PENSACOLA, Fla. - App State, which went 12-6 in league play and earned the Sun Belt Tournament No. 2 seed - its highest finish and tourney seed since joining the league eight years ago - will square off against longtime rival Georgia Southern in Saturday's quarterfinals. The 10th-seeded Eagles upset 7th-seeded Coastal Carolina 70-64 in Thursday's opening round.
Date: Saturday, March 5, 2022
Tipoff: 8:30 p.m. ET
Teams: (2) App State vs. (10) Georgia Southern
Location: Pensacola, Fla. (
Pensacola Bay Center)
Radio: 97.3 WKBC; 1450 WATA • Matt Present (pxp)
TV: ESPN+ • Matt Stewart (pxp), Nate Ross (analyst), Shelby Coppedge (sideline)
THE SERIES
- This will be the 59th meeting between the two schools, with the Mountaineers leading 33-25.
- App State won both regular season meetings this season - 70-62 in Statesboro and 65-61 in Boone.
- The Mountaineers are 7-1 against the Eagles since Dustin Kerns arrived in Boone.
UP NEXT
- A win would propel App State into the Sun Belt semifinals against the winner between No. 3 seed Georgia State and No. 6 seed Arkansas State. That semifinal matchup is slated for Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
NOTABLES
- In Dustin Kerns' third season, App State put together its best Sun Belt record (12-6) since joining the league in 2014-15. The team has clinched a winning record for the third straight season. Before now, the Mountaineers had not strung together three straight winning seasons since 1997-2000.
- App State is looking to repeat its Sun Belt Tournament Championship from last year when it won four games in four days as the East No. 4 seed.
- Senior guard Adrian Delph was named first-team All-Sun Belt earlier this week. Entering the tournament, he ranks second in the league in scoring (17.3 ppg), first in 3-pointers made (3.0/game) and first in minutes played (35.5/game). He scored double figures in every conference game and has done so in 29 of 31 games overall (the only two in which he didn't were non-DI Boyce and Erskine.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
- App State arrives in Pensacola having won two of its last three outings, with a home win over South Alabama (69-51) and a road win at Little Rock (78-66). The Mountaineers lost their regular-season finale 62-60 at Arkansas State.
- The team's combination of veteran players and a stingy pack line defense helps App State boast some of the most disciplined results in the country.
- App State is No. 2 in the NCAA in fewest fouls committed per game (12.8) and No. 10 in fewest turnovers committed per game (9.9).
- The team's overall scoring defense of 62.4 ppg leads the Sun Belt and ranks 22nd nationally.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
- Georgia Southern has won its last two outings after enduring six straight losses from Feb. 5-23 against league foes.
- All six of the Eagles' wins against Sun Belt opponents have been decided by six points or less, including three by just one point.
- Stingy defense is Georgia Southern's calling card this year, as the team allows just 65.4 ppg, top 70 in the country. The squad's field-goal percentage defense of 41.0 is 53rd-best nationally.
- Elijah McCadden is the team's leading scorer at 11.8 ppg and is coming off a 15-point performance in Thursday's first-round win over Coastal Carolina.
