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Men’s Basketball Puts Perfect Home Record On the Line Thursday Evening

Appalachian State men’s basketball will look to keep its perfect home record intact on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. against UT Arlington in a Sun Belt contest. The game can be seen on AppVision.

TICKETS

  • Single game tickets are on sale and can be purchased by clicking here or by contacting the Appalachian State ticket office at 828-262-2079.
  • Appalachian State is running a special Thursday ticket special. Fans can purchase tickets for all four Thursday night Sun Belt home games for $45 by clicking here or calling the Appalachian State ticket office at 828-262-2079.
  • Thursday’s game is also Healthcare Appreciation Night. If you are a member of a healthcare organization in the High Country, call Trevor Taylor at 828-262-6574 for a special $10 ticket offer. 

THE SERIES

  • This will be the 11th all-time meeting between the two schools, with the Mavericks leading 8-2.
  • These two teams met three times last season, with each team winning on its home court. The Mavericks also posted an 84-68 victory over the Mountaineers in the Sun Belt Tournament Quarterfinals.

LAST TIME OUT

  • App State fell 89-85 at Troy on Saturday.
  • Ronshad Shabazz tallied a team-high 25 points and pulled down a season-high six rebounds. Justin Forrest added 18 points, a career-high six assists and three rebounds.
  • Adrian Delph tied his career-high with 18 points, including a 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) clip from deep, a career-best seven rebounds and a career-high two blocks. Hunter Seacat chipped in with 11 points and five boards for the Mountaineers.
  • Troy came out of the gate on fire and opened a 35-15 with 10:31 remaining in the opening half. But the Mountaineers (5-10, 0-2 SBC) stormed back, outscoring Troy 23-3, including the final 14 points of the half, over the final six minutes of the opening frame to cut the halftime deficit to 46-45. In the second half, Troy pushed its lead to nine points, only to see App State pull within a point at 75-74 with 3:12 to go. Troy pushed it lead back to six, but the Black and Gold trimmed the deficit to three points at 83-80 with 17 seconds left. The Trojans would hit six free throws down the stretch to put the game away.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS

  • App State stands at 5-10 on the season and 0-2 in Sun Belt play.
  • The Mountaineers own a perfect 5-0 record at home and can start 6-0 at home in back-to-back seasons, after winning their first six at home last year. The last time the Mountaineers began 6-0 on their home court in back-to-back seasons was in 1950-51 and 1951-52.
  • After an 11-point scoring output on Saturday, Hunter Seacat has reached double figures in three of his last five games and is averaging 9.4 points on 55.6 percent (20-of-36) shooting during that span.
  • Ronshad Shabazz has scored 20 or more points in four of his last five games and is averaging 21.6 points during that span. 
  • Isaac Johnson has pulled down nine or more rebounds three times and is averaging 8.8 points and 8.4 rebounds in five career games versus UT Arlington.
  • Adrian Delph has reached double figures in all five home games this season and is averaging 13.2 points on 26-of-37 (70.3 percent) shooting.

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS

  • UT Arlington dropped its first two Sun Belt games to Georgia State and Georgia Southern to fall to 4-11 on the season and 0-2 in Sun Belt action.
  • Against Georgia Southern on Saturday, Edric Dennis paced the Mavericks with 16 points off the bench. Andres Ibarguen added 11 points and six rebounds, while David Azore chipped in with 10 points.
  • Dennis leads the team in scoring at 13.8 points, while Brian Warren is right behind averaging 13.7 points.
  • Ibarguen leads the team in rebounding (7.2 rpg) and total blocks (11).
  • UTA features the best three-point defense in the Sun Belt, limiting opponents to just 28.8 percent from beyond the arc.

UP NEXT
Appalachian State will be right back at it on Saturday, hosting Texas State at 2 p.m. inside the Holmes Center. Tickets can be purchased by clicking here or by contacting the Appalachian State ticket office at 828-262-2079.