BOONE, N.C. – Fresh off a three-game road trip, App State Men's Basketball (16-10, 9-5 SBC) is set to open up the final homestand of the 2024-25 regular season on Thursday by playing host to the Georgia Southern Eagles (14-13, 6-8 SBC) at the Holmes Center. Thursday's contest with the Eagles will mark the first of two meetings between the two teams over the final two weeks of the season. Tipoff from Boone is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the game can be streamed on ESPN+.
Thursday's game against Georgia Southern is a Black Out and fans are encouraged to wear black to the game. Fans are also encouraged to bring canned and non-perishable food items for the Sun Belt Food Fight canned food drive. For the remaining women's and men's basketball games, fans can
claim BOGO tickets when they use the promo code
MOUNTAINSTRONG. App State faculty and staff will receive free admission when they show their App Cards at the southwest entrance.
Since the start of last year, the Mountaineers have posted 24 wins in 27 games at the Holmes Center, good for an 88.8 percent winning percentage. This mark is the second-best home winning percentage since the start of last season in the Sun Belt Conference, trailing only James Madison (89.3 percent). App State will look to post its fourth consecutive season with 10 or more home wins on Thursday. App State has yet to see four consecutive 10-win seasons in the Holmes Center era.
Claiming an 18-point win on Feb. 13 over Coastal Carolina, the Mountaineers secured their sixth straight season with a winning percentage of .500 or better. It's the longest stretch of play without a losing season since 1946-52. App State is four wins away from posting its second straight 20-win season, something it has not done in consecutive years since posting three straight 20-win campaigns from 1997-2000.
App State will look to build upon a 6-2 record against teams from Sun Belt East schools this season when it squares off with Georgia Southern on Thursday. Entering the game, the Mountaineers have claimed victories in 19 of their last 21 contests against Sun Belt East foes. App State is outscoring its Sun Belt East opponents by 86 points so far this season (10.75 points a game).
The Matchup
- Who: App State vs. Georgia Southern
- Where: Holmes Convocation Center // Boone, N.C.
- When: Thursday, Feb. 20 // 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
It was a back-and-forth affair that saw 22 lead changes, the most in a game played by App State this season, but a late Toneari Lane 3-pointer to break a tied score and a Zarique Nutter and-one chance sent the Georgia State Panthers to victory on their home floor on Saturday. App State couldn't find the shots it needed late and fell 70-65 in Atlanta to close its three-game road trip.
After a fast-paced first half that saw both teams score in the high 30s, the Mountaineers were able to slow the game down to a pace they preferred as they held the Panthers to just 32 second-half points. But App State's offense went cold in the final frame of play, shooting just 37.9 percent after going 15-28 in the first half. Georgia State drilled six of its final nine field-goal attempts to close the game, despite making just one 3-pointer in the second half.
App State saw a balanced scoring effort against Georgia State as four players scored in double figures and seven players scored overall.
CJ Huntley tallied his team-leading seventh double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds while
Myles Tate scored 16 points. Additionally,
Dior Conners scored 14 points on four 3-pointers and
Jalil Beaubrun tallied 10.
Scouting the Mountaineers
App State comes into play on Thursday as one of the Sun Belt's hottest teams as it has won four of its last five contests and 10 of its last 13 overall. During that stretch, App State is outscoring its foes by 110 points (8.5 points per contest) and has tallied six double-digit triumphs. The Mountaineers are looking to post their 10th league victory of the season on Thursday, which would mark their second consecutive 10-win season in conference play. This is something App State hasn't done since the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons.
Stifling defense has continued to be the story for App State this season as they enter play on Thursday with the Sun Belt's best scoring defense and the nation's 12th-best scoring defense, allowing just 62.7 points a game. The Mountaineers have let just seven of their 26 opponents eclipse 70 points against them this season and have kept 15 of their last 18 opponents below 70 points. The Mountaineers enter play on Thursday having kept three of their last four opponents below 60 points.
The Mountaineers' 3-point defense has been among the best in the country as of Thursday as they keep their opponents to just a 28.4 percent mark from behind the arc (174-606). App State boasts the fourth-best 3-point defense in the country as of Thursday, bested only by No. 6 Tennessee, San Francisco and Liberty. The Mountaineers have let only five opponents shoot over 40 percent from behind the arc against them this season and have held 15 opponents below 30 percent from the long line entering Thursday.
Although they don't shoot a lot of threes (578 attempts), the Mountaineers boast one of the more efficient 3-point shooting percentages in the conference entering the game against the Eagles as App State is shooting the three at a 35.6 percent clip, which is good for the second-best mark in the Sun Belt Conference. Only Texas State has a better 3-point field-goal percentage. App State has won 24 straight contests when shooting at least 40 percent from 3-point land, which includes an 11-0 mark this season.
Scouting the Eagles
Georgia Southern is 14-13 for the year and 6-8 in conference play. The Eagles come into play on Thursday as winners of three of their last four games, which includes one-possession victories over Old Dominion and Louisiana at home.
The Eagles shoot 3-pointers at one of the highest rates in the country as of Thursday, hoisting up 28 attempts per game (28th-most in Division I). As a result, they make nearly 10 threes a game, which leads the Sun Belt Conference entering Thursday. 34.3 percent of Georgia Southern's points this season have come from behind the arc.
Georgia Southern boasts one of the best scoring benches in the country as of Thursday as it scores 30 points a game. Two of the Eagles' top three scorers (Bradley Douglas and Nakavieon White) come off the bench for head coach Charlie Henry.
Series History
App State and Georgia Southern are set to renew one of the longest rivalries in program history on Thursday as the two teams will square off for the 65th time. This will be the first of two matchups in the next week between the Mountaineers and Eagles.
Last year, App State and Georgia Southern met three times, twice in the regular season and once in the Sun Belt Tournament, with the Mountaineers winning all three matchups. However, the final two games of the series were decided in overtime. The Mountaineers have fared well against the Eagles since Kerns took over the program as App State's head man owns an 11-3 record against Georgia Southern. Overall, App State leads the series 37-27.
Thursday's contest against the Eagles will mark Huntley's 13th career game against Georgia Southern. The fifth-year forward has scored 50 career points against the Eagles, which includes a 14-point night on Feb. 24, 2023. Tate will play in his fourth game against Georgia Southern on Thursday after appearing in all three matchups a year ago.
Next Up
The Mountaineers will wrap up their 2024-25 home schedule with a matchup against the Marshall Thundering Herd on Saturday. Saturday's game is senior day and App State will honor its five seniors before the game. Additionally, Saturday is Alumni Day at the Holmes Center. App State will retire Darryl Robinson's jersey at halftime. Tipoff from the Holmes Center is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
The 2024-25 men's basketball season is presented by Foscoe Companies.
