan Stulic paced Little Rock with 18 points and Nikola Maric added 17 points off the bench. Justin Forrest had 20 points and a career-high eight steals for App State, while O'Showen Williams finished with 11 points and six rebounds
- Little Rock scored the first six points of the game and built an 11-point lead at 15-4. App State stormed back and cut its deficit to a point at 19-18, but the Trojans countered with the next four points. Little Rock took a 37-29 lead into the break. In the second half, the Trojans used an 9-0 run to take a 49-33 lead with 15:42 to go. The Mountaineers cut the Little Rock lead to 57-43 on a pair of free throws by Forrest and a layup by Williams. From there, the Trojans scored seven straight points to build their lead up to 21. App State made a late charge to cut the deficit to 14, but could get no closer
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
- App State improved to 12-10 and 6-5 in Sun Belt play with a 71-64 win at Arkansas State Thursday
- Justin Forrest drained four three-pointers to finish with a game-high 26 points. Hunter Seacat added a double-double with a season-high 13 points and 10 rebounds and Adrian Delph scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half
- The Mountaineers shot 50.0 percent from the field in Thursday's victory, marking the fourth time this season App State has shot 50.0 percent or better from the field
- After Seacat's double-double on Thursday, App State is the only team in the country to have seven different players record a double-double in a game this season (Isaac Johnson, Kendall Lewis, James Lewis Jr., O'Showen Williams, Delph, Forrest and Seacat)
- Forrest has scored in double figures in 15 games, including nine contests of 20 or more points during that span
SCOUTING THE TROJANS
- Little Rock stayed atop the Sun Belt with a 96-79 win over Coastal Carolina on Thursday to improve to 16-7 overall and 10-2 in conference play
- Marko Lukic went 12-of-13 (92.3 percent) from the free throw line to finish with a team-high 22 points off the bench. Ruot Monyyong tallied his conference leading 13th double-double of the season with 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds
- Markquis Nowell leads the team in scoring (17.2 ppg) and in assists (93)
- As a team, Little Rock is shooting a Sun Belt leading 46.5 percent from the field
- Little Rock is ranked No. 25 in the most recent CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll
UP NEXT
App State will return to the High Country for a pair of home games next week. The Mountaineers welcome UT Arlington to the Holmes Center on Thursday at 7 p.m., followed by a 4 p.m. meeting with Texas State on Feb. 8.
