FACTS & STATS: Site: Holmes Center (8,325) -- Boone, North Carolina. Television: None. Home Record: W. Carolina 5-3, Appalachian St. 5-1. Away Record: W. Carolina 3-4, Appalachian St. 0-8. Neutral Record: W. Carolina 0-0, Appalachian St. 0-0. Conference Record: W. Carolina 2-2, Appalachian St. 1-3. Series Record: Appalachian State leads, 97-57.
GAME NOTES: The Appalachian State Mountaineers try to win back-to-back contests for just the second time this season as they play host to the Catamounts of Western Carolina at the Holmes Center in Southern Conference action tonight. ASU had been on a five-game losing streak entering play this past weekend, but came out of nowhere to top the Mocs of Chattanooga by 14 points, 81-67. Meanwhile the Catamounts lost for the second time in the last three games with a 105-97 decision against The Citadel on Saturday night. These two teams have already met on the hardwood an astounding 164 times, with the Mountaineers claiming victory 97 times, including the last 11 meetings.
For the second year in a row, Western Carolina and The Citadel had to go into an extra session to decide their contest, with the Bulldogs getting the 105-97 victory this time around in Cullowhee. Western Carolina got a career night from Kevin Martin, who scored 39 points on 12-of-23 shooting from the field, including 7-of-14 from three-point range. He also kept his free throw streak alive, making all eight attempts. He has yet to miss in four SoCon games and made each of his last 32 foul shots. The WCU record for consecutive free throws in 38, set back during the 1985-86 season. Catamount senior Cory Largent added 23 points, while Kelvin Wylie had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. With his career performance on Saturday, Martin, now shooting 91.1 percent from the charity stripe, is scoring 22.2 ppg. That number jumps to an impressive 28.5 ppg in conference play. Largent (14.5 ppg), Willie Freeman (10.5 ppg) and Wylie (10.3 ppg) are all hitting for double digits as well. Freeman, who is knocking down his shots from the field at almost 58 percent, is the team's leading rebounder at six and a half per outing.
On Saturday the Mountaineers shot out to a 12-point lead at halftime against Chattanooga and never looked back as they recorded their first victory in six games with an 81-67 win over the Mocs at home. With 14 points Donald Payne led five players in double figures for the Mountaineers in the win. Jonathan Butler, Noah Brown and Nate Carson each added 13 points and Buddy Davis chipped in a dozen. ASU won the contest despite being beaten on the boards by a count of 41-32. The team shot 49.2 percent from the floor and nailed 50 percent of its three-point attempts. As great a game as the team had, not a single player on the roster is averaging double figures this season. Josh Shehan is the closest to that plateau at 9.6 ppg. He is also the top rebounder for the club with just under six boards per game. One area in which the team is lacking is in passing, without a single player registering as many as three assists per ball game.
Even though the Mountaineers had an impressive win against the Mocs on Saturday night, it appears as though the team is going to fall right back into its old habits, losing that is. Without getting consistently strong scoring from any one player this year, Appalachian State is in jeopardy of having a rough go the rest of the way.
GAME NOTES: The Appalachian State Mountaineers try to win back-to-back contests for just the second time this season as they play host to the Catamounts of Western Carolina at the Holmes Center in Southern Conference action tonight. ASU had been on a five-game losing streak entering play this past weekend, but came out of nowhere to top the Mocs of Chattanooga by 14 points, 81-67. Meanwhile the Catamounts lost for the second time in the last three games with a 105-97 decision against The Citadel on Saturday night. These two teams have already met on the hardwood an astounding 164 times, with the Mountaineers claiming victory 97 times, including the last 11 meetings.
For the second year in a row, Western Carolina and The Citadel had to go into an extra session to decide their contest, with the Bulldogs getting the 105-97 victory this time around in Cullowhee. Western Carolina got a career night from Kevin Martin, who scored 39 points on 12-of-23 shooting from the field, including 7-of-14 from three-point range. He also kept his free throw streak alive, making all eight attempts. He has yet to miss in four SoCon games and made each of his last 32 foul shots. The WCU record for consecutive free throws in 38, set back during the 1985-86 season. Catamount senior Cory Largent added 23 points, while Kelvin Wylie had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. With his career performance on Saturday, Martin, now shooting 91.1 percent from the charity stripe, is scoring 22.2 ppg. That number jumps to an impressive 28.5 ppg in conference play. Largent (14.5 ppg), Willie Freeman (10.5 ppg) and Wylie (10.3 ppg) are all hitting for double digits as well. Freeman, who is knocking down his shots from the field at almost 58 percent, is the team's leading rebounder at six and a half per outing.
On Saturday the Mountaineers shot out to a 12-point lead at halftime against Chattanooga and never looked back as they recorded their first victory in six games with an 81-67 win over the Mocs at home. With 14 points Donald Payne led five players in double figures for the Mountaineers in the win. Jonathan Butler, Noah Brown and Nate Carson each added 13 points and Buddy Davis chipped in a dozen. ASU won the contest despite being beaten on the boards by a count of 41-32. The team shot 49.2 percent from the floor and nailed 50 percent of its three-point attempts. As great a game as the team had, not a single player on the roster is averaging double figures this season. Josh Shehan is the closest to that plateau at 9.6 ppg. He is also the top rebounder for the club with just under six boards per game. One area in which the team is lacking is in passing, without a single player registering as many as three assists per ball game.
Even though the Mountaineers had an impressive win against the Mocs on Saturday night, it appears as though the team is going to fall right back into its old habits, losing that is. Without getting consistently strong scoring from any one player this year, Appalachian State is in jeopardy of having a rough go the rest of the way.
