PENSACOLA, Fla. – For the third time in the last four years, the App State Mountaineers (27-5, 16-2 SBC) will play in the Sun Belt Tournament semifinal after defeating Georgia Southern in overtime on Saturday. The Mountaineers will take on the Arkansas State Red Wolves (17-15, 11-7 SBC) for the second time in nine days. Tipoff from the Pensacola Bay Center is slated for 6 p.m. ET (5 p.m. CT) and can be streamed on ESPN+.
App State's win over Arkansas State in the regular season finale clinched its first outright regular season conference title in 45 years. The last time the Mountaineers won the outright conference title, they went on to win the conference tournament as well.
Additionally, the Mountaineers enter the Sun Belt Tournament as the one seed for the first time ever, securing that with the home win over Old Dominion on Feb. 28. App State has played as the overall No. 1 seed at the conference tournament just two other times (1977-78 and 1978-79) in program history, advancing to at least the tournament semifinals both times. The last time App State was the one seed in the conference tournament, it won.
With the win over Georgia Southern in the quarterfinal, the Mountaineers are now up to 27 wins this season, which extended the program record mark for wins in a season. Of those 27 wins, 17 came against Sun Belt Conference foes, which is the most wins against conference opponents in a single season ever.
The Mountaineers enter Sunday's contest with Arkansas State on their third winning streak of at least eight games this season. App State is the only team in the country with three separate winning streaks of at least eight games this season.
The Matchup
- Who: No. 1 App State (RV) vs. No. 4 Arkansas State
- Where: Pensacola Bay Center // Pensacola, Fla.
- When: Saturday, March 10 // 6 p.m. ET (5 p.m. CT)
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 third meeting against the Eagles this season, the Mountaineers started strong and jumped out to a 10-point lead. Georgia Southern worked to tie the game in the second half, but the Mountaineers powered through in overtime to claim an 85-80 win, advancing to the SBC Tournament semifinals.
Donovan Gregory's poise down the stretch helped settle the Mountaineers into the game when the Eagles made it close. He tallied 22 points and was perfect from the line, guiding the Mountaineers to a quarterfinal win.
Justin Abson was superb in the quarterfinal matchup, recording his third double-double of the season while also blocking seven shots. It was his third game this season with at least seven blocks.
The Mountaineers stood strong defensively late, keeping the Eagles to just four points in the extra frame. For the game, the Mountaineers held the Eagles to just 36 percent shooting, marking the 20th time this season that App State has held its opponent below 40 percent shooting.
Scouting the Mountaineers
At 27-5 and 16-2 in Sun Belt play, the Mountaineers enter Sunday's game having won 26 of their last 29 games. App State is one of just 10 Division I teams with at least 27 wins while also being one of only 11 teams in the country with five or fewer losses entering Sunday. App State owns the ninth-best winning percentage in the country entering Sunday.
Because of the Mountaineers' record-breaking regular season, a total of four players earned postseason honors on Monday.
Justin Abson, who holds the program record for blocks in a single season, took home App State's first conference Defensive Player of the Year award since 2013 while
Donovan Gregory,
Tre'Von Spillers and
Terence Harcum were named All-Conference. Both Gregory and Spillers were named All-Sun Belt first team, marking the first time that App State has had at least two first team All-Conference selections since 1999-00 when Tyson Patterson and Marshall Phillips were both named first team All-SoCon.
App State's defense has been tough to crack this season as it enters Sunday with the third-lowest opponent field-goal percentage in the country. Opponents are shooting just 39 percent against the Mountaineers, making them one of 11 teams in the nation that keep opponents below 40 percent shooting from the field. App State has kept 20 of its opponents below 40 percent shooting this season and are 19-1 when they do so.
Additionally, the Mountaineers have been the best team in the country at blocking shots this season as they enter Sunday as the nation's leader in both blocks per game and blocked shots. The Mountaineers have already shattered the program record for blocks in a season and are one of just two teams in the country with at least 200 blocked shots.
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 19th-best scoring bench in the country entering Saturday's games.
The Mountaineers have been a great second-half team this season as they have outscored their opponent in the second half in 21 games this year. The Mountaineers have won each of the last three games in which they have trailed by at least nine points in the second half while also being 4-1 in overtime games this season.
Scouting the Red Wolves
Arkansas State picked up a win in its SBC Tournament opener on Saturday, downing Louisiana by 27 points. It's Arkansas State's seventh win in their last eight games. The Red Wolves were led by Freddy Hicks' 23 points in the win.
The Red Wolves own one of the best offenses in the Sun Belt Conference as they came into the tournament with the third-highest scoring offense in the league, scoring just under 80 points a game. Entering play on Sunday, five players average at least 10 points with Taryn Todd leading the way.
Head coach Bryan Hodgson leads one of the best three-point shooting teams in the conference as the Red Wolves have made the most threes in the league entering Sunday. They also shoot the three efficiently as they shoot 35 percent as a team.
Series History
Sunday's meeting between the Mountaineers and Red Wolves marks meeting No. 18 all time and the second matchup in the last nine days. App State picked up a win in the regular season finale at the Holmes Center, running away with the game early. App State has won five of the last six games against the Red Wolves.
The last time the two teams squared off, App State cemented history, winning its 26th game.
Donovan Gregory and
Tre'Von Spillers each posted 15 points to lead the team. Spillers also recorded 15 rebounds, giving him his 10th double-double of the season.
Head coach
Dustin Kerns is 5-1 against Arkansas State in his career and 1-0 against Hodgson.
Next Up
With a win, the Mountaineers will head to the Sun Belt Championship game against the winner of the second semifinal game between Texas State and James Madison. It would be App State's second Sun Belt Championship game appearance in program history. Tipoff would be slated for 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) and broadcast on ESPN2.
