BOONE, N.C. – The App State Mountaineers (14-4, 5-1 SBC) are set to meet the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (5-12, 2-4 SBC) for the second time in four games on Saturday. This time the Mountaineers will host the Chanticleers at the Holmes Center. Saturday's game is part of a doubleheader with the App State women's team. The women's game is scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m. with the men's game to follow. Both games can be streamed on ESPN+.
The Mountaineers have been tough to play at home this season, winning each of their first seven home contests. The last time App State started its home schedule with seven consecutive wins was the 2002-03 season. The Mountaineers are the lone remaining unbeaten team at home in the Sun Belt Conference.
With the win over Georgia State last Wednesday, the Mountaineers are 5-1 in Sun Belt play, which is the Black and Gold's best start in league play since the 2006-07 team won five of their first six conference battles. No App State team has ever started better than 5-1 in Sun Belt play. The last time the Mountaineers started 6-1 in conference play was the 2002-03 season.
At 14-4, Coach Kerns' squad is off to one of its best 18-game starts in program history, as the last time an App State team started 14-4 or better to open the season was in 1988-89. Additionally, the last time the Mountaineers were at least 10 games over .500 at any point in a season was in 2009-10 when Buzz Peterson's team finished the season at 11 games over .500.
The Matchup
- Who: App State vs. Coastal Carolina
- Where: Holmes Convocation Center // Boone, N.C.
- When: Saturday, January 20 // 4:30 p.m.
Tune In
- Watch: ESPN+
- Listen: 97.3 WKBC, 96.5/1450 WATA, 790/93.7 WETB, 1250/103.9 WBRM
- Live Stats: appstatesports.com
Last Time Out
In the team's first home game of 2024, the Mountaineers caged the Georgia State Panthers 76-68 last Wednesday. Timely free-throw shooting and key turnovers led the Black and Gold to its third straight win.
Tre'Von Spillers and
Myles Tate shined on Wednesday as each recorded double-digit nights. Spillers recorded a season- and Mountaineer-best 23 points and 13 rebounds while Tate stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, six rebounds and a season-high six assists.
App State dominated the Panthers on the glass, recording 51 rebounds, which is the most rebounds the Mountaineers have grabbed against a Division I team this season while outrebounding the Panthers by 15.
Scouting the Mountaineers
The Mountaineers enter this weekend's battle with the Chanticleers in first place in the Sun Belt Conference standings and boast the second-best winning percentage in the league. App State has also won 13 of its last 15 games and are riding a three-game winning streak.
The Mountaineer defense has been vital to their success as they allow the third-lowest opponent field goal percentage in the country, the 15th-fewest points in the country and foul at the 13th-lowest clip in the country coming into play on Wednesday. The Mountaineers allow just 63.4 points a game, making them one of 33 teams in the nation that allow less than 65 points a game and one of two teams in the Sun Belt to allow less than 70 points a game.
Along with their defense, the Mountaineers close defensive possessions with defensive rebounds at one of the best clips in the country, as they enter play against Coastal Carolina grabbing 31 defensive rebounds a game, which is the best average in the nation. Overall, the Mountaineers have been one of the best rebounding teams in the NCAA as they grab 42.6 rebounds a game, good for the sixth-best mark in the nation. Spillers leads the team and is sixth in the conference, averaging 8.4 rebounds a game.
On the offensive end, the Mountaineers boast a balanced team that shoots the ball efficiently and takes care of the basketball. Coming into play on Wednesday, App State shoots 47 percent as a team from the floor, which is the third-best mark in the SBC while turning the ball over at the third-lowest clip in the conference.
Tre'Von Spillers and
Donovan Gregory lead the team in scoring, averaging 13.5 and 12.5 points respectively, which are both top-25 numbers in the SBC.
Scouting the Chanticleers
Coastal Carolina is 5-12 this season and 2-4 in Sun Belt play with conference wins over Old Dominion and Texas State. The Chanticleers have not spent much time away from Conway this season, as they have played just four road games, which is the lowest tally in the Sun Belt. The Chanticleers are 1-3 away from home.
Three Chanticleers score at least 12 points a night in Kylan Blackman, John Ojiako and Jacob Meyer. Ojiako is the lone player in the country averaging a double-double coming into play on Saturday as the graduate student from Nigeria is averaging 12 points and 10 rebounds per contest.
Interim head coach Benny Moss took over the program on Dec. 6 after legendary head coach Cliff Ellis retired after 17 seasons at the head of the program. It is Moss' first head coaching stint since 2010 at UNC Wilmington.
Series History
The last time the Mountaineers and Chanticleers met came back on Jan. 11 in Conway, where App State handed Coastal Carolina a 25-point loss. App State's blowout win marked the second-largest road win against a Sun Belt opponent. The only other time the Mountaineers have beaten a Sun Belt opponent on the road by at least 25 points was last season when the Mountaineers beat Georgia State by 26 points in Atlanta.
Overall, the Mountaineers and Chanticleers have met 15 times with App State holding an 11-4 advantage in the series. App State is 5-1 at home against the Chanticleers.
Coach Kerns is 7-2 against Coastal Carolina and 1-0 against Benny Moss. Kerns' seven wins against the Chanticleers is tied for his second-most wins against a single opponent.
Next Up
App State will welcome Georgia Southern to the Holmes Center for the first of two matchups this season next Thursday. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
