The Appalachian State Mountaineers (12-17, 9-11 SoCon) will bring the curtain up on this year's Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament in Chattanooga, TN with a 2 p.m. tipoff Friday against the Georgia Southern Eagles. ASU played the Eagles just once this season, reaching season highs in points and three-point percentage in a 95-82 Mountaineer win in Statesboro on February 2.ASU enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed after losing the tiebreaker for the North’s third seed on Saturday to Samford. Appalachian is 36-35 all-time in the tournament and is 6-7 when playing as the No. 4 seed, although this year’s seeding system is different than in years
past. The Apps have advanced to the tournament semifinals three of the past four seasons, falling all three times. Should ASU win Friday's matchup with Georgia Southern, they will advance to the quarterfinals where they will play Davidson, the top seed from the North Division on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. ASU faced the Wildcats just one time this season, a 70-52 setback at home on January 12.
Isaac Butts had his finest game of the year in the first matchup between the teams this season at Hanner Fieldhouse, as the big man grabbed 19 rebounds and scored 17 points, both career highs. Donald Sims scored a then career-high 29 points in the game with six three-pointers. Kellen Brand leads the team with 15.0 points per game and was named SCSMA second team all-conference. He has scored 20 or more points 10 times on the season, with a high of 31 against Western Carolina.
The Mountaineers had a string of two-straight division titles snapped this season, as a regular season finale loss dropped the team to the fourth seed for the tournament. Friday marks the fourth time Appalachian has faced Georgia Southern in the SoCon Tourney, as ASU holds a 2-1 advantage. The last post-season meeting was in the 2006 quarterfinals, as the Mountaineers took a 74-61 win.
Last season, the Apps had a short stay in Charleston for the SoCon tournament, as UNC Greensboro bounced the team in the first game. Appalachian is 7-3 all-time in the first round of the tournament.
His next tournament win will tie head coach Houston Fancher with Buzz Peterson for third in tournament wins, with eight.
Playing with just one senior on the roster after graduating five, the Mountaineers looked to fill several holes in the lineup with a young team. The Apps’ strength became apparent early on, as the squad owned the glass against nearly every opponent, and wrapped up the regular season with a league-best +7.6 rebounding margin. The combination of big men Isaac Butts and Josh Hunter proved to be a perfect complement to the sharp-shooting guards on the perimeter.
The duo accounted for all 14 of the team’s double-doubles on the season. ASU was second in the SoCon in three-point shooting at 37.2 percent and third in free throws at 70.5 percent.
Below is Friday's first round schedule for this year's tourney:
Session 1, Game 1: Appalachian State (4N) vs. Georgia Southern (5S) - 2 p.m.
Session 1, Game 2: Coll. of Charleston (3S) vs. UNC-Greensboro (6N) - 30 minutes after game 1
Session 2, Game 3: Wofford (4S) vs. Elon (5N) - 7 p.m.
Session 2, Game 4: Samford (3N) vs. Furman (6S) - 30 minutes after game 3
