BOONE, N.C. – Fresh off a season-long four-game road trip, the App State Men's Basketball team (12-8, 6-3 SBC) returns to the Holmes Convocation Center for the first time since Jan. 11 on Wednesday, meeting the Old Dominion Monarchs (9-12, 5-4 SBC) for the first of three straight games in Boone. Wednesday's meeting will mark the second contest between the Mountaineers and Monarchs in the past 13 days. Tipoff from the Holmes Center is set for 6:30 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
Wednesday's contest against ODU is Subaru Appreciation Night at the Holmes Center. Fans who drive their Subaru to the game and show their Subaru key to the ticket office attendants will receive discounted admission and an App State-branded Subaru badge. Wednesday's game is also Greek Night, and all members of App State fraternities and sororities are encouraged to attend.
App State is set to return to the Holmes Center on Wednesday, a place where it has won 22 of its last 24 contests since the start of last season. The Mountaineers' 22-2 mark on their home floor is the best home winning percentage in the Sun Belt Conference since the start of last year (92 percent) and is the only mark above 90 percent in the league. Additionally, the Mountaineers are tied for the most home wins since the start of last season (JMU and Troy) and boast the fewest home losses in the league.
With the Monarchs coming to town on Wednesday, App State will see the first of two consecutive Sun Belt East opponents enter the Holmes Center. Heading into action on Wednesday, the Mountaineers have won 17 straight games against their foes from Sun Belt East schools and are outscoring them by 14 points a game. Since 2019, App State is 39-15 against the Sun Belt East (72 percent win percentage).
Head coach
Dustin Kerns posted his 61st career conference win at App State last Saturday with the 66-58 win over ULM in Monroe. That win helped him pass Buzz Peterson for the third-most conference wins by an App State head coach with 61. He trails only Tom Apke (70) and Houston Fancher (79) on that list. Currently, he owns the fifth-most wins in program history with 109 and is one of seven App State head coaches to post 100 wins with the program.
The Matchup
- Who: App State vs. Old Dominion
- Where: Holmes Convocation Center // Boone, N.C.
- When: Wednesday, Jan. 29 // 6:30 p.m.
Tune In
- Watch: Watch (ESPN+) | David Jackson (PxP), John Reisterer (Color)
- 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
In a low-scoring, defensive struggle in Monroe, App State scored 12 of the final 18 points in the game to pull away from ULM to post a 66-58 victory. App State battled through nine second-half turnovers and just eight made second-half field goals to finish its season-long road trip at 3-1.
App State's defense provided another strong performance against the Warhawks, keeping ULM to just three 3-pointers on 19 attempts and a 31.3 percent mark from the field. The Mountaineers haven't let an opponent shoot better than 40 percent in each of their last seven games while also extending their streak of consecutive games keeping their opponents below 40 percent from three to 19.
The trio of
Jalil Beaubrun,
CJ Huntley and
Myles Tate reached double figures against the Warhawks, combining for 36 of the Mountaineers' 66 points. Huntley tallied another double-double on the season, finishing the game with 10 points and 12 rebounds along with three assists.
Scouting the Mountaineers
Winners of six of its last seven contests, App State heads into Wednesday's game against the Monarchs with a 12-8 record overall and a 6-3 conference record. The Mountaineers sit just a game behind Arkansas State for first place in the Sun Belt standings. Over the past seven games, the Mountaineers have posted four double-digit victories and are outscoring their opponents by 79 points (+7.9 scoring margin).
Stifling defense has continued to be the story for App State this season as they enter play on Wednesday with the Sun Belt's best scoring defense and the nation's ninth-best scoring defense, allowing just 62.2 points a game. App State hasn't let an opponent get over 70 points in each of its last 12 games, which is the longest streak in which App State has held its opponents below 70 points since it held 13 straight opponents under 70 in the 2021-22 season.
The Mountaineers have been especially stellar at defending the three this season, keeping their opponents to just 136 made threes on 496 attempts, which is good for a 27.4 percent mark. App State boasts the second-best 3-point defense in the country as of Wednesday, trailing only No. 8 Tennessee in that category. The Mountaineers haven't let an opponent shoot over 40 percent from behind the arc since its first game of the season against Miami (Ohio) and have held 13 opponents below 30 percent from the long line entering Wednesday.
One of the best duos in the conference resides in Boone, N.C., as both Tate and Huntley head into Wednesday's game against the Monarchs in the top 10 in the league in scoring. Tate leads the way entering Wednesday, averaging 15.6 points a game while Huntley scores 15.1 points a night, making them the only Sun Belt duo to each score at least 15 points a game as of Wednesday. These averages are good for the fifth- and sixth-best tallies in the conference, respectively.
Scouting the Monarchs
Since starting conference play by winning four of their first five games, the Monarchs have slowed down a bit, losing three of their last four. However, ODU comes to Boone fresh off a 22-point win over Coastal Carolina in Norfolk last Saturday. Old Dominion is tied with James Madison and Texas State for third place in the league standings.
ODU also boasts a talented duo in Robert Davis Jr. and Sean Durugordon who both enter Wednesday in the top 15 in the league in scoring. In Sun Belt games, Davis Jr. and Durugordon have been even better, scoring 19 and 16 points a game respectively. Davis is second in the conference in scoring in Sun Belt games entering Wednesday.
Rebounding is where the Monarchs thrive as they grab 39.5 boards a game as of Wednesday. ODU is especially stellar at offensive rebounding as it carries the 12th-best offensive rebounding average in the country coming into play against App State. The Monarchs have grabbed at least 10 offensive rebounds in 19 straight contests.
Series History
The Mountaineers and Monarchs are set to meet for the second time this season and the sixth time overall on Wednesday. Each meeting between the two teams has come since Old Dominion joined the Sun Belt in 2022.
App State enters Wednesday having won three straight contests against Old Dominion by at least 19 points and own a 4-1 record in the series. ODU's only win in the series came in Feb. 2023 in Boone. Each of the previous five games in the series have been decided by at least 10 points, with the closest margin of victory for either side being 11 points.
The last time the two squads met up was just 13 days ago when the Mountaineers traveled to Chartway Arena to start their season-long road trip. App State kicked its trip off with a suffocating performance on defense, allowing just 43 points, which was the fewest the Mountaineers have given up to a Division I opponent since 2015.
CJ Huntley was superb in the first contest against ODU, recording a 26-point, 12-rebound double-double to notch his third double-double in four games.
Next Up
Continuing the team's three-game home swing, App State will welcome the Georgia State Panthers to Boone on Saturday for the first of two matchups this season. Tipoff from the Holmes Center is slated for 1 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
The 2024-25 men's basketball season is presented by Foscoe Companies.
