By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Balanced. That seems a good descriptor for the Appalachian State men’s basketball team’s 63-51 win over Arkansas State on Jan. 28.
It was the Mountaineers’ third straight victory over a Sun Belt Conference foe, following earlier recent wins over Old Dominion and Georgia State, and they did it in front of 3,487 fans at the Holmes Convocation Center.
Even more remarkable is that App State won vs. Georgia State on Jan. 26 and against Arkansas State two days later from start to finish. According to the school’s strategic communications statisticians, the Mountaineers have not trailed for the last 113 minutes of court time, dating back to their win over the Monarchs of Old Dominion. Against Arkansas State, the Mountaineers were tied with the Red Wolves for just the first 30 seconds of play before 6-11 junior forward C J Huntley drew first blood for the Mountaineers with a 3-pointer, the first of his 10 first half points.
“I am proud of our guys for this weekend, leading for 80 minutes (across two full games) in Sun Belt Conference play, which is really hard to do,” said App State head coach Dustin Kerns in opening his post-game press conference with media. “I thought we were really tough. We got some big stops down the stretch and extended our run. Thirteen assists vs. only eight turnovers was big. We had a lot of balance. Overall, it was a great win.”
Kerns noted that Arkansas State is one of the top teams in the Sun Belt in defending against 3-point shots, which at least in part explains why the Mountaineers only had 14 attempts from behind the arc compared to a season average closer to 25 attempts.
“It is just the way it played out,” said Kerns, noting that the reduced number of long distance attempts was not intentional.
Sophomore guard Terence Harcum was slow getting started, going 1-for-6 from the field in the first half before hitting on 5-for-8 after intermission. He finished with a game-high 15 points on the night.
Huntley and freshman forward Justin Abson arguably had the most balanced individual performances against the Red Wolves. Huntley tallied 13 points and 9 rebounds. He was good on 4-of-5 shots from the field, including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and made 3-of-4 attempts from the charity stripe, with three blocked shots.
Abson was also in double figures with an even 10 points, while collecting 7 rebounds. The freshman also had three blocked shots, bringing his total to 50 blocks for the season and moving him up into a tie for 11th place, nationally.
According to the NCAA website, out of 352 Division I basketball programs, App State is No. 41 in the average number of bench points scored per game through Jan. 27 results, averaging 25.91. Only Coastal Carolina, at No. 39 (25.95) is ranked higher in the Sun Belt. It is a statistic that speaks volumes to the Mountaineers’ productivity from the non-starters.
Through the Jan. 28 results and in Sun Belt Conference games only, the 6-4 Mountaineers are No. 7 in scoring, averaging 67.0 points per game, and No. 3 in scoring defense, allowing just 65.2 points per game.
App State’s next opponent (Thursday, Feb. 3), Marshall, is the Sun Belt’s scoring leader, averaging 81.7 points per game.
At 6-4 in conference, the Mountaineers are now tied for No. 4 in the league standings with James Madison and Louisiana-Monroe, behind Southern Miss and Louisiana (8-2) and Marshall (7-3).
OTHER GAME NOTES OF INTEREST
- App State held an opponent to under 60 points for the fourth time in the last five games.
- Mountaineer freshman Justin Abson has blocked three or more opponents’ shots in 11 of his first 23 collegiate games.
- App State’s 12 fouls lowered its previous season average of 14, which is in the nation’s “top 20” for the fewest fouls.
SELECTED KEY PERFORMANCES
- APP – C J Huntley: 13 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocked shots
- APP – Terence Harcum: 15 points, 2 steals
- APP – Justin Abson: 10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocked shots
- APP – Donovan Gregory: 6 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal
- APP – Christopher Mantis: 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 blocked shot
- APP – Tamell Pearson: 7 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 blocked shot
- ARK – Omar El-Sheikh: 14 points, 10 rebounds
- ARK – Avery Felts: 11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
- ARK – Julian Lual: 10 points, 3 rebounds
- ARK – Markise Davis: 7 points, 1 blocked shot
- ARK – Caleb Fields: 2 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 blocked shot
