MADISON, Wisc. – The App State Mountaineers (1-1) are set to hit the road for the first time this season as they travel to tradition Big Ten Power Wisconsin (2-0) in Madison on Sunday. The Mountaineers' trip to the Kohl Center will mark the first trip to the Badger State since Dec. 2002 when App State took on Marquette in Milwaukee. Tip off is slated for noon ET (11 .m. CT) and can be streamed on Big Ten+.
Sunday's matchup against Wisconsin marks the first time that App State will face a current Big Ten team since 2019 when the Black and Gold traveled to Michigan. App State hasn't beaten a current Big Ten team in just over 30 years, last winning against Nebraska in 1993.
App State hits the road for the first time this season on Sunday. The Mountaineers were one of the best teams in the Sun Belt away from home last season, posting an 8-4 record in true road games in the regular season, which was good for the program's best road winning percentage in the regular season since 2006-07. The eight road wins were the second-most in the Sun Belt Conference in 2023-24.
The Mountaineers own two wins against High-Major foes in the past two seasons, downing the Louisville Cardinals by one point on the road in 2022 before downing the SEC Tournament champion Auburn at home in 2023. Before the win against Auburn, the Mountaineers hadn't seen two consecutive seasons with an Autonomy Five win since the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons. App State has never beaten a High-Major opponent in three consecutive seasons.
The Matchup
- Who: App State at Wisconsin
- Where: Kohl Center // Madison, Wisc.
- When: Sunday, Nov. 10 // Noon ET (11 a.m. CT)
Tune In
- Watch: Big Ten+ | Joey Bonadonna (PxP), Jadius McGhee (Color) Krissy Birdsall (Sideline)
- 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
App State dominated St. Andrews in their last game, winning 108-54. The 108 points marked the 26th-highest output in program history and was the seventh time in the Kerns era that the Black and Gold have eclipsed 100 points in a game.
Fifteen players saw the floor and all 15 scored. It was the first time since Nov. 27, 2020, that 15 different Mountaineers scored in a game. Leading the charge was
Michael Marcus Jr., who led the team in points (18), rebounds (10) and blocks (4). Overall, four players reached double-figures in
CJ Huntley,
Ben Ezeagu and
Jamil Muttilib.
Suffocating defense and crisp ball movement helped guide App State to its first win of the season. St. Andrews shot just 28 percent from the floor to App State's 57 percent. Additionally, the Mountaineers dished out 23 assists, a mark they reached just once last year.
Scouting the Mountaineers
The Mountaineers are 1-1 on the young season, falling to Miami (Ohio) on Monday before beating St. Andrews by 54 points on Wednesday. App State is the reigning Sun Belt regular-season champions after posting a program-record 27 wins a season ago. It was the program's first outright conference championship since 1978-79.
Head coach
Dustin Kerns sits at 98 wins at App State after defeating the Knights on Wednesday. If he gets two more wins in the next five games, he will become the third-fastest coach in program history to reach 100 wins, passing Mountaineer legends Bobby Cremins and Bob Light, who each needed 170 games to reach 100 wins.
Seventy points has been the magic number in the Kerns era as when App State eclipses 70 points it is 67-14 under Kerns. App State is 1-0 this season when scoring at least 70 points and 0-1 when it does not.
Defense has been a major factor in App State's success under Kerns as they have led the Sun Belt Conference in scoring defense each of the past three seasons. In the Kerns era, the Mountaineers have yet to finish worse than second in scoring defense and haven't allowed more than 68 points a game since 2018-19. The Mountaineers are holding their opponents to just 65 points a game so far this year.
Scouting the Badgers
Wisconsin is 2-0 on the young season, defeating Holy Cross and Montana State at home by double-digits. The Badgers went 22-14 a year ago, which was good enough to earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament as a five seed. It was the Badgers' fourth appearance in the Big Dance in six years.
The Badgers see four players score in double-figures in John Tonje, Max Klesmit, John Blackwell and Nolan Winter. Tonje paces Wisconsin in scoring, averaging 18 points a game, and does it efficiently as he is shooting 53 percent on the season. He is currently 15th in the Big Ten in scoring.
Wisconsin is tough to crack on its home court as it is 362-70 at the Kohl Center all time. The Badgers were 14-3 at home last season, with two of those three losses coming against top-10 teams.
Series History
Sunday will mark the first meeting between the Badgers and Mountaineers and the first contest between Kerns and Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard, who is in his 10th season at the helm.
App State's contest at Wisconsin will mark the first of six games against teams who won at least 19 games a season ago in nonconference play. Every one of those six games will come on the road.
No player on the team has ever faced the Badgers.
Next Up
After play concludes on Sunday, the Mountaineers will have nine days in between games before returning to the Holmes Center for a Tuesday night battle with the Queens Royals. Tip off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
The 2024-25 men's basketball season is presented by Foscoe Companies.
