PENSACOLA, Fla. - After claiming the No. 4 seed thanks to an 11-7 record in conference play, the App State men's basketball team is set to open its quest for a Sun Belt Tournament championship on Saturday. The Mountaineers need to win just three games to claim the Sun Belt's auto bid to the NCAA Tournament, which begins on March 17 with the First Four round. Tipoff from the Pensacola Bay Center for App State's first game at the Sun Belt Tournament is slated for 6:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. CT), and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
App State (19-12, 11-7 SBC) will play No. 8 Southern Miss (18-15, 9-9 SBC) on Saturday night.
The Mountaineers saw three players take home Sun Belt honors on Monday in
Luke Wilson (Defensive Player of the Year),
Kasen Jennings (second team All-Sun Belt) and
Alonzo Dodd (third team All-Sun Belt). App State's trio of honorees marks its most since seeing five players receive All-Sun Belt recognition in 2023-24. It also marks the second-most all-conference recognitions in the Kerns era. Wilson, Jennings and Dodd became the 13th, 14th and 15th Mountaineers in the Kerns era to receive All-Sun Belt honors.
The Mountaineers' victory over Georgia Southern on Feb. 21 marked their 11th victory in Sun Belt play this season. This marks the third-most conference wins in the Kerns era, surpassed only by a program record 16 in 2023-24 and 12 in 2021-22. The Mountaineers have totaled five 10-win seasons in league play in Kerns' tenure.
Additionally, App State stands one win away from a 20-win season, which would mark its second 20-win season in the last three years (tallied a program record 27 wins in 2023-24). If App State were to get to 20 wins, it would mark the 14th 20-win season in program history. Prior to App State's 27-win season two years ago, the Mountaineers hadn't seen a 20-win season since 2009-10 (tallied 24 wins that year).
The Matchup
- Who: App State vs. No. 8 Southern Miss
- Where: Pensacola Bay Center // Pensacola, Fla.
- When: Saturday, March 7 // 6:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. CT
Tune In
- Watch: Watch (ESPN+) | Matt Stewart (PxP), Victor Howell (Color), Shelby Coppedge (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
Leading by one with just under two minutes to play, the App State men's basketball team looked for one last stop to try and secure a win and a Sun Belt regular-season championship. But Texas State and Mark Drone buried a tough jumper from the right elbow to take the lead, helping Texas State take home a crucial 60-57 win on its home floor.
The Mountaineers generated a wide-open look to take the lead with two seconds to play in regulation, but a corner 3-pointer from
Eren Banks wouldn't fall. Texas State grabbed the board, made a pair of free throws at the other end and survived a final attempt to tie the score.
App State started the game strong, embarking on a 17-8 run to open the game, but Texas State held strong on its home floor and eventually took the lead at halftime. This continued into the second half as the Bobcats went ahead by as many as six points in the final 20 minutes. Although App State jumped ahead by four points with 5:08 to play in the second half, another crucial Texas State run, this one a 7-0 run, helped it take a three-point lead with less than a minute to play.
Scouting the Mountaineers
App State enters play on Saturday with a 19-12 record, which includes an 11-7 mark in Sun Belt play. This helped it enter the Sun Belt Tournament as the fourth seed. App State enters the Sun Belt Tournament having won eight of its last 11 games, and 15 of their last 22 games dating back to Dec. 3. App State finished the regular season as one of seven teams in the Sun Belt Conference with 11 or more Sun Belt wins, and is one of seven Sun Belt teams with at least 19 wins overall this season.
The Mountaineers continue to be one of the best defensive teams in the Sun Belt Conference and the country entering the Sun Belt Tournament as they pace the league in scoring defense, allowing 65.4 points a game, which is 3.6 points ahead of the next closest team (South Alabama - 69.0). The Mountaineers enter play on Saturday having held six of their last 11 opponents to 60 or fewer points, while holding seven of their last 11 opponents below 40 percent shooting from the field. App State is looking to finish with a top-15 scoring defense for the second straight season (finished 12th last season).
Offensive rebounding has become a major emphasis for App State this season, as it enters Saturday as the Sun Belt's third-ranked team in offensive rebounding (12.3 per game). App State has grabbed at least 10 offensive rebounds in 14 of its last 17 games entering Saturday. The Mountaineers see two players ranked in the top 10 in the Sun Belt in offensive rebounding in Wilson (third - 3.1 per game) and
Michael Marcus Jr. (fifth - 2.7 per game). App State hasn't seen two or more players finish in the top 10 in the league in offensive rebounding in the Kerns era.
The Mountaineers are led by a trio of double-digit scorers entering Saturday in Jennings (15.2), Dodd (13.8) and Wilson (10.7). Jennings enters Friday having posted two 30-point games over his last eight outings after tallying 31 at Georgia Southern on Feb. 11, while Dodd has scored at least 18 points in five of his last seven games. Additionally, Marcus Jr. provided a spark on Feb.11 at Georgia Southern with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double, which was his second 20-point, 10-rebound double-double of the year. He trails only Jennings (eight) and Dodd (six) for the team lead in 20-point games this season.
App State at the Sun Belt Tournament
The Mountaineers' appearance in the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt tournament marks the fifth time in the
Dustin Kerns era that they have reached this far in the tournament. The last time App State made the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt Tournament was in 2023-24, when it also opened its quest for a Sun Belt Tournament crown in the quarterfinal round. The Mountaineers are 3-1 in the quarterfinal round at the Sun Belt Tournament under Kerns.
Under Kerns, App State is 7-5 at the Sun Belt Tournament. App State is looking to post its first multi-win campaign at the Sun Belt Tournament since tallying four wins in four days on its way to a Sun Belt Tournament championship in the 2021-22 season. If App State were to win two games at this year's tournament, it would mark its second-most wins at the tournament in the Kerns era.
Saturday's contest will also mark year No. 6 for App State at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola for the Sun Belt Tournament. The Mountaineers are 6-4 in Pensacola since the tournament moved there in 2020-21. App State will look for its first win at the Pensacola Bay Center since its 85-80 victory over Georgia Southern in the 2023-24 tournament.
Next Up
With a win on Friday, the Mountaineers would move on to the tournament semifinals, where they would meet top-seeded Troy in a Sunday night showdown in Pensacola. Troy claimed the outright Sun Belt regular-season title with a 12-6 record in league play. Tipoff for Sunday's semifinal matchup is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET (5 p.m. ET), and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+. All games of the Sun Belt Tournament will be broadcast on ESPN+, with the championship game airing on ESPN2.
