BOONE, N.C. - Riding a four-game winning streak for the second time this season, the App State men's basketball team will look to extend its winning streak to five games when it welcomes the South Alabama Jaguars to the Holmes Center on Wednesday in the Sun Belt's Game of the Week. Tipoff from the Holmes Center is slated for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Wednesday's game is a gold out at the Holmes Center, and fans are encouraged to wear gold to the game. Additionally, replica gold jerseys will be given away to the first 500 students.
Wednesday's contest against the Jaguars will be a matchup between two of the most successful teams in the Sun Belt since 2019. App State enters play on Wednesday with 73 wins in Sun Belt play, which is the most conference wins of any team in the league during this time span. Right behind App State is South Alabama, which owns 69 Sun Belt wins since the 2019 season. The two programs have combined for seven 10-win seasons in league play (App State - 4 and South Alabama - 3), and have claimed at least a share of a Sun Belt regular season championship since 2019 (App State in 2023-24 and South Alabama in 2024-25).
App State will open up a two-game homestand on Wednesday, playing host to South Alabama and Eastern Michigan (Saturday) during the week. The Mountaineers last played at home on Jan. 23 against ULM, which wrapped up a season-long four-game homestand. The Mountaineers will play four of their final seven games in the friendly confines of the Holmes Center.
The Mountaineers enter Wednesday's contest with 33 home wins over their last 40 home games (82.5 winning percentage). Over the Mountaineers' last 40 home games, they have totaled 24 wins by double digits. This includes seven this season. Entering Wednesday, the Mountaineers own a +16.1 scoring margin on their home floor.
The Matchup
- Who: App State vs. South Alabama
- Where: Holmes Convocation Center // Boone, N.C.
- When: Wednesday, Feb. 4 // 6:30 p.m.
Tune In
- Watch: Watch (ESPN+) | David Jackson (PxP), John Reisterer (Color), Bob Dillner (Sideline)
- 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
A 16-point first half and a 17-point second half led to a 33-point barrage from
Kasen Jennings, which helped the App State rout the Troy 66-44 at Trojan Arena last Saturday. Jennings' 33 points against Troy marked the first 30-point game by an App State player since Adrian Delph totaled 39 on Nov. 22, 2021, and the seventh-highest output by a Sun Belt player this season.
It wasn't just Jennings who helped App State down the Sun Belt's leader going into the game. The Mountaineers' defense held Troy 41 points below their season scoring average (85.5). The Trojans' 44 points scored against App State's defense marked their lowest scoring game by 15 points (previous low was 59 points against South Alabama on Jan. 3).
Helped by Jennings' seven 3-pointers, App State started and finished hot from behind the arc, as it connected on 13 threes against Troy, falling one short of its season best.
Eren Banks and
Michael Marcus Jr. each buried at least two treys, while
Jalen Tot delivered a dagger late in the game with a deep shot to beat the shot clock after a near turnover.
Scouting the Mountaineers
App State enters play on Wednesday with a 15-9 record and an 8-4 record in Sun Belt play, which places it in sole possession of third place in the league standings, and just a half game out of first place. Wednesday's contest against South Alabama will be a matchup for second place in the Sun Belt with just six league games left to play in the regular season. App State enters play against the Jaguars on a four-game winning streak, which matches its season-high, and has won 11 of its last 15 games dating back to Dec. 3. The Mountaineers are one of just two teams (Troy) with eight Sun Belt wins entering Wednesday.
A huge reason why App State has won four games in a row is due to suffocating defense. Since Jan. 22 when the win streak started, the Mountaineers haven't allowed more than 63 points to any opponent (most during this stretch was 63 points at Southern Miss on Jan. 29). App State has held three opponents (Louisiana, ULM and Troy) below the 60-point threshold, while also keeping the Sun Belt's best offense (Troy) to its worst scoring output of the season on Jan. 31 (44 points). Since Jan. 8, App State has kept all but one of its opponents below 70 points (Old Dominion - 75 on Jan. 17).
The Mountaineers are set to return to the Holmes Center on Wednesday, a place where they are 33-7 since the beginning of the 2023-24 season. A large part of their home record over the last three seasons is due to their offense, as they are averaging 75.7 points per game at home this season. Since the 2023-24 season, App State has totaled 80 or more points 28 times, and 16 of them have come at the Holmes Center. Additionally, App State is shooting 46.4 percent at home this season (297/640).
The Mountaineers are led by a trio of double-digit scorers entering Wednesday in Jennings (15.5), Dodd (12.7) and
Luke Wilson (10.1). Jennings is coming off a 33-point game against Troy last Saturday, which helped him garner Sun Belt Player of the Week honors, while Dodd has scored in double figures in four of his last six contests entering Wednesday. Additionally, Tot has been a nice addition to the starting lineup as of recently, as he has scored in double figures five times since entering the starting lineup on Jan. 8 against Georgia State.
Scouting the Jaguars
South Alabama, which enters Wednesday just a few percentage points ahead of App State in the Sun Belt standings, owns a 16-6 record for the season and a 7-3 record in league play. The Jaguars have won three games in a row entering Wednesday, with all three being close affairs. Wednesday's contest will be the Jaguars' first road game since Jan. 22 at James Madison.
Like App State, the Jaguars pride themselves on smothering defense. Entering play on Wednesday, South Alabama ranks in the top five nationally in both field-goal percentage defense (fourth - 37.6 percent) and fouls per game (first - 11.5). The Jaguars stand in second place in the Sun Belt in scoring defense, allowing 67.7 points per game.
The Jaguars are led on offense by Chaze Harris and Adam Olson, who both average better than 16 points per game. Harris is the Sun Belt's third-ranked scorer, averaging 17.7 points per game, while Olson ranks eighth at 16.2 per contest. Harris has scored in double figures in each of his last 12 games, which includes two 38-point outings against ULM (Dec. 17) and Arkansas State (Jan. 15).
Series History
App State and South Alabama are slated to meet for the 21st time on Wednesday in what will be the first matchup between the two teams in Boone in nearly four years (last met in Boone on Feb. 19, 2022). App State last met the Jaguars in Mobile on Jan. 4, 2024, which saw App State claim a thrilling 91-84 win in overtime.
Although South Alabama owns the edge in the series at 14-6 entering Wednesday, the two teams have matched up well with one another over the last six games as each team has taken three games apiece since 2021.
App State will look to win its second straight game over the Jaguars at the Holmes Center (won 69-51 in the 2022 matchup).
Next Up
The Mountaineers will take a break from their league schedule and close out their nonconference slate on Saturday with a visit from the Eastern Michigan Eagles. Saturday's game is Alumni Day at the Holmes Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
