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GREENVILLE, N.C. – After an eight-day hiatus, the App State men’s basketball team is set to close out the early portion of its nonconference slate with back-to-back games away from home, starting with a Thursday matchup with in-state opponent ECU. It will mark the first meeting between the two teams since 2019, and App State’s first trip to Greenville since 2018. Tip off from Minges Coliseum is slated for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Last Wednesday’s win over Virginia-Lynchburg marked the 150th win of Kerns’ career. 119 of those wins have come over the last seven years at App State. Kerns became the third-fastest head coach in program history to reach 100 wins at App State with a win over William & Mary at the Holmes Center last November. He needs just 15 more wins to pass Francis Hoover for the fourth-most wins at App State entering Thursday.
Thursday’s game in Greenville will mark App State’s sixth game against an opponent from within the North Carolina borders, and the first stop in a two-game stretch that will see contests in Greenville and Hickory (Dec. 14). App State enters Thursday’s intrastate battle against ECU with a 3-2 record against North Carolina teams, and is looking for its fourth win against an in-state opponent, which would mark the most in a season in the Kerns era.
The Mountaineers will look to post their first win of the season away from home against an in-state opponent when they travel to ECU on Thursday. App State’s only game against a team from North Carolina on the road this season came at UNC Asheville on Nov. 30 (UNC Asheville won that game 67-55). The Mountaineers will look to break a four-game losing streak on the road against North Carolina opponents (the last win away from home against an in-state foe came on Dec. 16 vs. Gardner-Webb in Greensboro).
The Matchup
- Who: App State at ECU
- Where: Minges Coliseum // Greenville, N.C.
- When: Thursday, Dec. 11 // 7 p.m.
Tune In
- Watch: Watch (ESPN+) | Patrick Johnson (PxP), Si Seymour (Color)
- 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
Back on its home floor for the final time in the early portion of its nonconference schedule, App State dominated all facets of the game against the Virginia-Lynchburg Dragons to post a 133-45 win at the Holmes Center on Dec. 3.
App State grabbed 82 rebounds against the Dragons, falling three short of the program record of 85 that was set in the 1951-52 season. The Mountaineers saw four players achieve a double-double in Andrin Njock (19 points, 16 rebounds), Michael Marcus Jr. (19 points, 12 rebounds), Chad Moodie (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Luke Wilson (16 points, 10 rebounds). It was the first time in the Kerns era that four different Mountaineers recorded a double-double in the same game.
In addition to the rebounding numbers, the Mountaineers’ 133 points marked the third-most points scored in a game in program history, falling just nine short of the program record of 142 set in 2022. 11 different Mountaineers scored in the game, and seven players reached double figures. Nobody scored more than Jacari Brim, who totaled a career-best 20 points on 7-9 shooting. Brim also dished out a team-best eight assists and grabbed five boards.
Scouting the Mountaineers
App State enters play on Thursday with a 5-5 record and is coming off an 88-point win over the Virginia-Lynchburg Dragons at home on Dec. 3. App State’s offense has shined in its wins this season as it is scoring 90.2 points per game in its five wins, compared to just 58.8 points a game in its losses. The Mountaineers have tallied 75 or more points in four of their five wins this season.
Offensive rebounding has become a strong point for App State this season, as it enters Thursday’s game against ECU as the Sun Belt’s leader in offensive rebounding (13.7 a game). The Mountaineers haven’t finished higher than sixth place in the Sun Belt in offensive rebounding in the Kerns era. Entering Thursday, App State sees two players (Njock and Wilson) in the top 10 in the league in offensive rebounding. The last time App State saw any player finish a season in the top 10 in offensive rebounding was Tre’Von Spillers in the 2023-24 season.
App State enters Thursday’s contest at ECU on a 10-game streak with at least 10 assists. This streak marks the longest to open a season in the Kerns era and the longest to open a season in the Sun Belt era. The Mountaineers have tallied 15 or more assists in three of those games (Carolina Univ., N.C. Central and Virginia-Lynchburg). Entering Thursday, the Mountaineers see four players who sit in the top 25 in the Sun Belt in total assists (Alonzo Dodd – 32, Kasen Jennings – 24, Eren Banks – 23 and Jason Clarke Jr. – 21).
App State’s depth has been on full display entering Thursday as it sees seven different players who average at least seven points a game in Jennings, Banks, Wilson, Dodd, Marcus Jr., Njock and Jalen Tot. 10 different Mountaineers have posted a double-digit point game this season, which includes multiple from Jennings, Wilson, Banks, Marcus Jr., Dodd and Njock. Entering play on Thursday, the Mountaineers get 31.2 points a game from their bench unit, which would be the highest bench points per game average in the Kerns era if the season ended today.
Scouting the Pirates
ECU enters Thursday’s battle with the Mountaineers with a 3-6 record and has lost five of its last six contests. Of those five losses, one came to then-No. 11 Michigan State, St. Bonaventure, which is among the teams receiving votes in the Week 6 AP Poll, and UNCW, which is the 15th-ranked team in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 as of Dec. 8.
Although ECU is last in the American Conference in scoring, Jordan Riley enters Thursday’s game as the AAC’s leading scorer, averaging 19.8 points a game. Riley has scored in double figures in every game this season and is coming off a 25-point game vs. UNCG in his last contest.
The Pirates also boast one of the top rebounders in the conference entering Thursday in Gio Emejuru. Emejuru leads the league in rebounding at 9.4 a game, while also standing 29th in the country in offensive rebounding rate per KenPom at 15.8 percent. Emejuru is coming off a double-double against UNCG last Saturday, which was his fourth of the young season.
Series History
The Mountaineers and Pirates will meet for the first of a four-game series that was announced in June when the ball is tipped on Thursday. The two teams will alternate home sites every year until the 2028-29 season.
App State and ECU have met 64 previous times, with the Pirates holding a slight edge in the series at 36-28. The Mountaineers will look to post their first win in Greenville since Nov 30, 1998. ECU enters Thursday’s game having won six of the last eight matchups against App State at home.
Both Banks and Jennings have prior experience against the Pirates in their careers, as Jennings has faced them twice while he was at South Florida, and Banks faced them in 2023-24 at Georgia Southern. Both have scored five points in their careers against ECU.
Next Up
App State and High Point will meet in the second installment of the Hickory Hoops Classic on Sunday. That game will be played at Lenoir-Rhyne’s Shuford Memorial Arena. Tip off from Hickory is slated for 2 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
