The App State men’s basketball team took on Texas State in the second game of their four-game home stand Saturday.
The Mountaineers won 72-61, snapping their four-game losing streak. The Black and Gold have now won 10 of their last 11 home games against Sun Belt opponents.
This win was their first against a Sun Belt Conference opponent and improves their record to 7-7.
“It just feels good just to get in that win column,” said graduate student forward CJ Huntley.
The Mountaineers went to Huntley to open the game with the first basket for the squad. The guards continued to look for Huntley in the paint. Huntley finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, his first collegiate double-double.
The first half was highlighted by great shooting from the Mountaineers. The team shot 50% from beyond the arc.
Redshirt senior guard Myles Tate hit 3 three-pointers in the half, producing a strong all-around performance with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in that timeframe.
“When my teammates believe in me it just makes the bucket look big,” Tate said.
Junior guard Alonzo Dodd hit a three with a defender in his face for one of his 2 threes to go along with 10 points in the first half.
“We wanted to be aggressive on offense and defense,” Dodd said.
App State led at the end of the first half 38-30.
Tate picked up right where he left off, scoring the first basket for the Mountaineers in the second half. Tate followed his 20-point performance last game with 22 points.
Graduate student guard Jackson Threadgill contributed with 3 threes for his 9 points.
Threadgill was not the only one, as junior guard Dior Conners knocked down 3 threes of his own.
App State shot 54% from three-point range, a season high.
The Black and Gold shared the wealth with 15 assists as Tate led the way with 6.
Huntley led the team with 10 rebounds, leading the team and helping App State out rebound Texas State 35-29.
“Us crashing every single time just helped us today,” Huntley said.
However, Dodd and Tate, some of the shortest players on the court, were second, with 6 and 7 rebounds respectively.
“If everybody is fighting to get rebounds we should be good,” Tate said.
Head coach Dustin Kerns emphasized the rebounding battle coming into the matchup.
“The stat that we really harped on our guys was they are undefeated when they get 13 or more offensive rebounds,” Kerns said.
Texas State has not won when they are held to 8 or fewer offensive rebounds, and they had 8 against the Mountaineers.
The Mountaineers played strong team defense, holding the Bobcats to 38% from the field.
Kerns now has the fifth most wins for a coach in program history with 104.
The Mountaineers will remain at home to host Coastal Carolina Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
