CONWAY, S.C. – Jumping back into Sun Belt Conference play, the App State Men's Basketball team (15-9, 8-4 SBC) s set to face the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (8-17, 1-11 SBC) for the second time this season on Thursday, this time at the HTC Center in Conway, S.C. App State will play its final six games of the regular season against opponents from Sun Belt East schools. Tipoff from Conway is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the contest can be streamed on ESPN+.
The Mountaineers are in the midst of a three-game road swing that will see stops in Conway and Atlanta (Feb. 15). Despite not claiming a win in a true road game through its first four tries, App State comes into Thursday's contest having won four of its last five true road games. Since the start of last season, App State is 12-9 in regular-season road games. The Mountaineers will play four of their last six regular-season games on the road.
Returning to its Sun Belt East schedule, App State will look to build upon a 5-1 record against teams from Sun Belt East schools this season. Entering the matchup with Coastal Carolina on Thursday, the Mountaineers have claimed victories in 18 of their last 19 contests against Sun Belt East foes. The Mountaineers are outscoring their Sun Belt East opponents by 73 points so far this season (12.1 points a game).
With the win over Ohio last Saturday, the Mountaineers have now won nine consecutive games in the month of February and 11 of their last 12 February games overall. Of the team's nine consecutive wins in February, the Mountaineers have won by double digits in five of them. Since Kerns took over the program in 2019, App State is 23-18 in games played in February.
The Matchup
- Who: App State at Coastal Carolina
- Where: HTC Center // Conway, S.C.
- When: Thursday, Feb. 13 // 7 p.m.
Tune In
- Watch: Watch (ESPN+) | Jeff McCarragher (PxP), Nathan Ross (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
Enduring a 6-0 run to close the opening half in Athens to trail by six at halftime, App State dominated the second half of play at the Convocation Center, outscoring the Ohio Bobcats by 19 points to run away with a 72-59 victory in the MAC-SBC Challenge. App State allowed just 59 points against Ohio, marking the team's 23rd win in a row when allowing 60 points or fewer.
It was a back-and-forth affair that saw six lead changes and 10 ties, but with the score tied at 44 with 13:51 to play, App State outscored the Bobcats 28-15 to take command of the game. The Mountaineers used a key 13-0 run over a five-minute stretch and never looked back.
Myles Tate and
Dior Conners played a large part in putting App State in control as the two combined to score all but two of App State's 13 points during the run.
Tate provided the best game of his career against the Bobcats with a career-high 27 points on 8-16 shooting. It was his third 20-point outing in his last four games and the 11th of the season. Along with Tate's scoring, Conners played a huge role in bringing App State ahead early in the second half as 11 of his 14 points came in the second half, including eight in the first five minutes of play. Returning to his home state of Ohio and seeing several of his family members in the stands, the Columbus, Ohio, native provided his fourth double-digit scoring game since Dec. 18.
Scouting the Mountaineers
Owners of the Sun Belt's longest active winning streak (three games), the Mountaineers come into play in Conway on Thursday as one of the hottest teams in the Sun Belt Conference. Overall, the Mountaineers have won nine of their last 11 contests, with five of those wins coming by at least 10 points. App State sits in a five-way tie for second place in the Sun Belt standings with just six games remaining. Since Jan. 4, the Mountaineers are outscoring their opponents by 97 points, good for an average of 8.8 points a game.
App State's 3-point defense was phenomenal across its two games a week ago, keeping Southern Miss and Ohio to just six made treys on 40 attempts (15 percent). The Mountaineers held the Golden Eagles to just two made 3-pointers last Wednesday at the Holmes Center, marking the fewest they have allowed in a game this season. Additionally, App State tallied its seventh and eighth games this season allowing five or fewer 3-pointers.
Stifling defense has continued to be the story for App State this season as they enter play on Thursday with the Sun Belt's second-best scoring defense and the nation's 13th-best scoring defense, allowing just 63.1 points a game. The Mountaineers have let just six opponents eclipse 70 points against them this season and have kept 14 of their last 16 opponents below 70 points. App State posted its 10th game of the season allowing fewer than 60 points last Saturday against Ohio, moving to 10-0 when doing so.
One of the best duos in the conference resides in Boone, N.C., as both Tate and
CJ Huntley head into Thursday's game against the Chanticleers in the top 10 in the league in scoring. Tate leads the way entering Thursday, averaging 16.4 points a game while Huntley scores 14.7 points a night, good for the third- and 10th-best tallies in the conference, respectively. Between the two players, they have combined to score every 20-point game by a Mountaineer this season (16) and 36 of App State's 66 10-point outings.
Scouting the Chanticleers
After beating the ULM Warhawks on Jan. 4 to claim their first Sun Belt win of the season, the Chanticleers have struggled to replicate that success as they have lost 10 straight games heading into Thursday's contest with the Mountaineers. CCU owns the Sun Belt's worst point differential in conference games as opponents are beating it by an average of 12 points per game.
The Chanticleers see three players who average greater than 10 points a contest entering Thursday in Rasheed Jones, Jordan Battle and Noah Amenhauser. Jones has scored at least 10 points 17 times this season while Battle has tallied at least 15 points in three of his last four contests.
Coastal Carolina touts an efficient mark from 3-point land as they enter play on Thursday with the Sun Belt's fifth-best 3-point percentage. The Chants made a season-best 15 3-pointers last Wednesday against South Alabama and have four games in Sun Belt play with at least 10 made 3-pointers.
Series History
The Mountaineers and Chanticleers will meet for the second and final time of the regular season on Thursday. App State claimed a dominant win over Coastal Carolina on Jan. 8 by 23 points to mark the Mountaineers' third consecutive victory over the Chanticleers.
App State has fared well over Coastal Carolina in recent history as it has won eight of the last nine games against the Chants. In fact, each of the past three games App State has played against Coastal Carolina has seen App State claim a win by at least 23 points. The Mountaineers lead the series all-time series against the Chanticleers 13-4.
Huntley did something that few Mountaineers have done before in the last meeting with Coastal Carolina as he erupted for a 21-point, 15-rebound game. He became the first Mountaineer since Marshall Phillips on Dec. 5, 1998, against Georgia Tech to record a 20-point, 15-rebound game. Thursday's meeting in Conway will mark the eighth time that Huntley will take the floor against Coastal Carolina.
Next Up
App State will cap off its three-game road trip in Atlanta on Saturday, facing the Georgia State Panthers for the second time this season. Tipoff from the GSU Convocation Center is slated for 2 p.m. and the contest can be streamed on ESPN+.
The 2024-25 men's basketball season is presented by Foscoe Companies.
