App State men’s basketball traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, Sunday in a game the Badgers won 87-56.

This was the Mountaineers’ first matchup with a Big Ten team since their contest with Michigan in 2019. 

The Black and Gold came out firing, taking a 17-8 lead on a jump shot from graduate student guard Jackson Threadgill. 

The App State offensive came to a standstill following this bucket, scoring only 3 points in the remaining 12 minutes of the half. Wisconsin turned the game on its head during this stretch, closing the half on a 28-3 run and sprinting into the locker room ahead 36-20. 

Wisconsin added to their second-half lead through high-efficiency shooting, going 12-12 from the charity stripe and shooting 49% from the field. 

The Mountaineers ran a much cleaner second-half offense, cutting their turnover tally down from 13 to 5. This led to the team upping their field goal attempts from 23 in the first to 33 in the second half. 

Wisconsin’s lead proved insurmountable. App State did not pull closer than 15 points in the second frame and trailed by as much as 34. The Badgers won 87-56.

Graduate student forward CJ Huntley led the way for the Black and Gold, posting 13 points and 6 rebounds. Threadgill notched his first double-digit game as a Mountaineer, putting in 11 on 5-8 shooting. 

App State’s matchup with UNC-Asheville, previously scheduled for Thursday, has been postponed until further notice due to Western North Carolina’s ongoing recovery from Hurricane Helene. 

The Mountaineers are now 1-2 and their next game will be against Queens at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 19 in the Holmes Convocation Center. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.