BOONE, N.C. – Opening up the Sun Belt East portion of their schedule, the App State Mountaineers play host to the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers on Wednesday. It will be the first of four consecutive games for the Mountaineers in which they will face a Sun Belt East opponent. Tipoff from the Holmes Center is set for 6:30 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
Wednesday's contest is Healthcare Appreciation Night at the Holmes Center and the Mountaineers will celebrate the High Country's Healthcare Heroes by giving them free admission into the game and discounted ticket prices for their family and friends.
Since Kerns became the head coach at App State, the Mountaineers have done well against Sun Belt East opponents, playing to a 35-15 record (70 percent win percentage). This mark includes a perfect 13-0 record against Sun Belt East opponents a season ago. Of Kerns' 56 regular-season Sun Belt wins at App State, 33 have come against Sun Belt East foes.
After posting an 11-point win over the Texas State Bobcats last Saturday, the Mountaineers have now won 20 of their last 22 games at the Holmes Center. Since the start of last season, App State has turned the Holmes Center into one of the toughest venues in the Sun Belt Conference as they are tied for the best home winning percentage in the league since 2023-24 (91 percent). The only other team with a 91 percent home winning percentage since last season is James Madison.
With the win over Texas State last Saturday, Coach Kerns claimed sole possession of fifth place on App State's all-time wins list with 104, passing Buzz Peterson. Kerns became the third-fastest coach in program history to reach 100 wins after a buzzing-beating thriller over William & Mary and became one of seven head coaches at App State to win at least 100 games with the program.
The Matchup
- Who: App State vs. Coastal Carolina
- Where: Holmes Convocation Center // Boone, N.C.
- When: Wednesday, Jan. 8 // 6:30 p.m.
Tune In
- Watch: Watch (ESPN+) | Corey Hodges (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
On a snowy Saturday in Boone, the Mountaineers led for 38 minutes and led by as much as 20 points in the game, which helped them secure their first Sun Belt win of the season over Texas State. App State shot 53 percent from the field and 54 percent from behind the arc, which was the team's highest 3-point percentage in a game this season.
App State's 12-22 mark from deep also marked the second time this season that the Mountaineers have buried at least 51 percent of their 3-point attempts. The last time App State had two games in which it shot at least 51 percent from three came back in the 2018-19 season. Overall, four different players buried at least one three, which includes three from
Jackson Threadgill, four from
Myles Tate and three from
Dior Conners.
In what was his 136th career game in the Black and Gold,
CJ Huntley recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Additionally, Tate tallied his third consecutive 20-point game and sixth of the season against the Bobcats. Tate is one of two Sun Belt players with at least six 20-point performances this season (Bradley Douglas, Georgia Southern).
Scouting the Mountaineers
After beating Texas State at home last Saturday, the Mountaineers moved to 7-7 on the season and 1-2 in Sun Belt Conference play. App State snapped a season-long four-game losing streak with the win while also posting its fifth win by at least 10 points of the year. The Mountaineers led by as much as 20 points against the Bobcats, marking the second-largest lead in a game against a Division I opponent this season (22-point lead vs. Colgate).
Stifling defense has continued to be the story for App State this season as they enter play on Wednesday with the Sun Belt's second-best scoring defense, allowing just 65 points a game. Over the past six games, App State hasn't let an opponent get over 70 points, which is the longest streak in which App State has held its opponents below 70 points since Nov. 21-Dec. 5, 2023. During that streak, the Mountaineers are allowing just 62 points a game.
The Mountaineers have been especially stellar at defending the three this season, keeping their opponents to just 102 made threes on 356 attempts, which is good for a 28.6 percent mark. The Mountaineers enter play against the Chanticleers with the 28th-best defense against the three in the country and allow just 29.2 percent of their opponents' points to come from behind the 3-point line.
One of the best duos in the conference resides in Boone, N.C., as both
Myles Tate and
CJ Huntley head into Wednesday's game against Coastal Carolina in the top 10 in scoring. Huntley and Tate are the only duo in the league to each be in the top 10 in scoring. Tate averages 15 points a game entering Wednesday, good for the fifth-best scoring average in the league, while Huntley's 13.9 points a game is the ninth-best average. The two combine to score 28.9 of the Mountaineers' 69.5 points a game.
Scouting the Chanticleers
Under first-year head coach Justin Gray, Coastal Carolina is 8-7 on the season and 1-2 in Sun Belt Conference play. The Chanticleers' two conference losses came against Arkansas State and Louisiana and their win came in their last contest against ULM.
Like the Mountaineers, Coastal Carolina owns a stout defense against the 3-pointer as it carries the 12th-best 3-point field-goal percentage defense in the country as of Wednesday. The Chanticleers have kept eight of their opponents to five or fewer threes, which includes two outings allowing zero threes to NC State and USC Upstate.
Rasheed Jones leads the Coastal Carolina offense entering Wednesday as he scores at the 10th-highest clip in the Sun Belt, averaging 13.9 points a game. Jones has scored in double figures in each of his last three outings entering Wednesday.
Series History
Wednesday's matchup in Boone will mark the 17th meeting all-time between the Mountaineers and Chanticleers. App State has fared well in the series against Coastal Carolina, winning seven of the last eight contests and 12 of the 16 meetings overall.
Last year, App State posted two wins of at least 25 points against the Chanticleers, with one coming in Conway and the other coming in Boone. Additionally, App State is 7-1 all-time against Coastal Carolina at the Holmes Center, with the lone loss coming in Feb. 2020. Huntley and Tate each provided a double-digit game against the Chanticleers a season ago. Wednesday's game will be Huntley's seventh game against Coastal Carolina in his career.
Although Kerns and Gray have never met one another before, Kerns has squared off with the Chanticleers 10 times in his coaching career. Kerns has lost just twice in those 10 games, making his 80 percent win percentage against the Chanticleers the best against a Sun Belt East foe.
Next Up
App State will wrap up its season-long four-game homestand on Saturday when it will host the James Madison Dukes at the Holmes Center. Saturday's will game is a Stripe Out and fans are encouraged to wear black or gold based on their ticket location. Tipoff from Boone is slated for 1 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
The 2024-25 men's basketball season is presented by Foscoe Companies.
