BOONE, N.C – Fresh off their 25th win of the season in dominating fashion against Old Dominion, the App State Mountaineers (25-5, 15-2 SBC) hit the floor for the home and regular-season finale against Arkansas State (16-14, 11-6 SBC) on Friday. Arkansas State's visit to the Holmes Center will be the first meeting between the Mountaineers and the Red Wolves this season. Friday's game is senior night and the Mountaineers will honor
Donovan Gregory,
CJ Huntley and
Bryant Greene pregame. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
Tickets still remain for App State's home finale against Arkansas State.
The Mountaineers will play for their first outright conference championship since the 1978-79 season, needing a win or a JMU loss on Friday to claim it. The Mountaineers' win over ODU on Wednesday clinched at least a share of the Sun Belt Conference regular-season title for the first time since 1999-00 and secured the one seed in the conference tournament for the first time since 1978-79. App State has never won an outright Sun Belt regular season championship.
Along with playing for a conference championship, the Mountaineers will also look to secure an undefeated season at home for the first time since the 1966-67 season. App State's win over ODU on Wednesday tied the Holmes Center single-season record for wins in a season with 14. A win on Friday would clinch the first undefeated home record in the Division I era.
Wednesday's win over Old Dominion marked win No. 25 on the year for App State, clinching the Mountaineers' first 25-win season since 2006-07 and the second 25-win season in program history. A win on Friday would break the program record for wins a season as no other App State team has ever won more than 25 games.
App State is 15-2 in conference play entering Friday, making them one of just five teams in NCAA Division I with 15 conference wins. Additionally, the 15 conference wins ties the program record for the most conference wins in a season. A win on Friday would secure both the most conference wins in a season in program history and the best conference winning percentage in a season.
The Matchup
- Who: App State vs Arkansas State
- Where: Holmes Convocation Center // Boone, N.C.
- When: Friday, March 1 // 6:30 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
The Mountaineers took down the Old Dominion Monarchs 89-64, led by
Tre'Von Spillers' 18 points and 16 rebounds. Spillers recorded his ninth double-double of the season, the most by an individual player since the 2009-10 season.
Donovan Gregory was key in Wednesday's win, recording 11 points along with four rebounds and four assists. Gregory was commanding on the defensive end, also recording two blocks in the game.
The Mountaineers held Old Dominion to 37.7 percent shooting from the field, shooting 23-61 for the game. On the other side of the ball, the Mountaineers dominated, shooting an impressive 50.8 percent from the field, and 41.2 percent from beyond the three-point line.
Scouting the Mountaineers
At 25-5 and 15-2 in Sun Belt play, App State enters Friday's battle with Arkansas State in first place in the conference and has won each of its last six games. The Mountaineers are one of just eight teams in NCAA Division I with at least 25 wins this season and are one of just 10 teams in the country to boast a winning percentage of at least 83 percent heading into Friday's game.
App State has been lights out at home this season as they are the only remaining unbeaten team at home in the Sun Belt and are one of just 16 teams in the nation with an unblemished home record. On average, App State is defeating its opponents by 19.5 points at the Holmes Center and has posted six double-digit victories at home in conference play.
App State's defense has been tough to crack this season as it enters Friday with the fourth-lowest opponent field-goal percentage in the country. Opponents are shooting just 39 percent against the Mountaineers, making them one of 15 teams in the nation that keep opponents below 40 percent shooting from the field. App State has kept 18 of its opponents below 40 percent shooting this season and are 17-1 when they do so.
Additionally, the Mountaineers have been the best team in the country at blocking shots this season, averaging 6.8 blocks per game, which is almost a full block clear of the next-closest team. With 203 blocks this year, the Mountaineers have already shattered the previous program record for blocks in a season of 155 that was set in 1990-91. The Mountaineers are 25 blocks clear of the next closest team (Bryant, 170).
Offensively, the Mountaineers boast one of the deepest teams in college basketball as 11 of the 13 active players on the team have recorded a double-digit point game this season. Additionally, seven different players have recorded a 20-point game this season. The Mountaineer second unit has been vital to their success this season as the Black and Gold own the 18th-best scoring bench in the country entering Wednesday.
The Mountaineers have been a great second-half team this season as they have outscored their opponent in the second half in 20 of the 30 games this year. In their last five games, the Mountaineers have outscored their opponents by 58 points in the second half and have won three straight games in which they have trailed by at least nine points in the second half.
Scouting the Red Wolves
Arkansas State has been hot recently, winning each of its last six games, with three of those wins coming by double-digits.
The Red Wolves boast one of the best offenses in the Sun Belt as they enter play on Friday with the third-highest scoring offense, averaging just under 80 points a game. Five players help Arkansas State get to that average as Taryn Todd, Caleb Fields, Dyondre Dominguez, Derrian Ford and Freddy Hicks each average double figures entering play in Boone.
The Red Wolves are coached by first-year head coach Bryan Hodgson, who had assistant roles at the University of Alabama and the University of Buffalo before Arkansas State.
Series History
In the 16 games all-time between App State and Arkansas State, the Mountaineers lead the series 9-7. App State has won three of the last four contests, which included a double-digit home win for the Mountaineers last year.
Terence Harcum's 15-point game led all scorers as he buried three three-pointers to get there. Overall, three current players reached double-digits last year against Arkansas State in
CJ Huntley and
Justin Abson.
Coach Kerns is 4-1 against Arkansas State in his career but has yet to face Hodgson in his career.
Next Up
Up next is the Sun Belt Tournament, where the Mountaineers will play as the one seed. App State will play their first game of the Sun Belt Tournament on March 9, at 12:30 p.m. against an opponent that will be determined at a later date. Every game until the championship contest is available on ESPN+.
