Macon, Ga. , Looking to bounce back after a tough loss on Monday, the App State men’s basketball team (4-3) travels to Macon, Ga. for a midweek road test at Mercer (3-2) on Wednesday. Ready to travel. This will be App State’s first visit to Mercer since the 1972 season. Tipoff from Hawkins Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
With App State’s win over Charlotte last Friday at the Holmes Center, Kerns remains one win shy of 150 for his career. Entering Wednesday, Kerns has a 149-119 career record, with 118 of those wins coming over the past seven years at App State. Last year, Kerns surpassed 100 career wins at App State and in doing so became the third-fastest App State head coach to reach 100 career wins. Entering Wednesday, Kerns owns the fifth-most wins in program history.
App State will hit the road again for four of its next five games, with three of those contests taking place at North Carolina locations (Asheville – November 30, Greenville – December 11 and Hickory – December 14). Wednesday’s contest will be the last time App State leaves North Carolina State until Dec. 31, when it travels to Old Dominion. The Mountaineers are 1-2 away from home this season, and enter Wednesday with a win in their last road game at Dartmouth on November 16.
Wednesday’s game at Mercer will be the first of five games against Georgia State teams this season (Mercer, Georgia State (twice) and Georgia Southern (twice). The Mountaineers are 7–2 against Georgia opponents since 2023–24. Before the loss on Feb. 15, App State had won six in a row over Georgia foes.
The Matchup
- Who: App State at Mercer
- Where: Hawkins Arena // Macon, Ga.
- When: Wednesday, November 26 // 2 p.m.
tune in
- WATCH: ESPN+ | Dean Keener (PXP), Phil Cox (color)
- Listen: Flagship 97.3 (North Wilkesboro), 950 AM/92.7 FM (Greensboro), 790 AM/93.7 FM (Johnson City) | matt present (pxp)
- Live stats: appstatesports.com
last time out
The App State men’s basketball team lost 88-53 at home to Elon Phoenix on Monday. Phoenix ran away with the game thanks to a 26-6 run at the end of the first half and never looked back.
Elon proved to be a physical counterpart to the Mountaineers on Monday, as he outrebounded the Mountaineers by 20 (45-25). Of Phoenix’s 45 rebounds, 16 came on the offensive glass, which translated into 26 second-chance points. Additionally, Elon scored a total of 46 points in the paint compared to App State’s 16.
jalen tott Led the Mountaineers in scoring against Phoenix with 14 points, his season and Mountaineer high. Tott drilled four threes in the game, the most made by a Mountaineer in a game this season. App State drilled eight threes as a team, extending its streak to 19 consecutive games with at least five 3-pointers.Scouting of climbers
App State enters Wednesday’s game with a 4-3 record and has won four of its last six games. App State’s offense has shined in its wins this season as it is scoring 79.5 points per game, while it is only averaging 57.3 points per game in its losses. The Mountaineers have scored 75 or more points in three of their four wins this season.
When the Mountaineers go on the road, they use their defense to win the game. App State allowed just 62.6 points in its 17 games away from home last year. This number includes four instances in which the Mountaineers gave up 50 or fewer points.
When the Mountaineers have had success on offense this season, they have done so by crashing the paint with intent. Coming into Wednesday’s game, the Mountaineers have recorded 20 or more points in the paint in all but one game this season (Elon). In its four wins, App State averaged 39.5 points per game in the paint while averaging 19.3 points in the loss. App State has already tallied two games with 50 or more paint points this season, the most instances in a season since 2023-24.
App Stat’s depth was on full display Wednesday as it featured five different players averaging at least seven points a game kasen jennings, eren banks, luke wilson, alonzo dodd And tote. Six different Mountaineers have posted double-digit point games this season, including multiple players from Jennings, Wilson and Dodd. Entering Wednesday’s game, the Mountaineers are averaging 27.3 points per game from their bench unit, which would be the second-highest bench points per game average in the Kerns era if the season ends today.
bear scouting
Mercer is entering Wednesday’s game with a 3-2 record, and is coming off a blowout win over Eastern Kentucky last Saturday. The Bears come into Wednesday’s game with a 2-0 record on their home field.
Offense has been the Bears’ calling card in the young season, as through five games, they lead the Southern Conference in scoring. The Bears have scored 90 points in all three of their wins this season. Two Bears, Baraka Okojie and Quinton Perkins II, enter Wednesday averaging better than 15 points per game. Both players are in the top 10 in the SoCon in scoring entering Wednesday.
Head coach Ryan Ridder’s team has been one of the best teams in the country in blocking shots, entering Wednesday, they lead the SoCon and are 86th in the country in blocks per game. The Bears also boasted the 78th-highest block rate in the country entering Wednesday at 7.2 percent. The Armani Mighty ranked first in the SoCon and 36th nationally in blocks per game (2.2) entering Wednesday.
History of the series
The Mountaineers and Bears will meet for the fifth time on Wednesday, which will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2015. App State and Mercer’s 2015 meeting took place at the Challenge at the Music City multi-team event in Nashville.
The Mountaineers’ visit to Macon will be their first since February 7, 1972, which was App State’s final season as an NAIA school. Mercer has an undefeated 4–0 record against the Mountaineers.
Kerns never faced Mercer in his coaching career.
next up
Once the action concludes in Macon, the Mountaineers will head to Asheville for a neutral-site showdown with the UNC Asheville Bulldogs on Sunday. Sunday’s contest, which was initially scheduled for last season but was postponed due to Hurricane Helene, will be the second consecutive neutral-site game between UNC Asheville and App State (both teams played at Hickory in 2023). Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. from Harrah’s Cherokee Center, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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