By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — It might have been freezing cold outside but inside the Holmes Convocation Center on Jan. 4, it was hot, hot, hot for the App State men’s basketball team. The Mountaineers shot almost 53 percent from the field and over 54 percent from beyond the arc en route to a convincing, 72-61 win over Texas State, with 2,512 in attendance.
Coming into the game, App State was ranked No. 28 out of the 355 NCAA Division I programs in field goal percentage defense — and they didn’t disappoint vs. the Bobcats. The Mountaineers held Texas State to just 37.7 percent from the field, including 36.4 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
In getting a first Sun Belt Conference win for the 2024-25 season, App State had three players in double figures, including a game-high 22 points by Myles Tate. The senior guard from Spartanburg, S.C. (Dorman HS) was good on 4-of-6 from beyond the arc (67 percent, 12 points). Tate played his first three seasons at Butler University before transferring to App State a year ago. In addition to racking up his third straight 20-point game, Tate was strong on the boards against the Bobcats, collecting seven rebounds on the night. Even while earning game-high scoring honors, he also dished out a game-high six assists and plucked two steals.
Grad student forward CJ Huntley was celebrated on Jan. 2 for having scored his 1,000th career point for the Mountaineers. As unlikely as it might sound to those who have watched the Huntersville, N.C. native’s previous four years playing for App State, against Texas State he recorded his first double-double, with 10 rebounds and 12 points. Huntley and Tate were both on the court for more than 35 minutes. During that time, the Davidson Day School alum made four of five free throw attempts for one of his best nights from the charity stripe.
Also scoring in double figures for the Mountaineers against the Bobcats was Alonzo Dodd, a junior guard from St. Paul, Minn., with 14 points, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. Dodd, who played his first two years at Texas A&M-Commerce, also was credited for six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” said App State head coach Dustin Kerns in opening his post-game press conference. “We beat a really quality team (in Texas State)… They have had some really good wins this year. We led for 37 minutes (36:58), but we had a really complete game. Our bench helped us, our starters played well. We had to make some adjustments against (Tyrel) Morgan, who has been averaging 17 points a night. He got 16 tonight. They were going small with him and it created some matchup problems, but we adjusted to that.”
The sense of relief in getting the 2024-25 season’s first Sun Belt Conference win was evident in Kerns, now in his sixth season at the helm of the Mountaineers. With almost an entirely new roster of players after last year’s regular season Sun Belt Championship, it has taken some time for things to “gel” for App State.
“We finished off the game well,” said Kerns, comparing the most recent win to the last four losses. “We’ve been playing really good teams and fighting hard, but we got through today.”
In describing his expectations going into the game vs. the Bobcats, Kerns offered some details.
“If you look at some net numbers, this was the No. 3 ranked team in the Sun Belt going into today. So it is a really quality team. They are a team that ranks in the top 50 in the country in setting ball screens. They are really dynamic with it and one of the reasons we started in zone (defense) to change up. I don’t think we have done that in six years, but it was to not let them get into a rhythm, ball screen wise. We gave up some rebounds, then went to a man-to-man defense which was good for us,” said Kerns.
“Texas State is also a team that shoots the three pretty well,” added Kerns, “but they don’t shoot a lot of them… We did a pretty good job of forcing them to shoot threes. They don’t normally have 22 attempts (from behind the arc).
“The stat we really harped on with the guys is (Texas State) is undefeated when they get 13 or more offensive rebounds,” Kerns added. “But the flip side of that is they haven’t won when they get eight or under offensive rebounds. We held them to eight (tonight). Our guys did a really good job on the glass.”
Kerns noted that Texas State is also one of the top teams in the country in getting to the free throw line — and making them. Against App State, the Bobcats shot 100 percent from the charity stripe, but only had seven opportunities.
“I thought our guys did a really good job at not fouling and holding them to only seven free throws,” said Kerns.
App State (7-7 overall) will stay at home for its next two conference tilts, Jan. 8 vs. Coastal Carolina (6:30 p.m. tipoff) and Jan. 11 vs. James Madison (1 p.m.).
The Chanticleers join a total of seven Sun Belt teams, including App State, at 1-2 in conference play, but are 8-7 overall with key wins vs. Western Michigan, South Carolina-Upstate, Alabama A&M, Campbell and Louisiana-Monroe (ULM).
JMU is one of four teams at 2-1, tied for second in the Sun Belt and 9-6 overall. Key wins include vs. Ohio, East Tennessee State, and conference wins at home against Southern Miss and Arkansas State.
