Nineteen games into the 2023-24 season and the Mountaineers currently sit in first place in the Sun Belt at 15-4 and 6-1 in the conference. Riding a four-game win streak, head coach Dustin Kerns and his team have already captured massive wins over Auburn and James Madison, while having aspirations of returning to the NCAA tournament for the second time in four years.
Dynamic transfers
Junior forward Tre’Von Spillers and junior guard Myles Tate have made an immediate impact upon their arrival in the High Country.
Spillers currently leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 13.7 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game respectively. The Charleston, South Carolina native earned Sun Belt Player of the Week honors after averaging 20.5 points and 11 rebounds against Georgia State and Coastal Carolina. Spillers was named to the mid-season Lou Henson Award watchlist, an honor that recognizes the most outstanding mid-major player.
Tate, who transferred from Butler in the spring, has given App State a nice scoring boost in a starting and reserve capacity. The Spartanburg, South Carolina native had arguably his best game in the Black and Gold against Auburn, where he scored 18 points as well as the biggest shot of the night.
Lockdown defense
As the old mantra says, “defense wins championships” and the Mountaineers hang their hats on that end of the floor.
The Black and Gold currently rank 12th nationally in scoring defense, allowing 63.2 points per game. App State has given up 80-plus points only four times this season, including an overtime win over South Alabama.
The Mountaineers rank second nationally in field goal percentage defense at 36.8%, trailing No. 4 Houston for the top spot. They also rank second nationally in blocks per game at 6.7.
The normal backline rotation of Spillers, sophomore forward Justin Abson and senior forward CJ Huntley makes it difficult to score near the basket due to their shot blocking capabilities. Abson alone averages 2.7 blocks per game, ranking him sixth nationally and first in the Sun Belt.
The team has versatile defenders that can guard multiple positions on the court. This becomes useful when needing to switch matchups on defense as it becomes difficult for opposing offenses to find mismatches on defense.
Streaky shooting
Despite the dominance on the defensive end of the court, App State at times struggles in the half court on offense.
The Mountaineers shoot 30.6% from three, ranking them 305th out of 351 possible teams. The Black and Gold prefer to shoot inside the paint rather than rely on perimeter shooting. They shoot 47.2% from the field and average 15.2 assists per game.
Over the years, free throw shooting has been the Achilles heel for the Mountaineers, and so far this season they are shooting 65.5% from the line. This ranks 321st in the country.
Home court advantage
This season, the Black and Gold are undefeated at Holmes Convocation Center. Only two of their wins at home came by single digits.
Protecting home court is a necessity, especially if App State is vying to win the Sun Belt regular season title and receive a top spot in the conference tournament. The top four seeds in the Sun Belt tournament receive double-byes. In typical one bid leagues like the Sun Belt, winning the conference tournament is required to advance into March Madness.
The Mountaineers have seven home games remaining this season with the first against rival Georgia Southern Thursday. Tip-off is at 6:30 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
