HICKORY, N.C. - Following a road win over in-state rival ECU in Greenville, the App State men's basketball team (6-5) will take on another in-state opponent on Sunday in the High Point Panthers (8-2) for the Hickory Hoops Classic. Sunday's game, which will be played at Lenoir-Rhyne's Shuford Memorial Arena in Hickory, will mark the second consecutive year that App State and High Point will meet at a neutral site (played in Greensboro last December). Tip off on Sunday is slated for 2 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Sunday's contest in Hickory will mark the second installment of the Hickory Hoops Classic, with the prior contest coming in 2023 against UNC Asheville at Catawba Valley Community College's Tarlton Complex. This will mark just the second time since 1977 that App State will play a game in Hickory.
App State will play at Shuford Memorial Arena for the first time since Dec. 3, 1977, when the ball tips off on Sunday. App State has played at Shuford Arena, which opened in the 1956-57 season, 21 previous times. Sunday's contest will be the first game in which App State won't play Lenoir-Rhyne at Shuford Arena.
App State will play its seventh and final game this season against an in-state opponent on Sunday. The Mountaineers' seven games against North Carolina foes mark the most in a season in the Kerns era. The Mountaineers' win over ECU on Thursday marked their fourth win over an intrastate rival this season, which is the most in a season against North Carolina foes in the Kerns era.
The Matchup
- Who: App State vs. High Point
- Where: Shuford Memorial Arena // Hickory, N.C.
- When: Sunday, Dec. 14 // 2 p.m.
Tune In
- Watch: Watch (ESPN+) | David Jackson (PxP), John Reisterer (Color)
- Listen: FLAGSHIP 97.3 (North Wilkesboro), 950 AM/92.7 FM (Greensboro), 790 AM/93.7 FM (Johnson City) | Matt Present (PxP)
- Live Stats: appstatesports.com
Last Time Out
In the first meeting between App State and ECU since 2019, the Mountaineers jumped out to an 11-0 lead through the first five minutes of the game, and held firm despite a second-half comeback attempt to post a wire-to-wire 67-54 road win in Greenville on Thursday. App State saw its 16-point halftime lead shrink to one point with 7:19 to play in regulation, but a clutch 12-0 run in the final minutes helped close out a double-digit win.
The Mountaineers' defense was the story on Thursday as they held the Pirates to just 54 points, the fewest the Mountaineers have allowed to a Division I opponent this season. App State forced tough looks after tough looks in the game, keeping ECU to a 35.5 percent field-goal percentage and a 4-20 clip from 3-point land.
Kasen Jennings,
Alonzo Dodd and
Luke Wilson each provided major contributions in the win on Thursday, as the trio combined for 51 points. Jennings paced the Mountaineers with 20 points, his fourth 20-point game of the season, and Dodd provided his best game of the season with a season-best 17 points. Wilson was all over the floor on both sides of the ball, posting his second straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The redshirt sophomore was a force on the offensive glass, grabbing seven offensive rebounds while also blocking a career-best four shots on defense.
Scouting the Mountaineers
App State enters play on Sunday with a 6-5 record and is on a two-game winning streak. The Mountaineers have posted back-to-back wire-to-wire wins entering Sunday, with both wins coming by double digits. App State's wins over Virginia-Lynchburg and ECU marked its third and fourth wins by at least 10 points this season.
Offensive rebounding has become a strong point for App State this season, as it enters Sunday's game against High Point as the Sun Belt's leader in offensive rebounding (13.6 a game). The Mountaineers haven't finished higher than sixth place in the Sun Belt in offensive rebounding in the Kerns era. Entering Sunday, App State sees two players (
Andrin Njock and Wilson) in the top 10 in the league in offensive rebounding.
The Mountaineers have also been stout against the 3-pointer over the last five games, as they are holding their opponents to just 24.5 percent from the long line since Nov. 24. App State has allowed just 10 of its opponents' last 63 3-pointers to drop, keeping UNC Asheville, Virginia-Lynchburg and ECU to 20 percent or lower from deep. App State finished last season with the eighth-best 3-point field-goal defense in the country, and enters Sunday ranked 66th nationally in that category.
App State's depth has been on full display entering Sunday as it sees five different players who average at least seven points a game in Jennings, Wilson, Dodd,
Michael Marcus Jr., and
Jalen Tot. 10 different Mountaineers have posted a double-digit point game this season, which includes multiple from Jennings, Wilson, Banks, Marcus Jr., Dodd and Njock. Entering play on Sunday, the Mountaineers get 29 points a game from their bench unit, which would be the highest bench points per game average in the Kerns era if the season ended today.
Scouting the Panthers
High Point enters Sunday's game against the Mountaineers with an 8-2 record and is coming off a victory in its last game against NJIT at home. The Panthers own the best record in the Big South Conference and are the only team in the league with fewer than five losses.
The Panthers play fast and shoot the ball well on offense, as they enter play with the 47th-ranked average possession length pace in the country and the 32nd-highest effective field-goal percentage in the country entering Sunday. High Point ranks fourth in the country in fastbreak points (21.8 per game) and is 11th in the country in scoring offense (92.3 per game).
On defense, High Point turns its opponent over as well as any team in the country. Coming into play on Sunday, the Panthers rank 15th in the country in turnover percentage defense and get a steal on 7.1 percent of their defensive possessions. High Point sees six players who average at least one steal per game entering Sunday. Five Panthers enter Sunday in the top 20 in the Big South in steals per game.
Series History
App State and High Point are set to renew one of the longest series in program history on Sunday, as the two teams have squared off 97 previous times. Sunday's contest will mark the eighth game between the two teams played at a neutral site.
High Point owns the overall edge in the 97-game series, which is one matchup behind Elon for the fourth-longest series in App State program history, at 38-59.
The Mountaineers will look for their first win over the Panthers since Feb. 19, 2011, when App State won 82-81 in High Point.
Next Up
App State is set to open its conference slate on Thursday at the Holmes Center by welcoming fellow Sun Belt East school Coastal Carolina to Boone. Tip off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
