WILMINGTON, N.C. – Fresh off a buzzer-beating thriller at the Holmes Center last Sunday, the App State Mountaineers (3-2) are set to partake in the Live Oak Bank Holiday Classic in Wilmington, N.C., starting Wednesday. The Mountaineers will play three games in four days at the tournament against the Sam Houston Bearkats (Wednesday), the Colgate Raiders (Friday) and the UNCW Seahawks (Saturday). Every game can be streamed on FloCollege.
The Mountaineers will kick off play in Wilmington against the 2023-24 Conference USA regular-season champion Sam Houston Bearkats (3-2) on Wednesday.
For the fifth time in the Kerns era, the Mountaineers will play in an in-season Multi-Team Event (MTE). App State is 5-6 at MTEs under Kerns, which includes an undefeated week at the Fort Myers Tip-Off Event in Fort Myers, Fla., last November. App State's unbeaten appearance in Fort Myers marked the first time that the Mountaineers went undefeated in a Feast Week Tournament since going 3-0 at the San Juan Shootout in 2006.
App State will play three teams at the Live Oak Bank Holiday Classic that won at least 20 games a season ago. Additionally, App State will square off with two teams (Sam Houston and Colgate) that won their respective conference's regular-season championship in 2023-24. Friday's contest against Colgate will mark the second of four matchups this season against 2023-24 NCAA Tournament participants (Wisconsin and James Madison twice).
Head coach
Dustin Kerns notched his 100th win as App State's head coach last Sunday against the William & Mary Tribe. He became the third-fastest coach in program history to reach 100 wins as he needed just 167 games to do so. Kerns also tied legendary head coach Bobby Cremins in total wins at App State and needs just three more to move into the top five in wins at App State.
The Matchup
- Who: App State vs. Sam Houston // App State vs. Colgate // App State at UNCW
- Where: Trask Coliseum // Wilmington, N.C.
- When: Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 4 p.m. // Friday, Nov. 29 at noon // Saturday, Nov. 30 at 3 p.m.
Tune In
- Watch: FloCollege (every game)
- Listen: FLAGSHIP 97.3 (North Wilkesboro), 96.3 (Winston-Salem/Greensboro), 1350/96.1 (Asheville), 1250/103.9 (Marion), 790/93.7 (Johnson City) | Matt Present (PxP)
- Live Stats: appstatesports.com
Last Time Out
After the Tribe completed a furious second-half comeback to tie the game at 76 apiece with 19 seconds to play, the Mountaineers drew up a play designed for
Myles Tate to win the game in regulation. When William & Mary blitzed Tate at the top of the key, he delivered a perfect pass to
Dior Conners who let a shot go with two seconds to play. The ball rang the net with 0.2 seconds to play, sealing Kerns' 100th win at App State in dramatic fashion.
Conners' three capped off one of the best shooting performances in the last 10 years for the Mountaineers as they drilled 15 threes on 29 attempts. It was just the seventh time in the Kerns era that App State has made 15 threes in a game. Additionally, it was the ninth time since the 2014-15 season that the Mountaineers have shot at least 50 percent from three on 25 or more attempts from the long line. Overall, seven different Mountaineers made at least one three.
Tate was stellar in the game, tallying his first double-double as a Mountaineer with 20 points and a career-high 10 assists. His 10 assists were the first 10-assist game by a Mountaineer since
Donovan Gregory recorded 10 helpers against South Alabama on Feb. 19, 2022. Joining Tate in double figures were Conners (15 points),
Jamil Muttilib (12 points) and
CJ Huntley (14 points). Muttilib and Conners combined for zero points on zero shot attempts against Queens, but both stepped up in big ways when the Mountaineers needed a jolt against the Tribe.
Scouting the Mountaineers
App State will play six of its next seven games away from Boone. In fact, the Mountaineers will play just one home game between Wednesday and Jan. 2, 2025. This stretch includes one of the longest stretches in the country without a home game as App State will not play a home game between Dec. 3 and Jan. 2. The Mountaineers are one of just 18 teams in the country to endure a stretch of at least 30 days without a home game this season. App State is 0-1 away from home this season.
A large part of the Mountaineers' success over the last three years has been keeping opponents from getting hot from the field. That is no different this year as App State boasts the third-best field-goal percentage defense in the Sun Belt Conference as of Wednesday at 38 percent. The Mountaineers have finished in the top 20 nationwide in that category each of the past two seasons.
Additionally, App State has been stellar at defending the three over the past two seasons, going 25-6 when keeping its opponent under 40 percent from the long line. Through five games this season, the Mountaineers are keeping opponents to just 26 percent from three, which is the 25th-best mark in the country as of Saturday.
On the offensive end, the Mountaineers see four people who average at least seven points a game in Huntley, Tate,
Jackson Threadgill and
Michael Marcus Jr. Huntley and Tate both enter the Live Oak Bank Holiday Classic in the top 15 in the Sun Belt Conference in scoring, averaging 15.6 and 13.6 points respectively. Marcus has been a bright spot thus far in his first season as he leads the team in plus/minus, while Threadgill has played in the second-most minutes on the team.
Scouting the Bearkats
Like App State, the Bearkats enter the Live Oak Bank Holiday Classic on a two-game winning streak after dropping two of their first three games. Sam Houston defeated Lamar by 13 points on Nov. 17 on the road and beat Trinity College 105-78 in their home opener last Thursday.
Sam Houston shoots the ball efficiently, scores at a high rate and shares the ball at one of the best clips in the country. Entering Wednesday, the Bearkats average 19.8 assists per game (14th in the NCAA) and score 85 points a night (49th in the NCAA).
The Bearkats see six different players average at least nine points a game. Lamar Wilkerson leads the team and is third in the Conference USA in scoring, averaging 19.6 points a game. Wilkerson was a first-team All-CUSA selection last year and was a Preseason All-CUSA honoree this year.
Scouting the Raiders
Colgate is 1-4 on the young season and enters play in Wilmington on a four-game losing streak. Despite that, the Raiders have won five of the last six Patriot League regular-season championships and have made the NCAA Tournament each of the past four years.
The Raiders are led by Nicolas Louis-Jacques and Jalen Cox, who each average 10 points a game. Colgate has a young team that features nine underclassmen and returns two regular starters from last year's NCAA Tournament team.
Head coach Matt Langel is the winningest head coach in Colgate history and has been named Patriot League Coach of the Year five times. He is the only coach in Patriot League history to be named Coach of the Year five times. Additionally, Langel has won at least 23 games at Colgate in five of his last seven years at the helm.
Scouting the Seahawks
UNCW is 3-1 this season with its lone loss coming on Nov. 19 at No. 1 Kansas. The Seahawks have beaten USC Upstate and Sun Belt East rival Georgia Southern this season. UNCW won 21 games a season ago and has won at least 20 games each of the last three years.
Through four games this season, the Seahawks boast the second-best scoring offense in the country, averaging 97.5 points a game. Six players average at least nine points a night with Donovan Newby leading the pack at 18.8 points a game. A large portion of the Seahawk offense comes at the free-throw line as they lead the NCAA in both free throws made per game (28) and free-throw attempts a game (38).
UNCW is very good at home as in head coach Takayo Siddle's five years at the helm, it is 37-11 at home. The Seahawks are 2-0 this season at Trask Coliseum and are averaging 117.5 points a game in Wilmington.
Series History // Sam Houston
App State and Sam Houston will meet for the first time on Wednesday, marking the third opponent the Mountaineers will play this season for the first time. In fact, the Mountaineers will play two opponents (Sam Houston and Colgate) for the first time at the Live Oak Bank Holiday Classic.
The Mountaineers have played 13 games against current teams from the Conference USA, compiling a 9-4 record all time. The last time App State played a CUSA squad came back in 2022 when the Kennesaw State Owls came to Boone.
Jalil Beaubrun is the only active Mountaineer to have taken the floor against Sam Houston, playing two games against the Bearkats in 2022 while he was at Stephen F. Austin. He has played 29 minutes in his career against Sam Houston.
Series History // Colgate
The Mountaineers and Raiders will play for the first time on Friday. Colgate will be the Mountaineers' second opponent this season that made the 2023-24 NCAA Tournament.
App State is 3-1 against current Patriot League opponents. The last time the Mountaineers faced a current Patriot League program came back in 1997 when the Mountaineers beat the Bucknell Bison 71-62 at the Lobo Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M.
Kerns and Langel have never faced one another and no player on the Mountaineers has seen the floor against the Raiders.
Series History // UNCW
App State and UNCW will play for the 21st time on Saturday and the second consecutive year. After not having played one another since 2009, the two teams squared off to open play at the Fort Myers Tip-Off Event last November, which saw the Mountaineers claim an 86-56 win at Suncoast Credit Union Arena.
In last year's contest in Florida, the Mountaineers used a 53-point second half to pull away from the Seahawks. App State shot 60 percent from the floor in that game. Tate tallied 14 points and three assists against the Seahawks while Huntley added five points.
Saturday's game marks the Mountaineers' first matchup with UNCW in Wilmington since Nov. 14, 2008. In that game, the Seahawks won a high-scoring game 108-101 in overtime. Despite the outcome, the Mountaineers' 101 points marked the second-highest points the Mountaineers have scored in a road game in program history.
Next Up
After play concludes at the Live Oak Bank Holiday Classic, the Mountaineers will return to the Holmes Center for a contest with the Mid-Atlantic Christian Mustangs on Dec. 3. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
The 2024-25 men's basketball season is presented by Foscoe Companies.
