After securing a winning season on the road last Thursday, the App State Mountaineers (23-5, 13-2 SBC) close out their road schedule with their third nationally televised game this season at Marshall (12-16, 7-8 SBC) on Saturday. App State will look to sweep its fifth season series of the year on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
The Mountaineers’ 82-67 road win at Old Dominion last Thursday marked win No. 7 away from the Holmes Center this season, which is the most road wins in a season since 2021-22. It also secured App State’s fourth winning record on the road this century. With just four losses away from home this season, a win on Saturday would clinch the fewest road losses in a season since the 1997-98 team lost just four road contests.
The road win over the Monarchs on Thursday was App State’s 13th Sun Belt win this season, which is the most Sun Belt wins App State has ever recorded as a member of the league. It’s just the seventh season in program history that App State has won at least 13 conference games and first since 2009-10. Additionally, the Mountaineers’ 13-2 start in Sun Belt play is the best 15-game start in conference play since the 1997-98 team also started 13-2 in SoCon play. The Mountaineers have never started conference play 14-2.
A win on Saturday would mark win No. 24 this season, which would be the Mountaineers’ first season of at least 24 wins since 2009-10 and just the third 24-win season in program history.
The Matchup
- Who: App State (RV) at Marshall
- Where: Cam Henderson Center // Huntington, W. Va.
- When: Saturday, Feb. 24 // 6 p.m.
Tune In
- Watch: ESPN2, ESPN+
- Listen: 97.3 WKBC, 96.5/1450 WATA, 790/93.7 WETB, 1250/103.9 WBRM
- Live Stats: appstatesports.com
Last Time Out
It was a close battle through the first 30 minutes of play at Chartway Arena, but the Mountaineers used an extended 19-2 run to take control of the game late to pull out their 16th double-digit win of the season against the Monarchs. The win clinched at least a top-three seed in the Sun Belt Tournament for the Mountaineers.
The Mountaineers sunk nine threes on 18 attempts against the Monarchs, marking the second straight contest that the Black and Gold have shot at least 50 percent from behind the arc. App State has now won 11 straight games when they shoot at least 40 percent from three.
Terence Harcum’s 18-point second-half onslaught led the way for App State as he recorded his second career 20-point game at Chartway Arena. In two games at Old Dominion, Harcum has recorded a 22-point and a 28-point game, giving him an average of 25 points a game in his career at Chartway Arena.
Overall, four Mountaineers eclipsed the 10-point threshold and Tre’Von Spillers tallied his team-leading eighth double-double. Spillers is the first Mountaineer to record eight double-doubles in a season since Isaac Johnson tallied eight in the 2019-20 season.
Scouting the Mountaineers
At 23-5 and 13-2 in Sun Belt play, the Mountaineers enter this week’s action in sole possession of first place in the league and have won 22 of their last 25 games. App State is one of just 10 Division I teams with at least 23 wins and one of only 17 teams in the country with five or fewer losses entering the weekend. The Mountaineers currently own the 10th-best win percentage in the country.
App State’s defense has been tough to crack this season as it enters Saturday with the eighth-lowest opponent field-goal percentage in the country. Opponents are shooting just 39 percent against the Mountaineers, making them one of 14 teams in the nation that keep opponents below 40 percent shooting from the field. App State has kept 16 of its opponents below 40 percent shooting this season and is 15-1 when they do so.
Additionally, the Mountaineers have been the best team in the country at blocking shots this season, averaging 7.1 blocks per game, which is almost a full block clear of the next-closest team. With 200 blocks this year, the Mountaineers have already shattered the previous program record for blocks in a season that was set in 1990-91. The Mountaineers are 30 blocks clear of the next closest team (Bryant, 170).
Offensively, the Mountaineers boast one of the deepest teams in college basketball as 11 of the 13 active players on the team have recorded a double-digit point game this season. Additionally, seven different players have recorded a 20-point game this season. The Mountaineer second unit has been vital to their success this season as the Black and Gold own the 21st-best scoring bench in the country entering Saturday.
Scouting the Thundering Herd
Marshall enters Saturday’s contest reeling a bit as they have lost each of their last four contests. However, three of those four losses have come against the top three teams in the Sun Belt standings as of this weekend. Overall, the Herd are 12-16 with a 7-8 Sun Belt record, putting them in eighth place in the standings entering play against App State.
The Herd sees four players score in double-figures each game in Obinna Anochili-Killen, Kevon Voyles, Kamdyn Curfman and Nate Martin. Anochili-Killen scores 14.6 points a game in Sun Belt play, giving him the ninth-highest scoring average in the league since the calendar flipped to conference play.
Curfman has been one of the best shooters in the conference this season as he has made 75 threes this season, which leads the league while shooting at the second-highest clip in the conference at 31 percent. Curfman has 16 games this season where he has made at least three three-pointers.
Series History
Saturday’s meeting in Huntington will be the second contest between the Mountaineers and Thundering Herd in the last nine days with the Mountaineers picking up a 15-point win in Boone on Feb. 15. It also marks meeting No. 54 between App State and Marshall with the Herd holding a 19-34 advantage in the series.
Donovan Gregory’s 19-point outing helped lead App State to a double-digit win at the Holmes Center nine days ago. Overall, three players eclipsed the 10-point threshold in the win. Gregory has scored in double-figures in two of his three games against the Herd.
The win over Marshall on Feb. 15 marked Coach Kerns’ first career win against Marshall head coach Dan D’Antoni and was App State’s first win over Marshall since 2010.
Next Up
App State returns home to start their final homestand of the season, starting with a rematch against Old Dominion on Wednesday. Tipoff from the Holmes Convocation Center is set for 6:30 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
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