CHARLOTTE – App State made the reasonably short drive
to Charlotte Wednesday having won five of its seven games against Division 1 opponents.
In those games, the Mountaineers had broken 80 points just once, scoring
86 in a victory over UNC Wilmington earlier this season.
Therefore, it might be forgivable to look at the number
under “APP STATE” on the scoreboard when the final horn sounded Wednesday and
feel a bit confused.
One Charlotte-area native turned in a career high while
another narrowly missed one for the Mountaineers. App State shot a blistering
55.7 percent from the floor and scored a season-high – by far – 93 points in a
93-81 victory over Queens before an announced crowd of 1,534 in Curry Arena
Wednesday night.
“A lot of it was just the pace of the game,” App State coach
Dustin Kerns said after the game. “Queens plays top-50 in pace. You’ve got to
outscore them. They’re really hard to stop. We ended up outscoring them.”
App State (8-2) roared out to a 17-2 start, hitting six of
its first eight tries in a run that saw Queens miss its first nine. Queens
(6-6) gradually sawed away at the deficit, employing an 18-6 response that drew
the Royals within three at the 10-minute mark. Kobe George then put home a
layup with 7:49 left in the first half to level the proceedings at 25. The
Mountaineers again countered, though, ripping off another 15-2 burst that put
the visitors ahead, 40-27, with under three minutes to play in the period.
After taking a 45-38 advantage to the interval, the
Mountaineers had their lead cut to four on a Bryce Cash dunk and a B.J.
McLaurin triple on consecutive possessions. Much as it did all night, however, App
State fired back with a big run. The Mountaineers ripped off a 14-2 burst that
pushed the lead back to 16.
“They’ve got a really good program. They’re very well-coached,” Kerns said. “They’ve got a unique style that’s difficult to play against. I think they’re really good. We knew that if we punched early, they were going to punch back. They certainly did. It was just going back and forth. We surged at the end.”
Queens often found its punches throttled by whistles. The
second half proved choppy due to a number of stoppages that occasionally slowed
things for both teams.
“I thought it was inconsistently officiated,” Queens coach Grant Leonard said. “I’m
not really sure what they talked about at halftime, but I didn’t think they
were on the same page as a group.”
App State maintained a double-digit lead for much of the
second half before another sprint from the Royals made the proceedings a bit
more precarious. Each time, though, a Mountaineer triple kneecapped the home
side.
AJ McKee put home a layup with 5:40 remaining to trim the
deficit to nine. Nine seconds later, Terence Harcum canned a three. After a
McKee free throw that again cut it to nine with 4:26 remaining, Myles Tate
ripped a triple to increase the distance to 12 points. One final charge by
Queens came on a McKee trey and a Deyton Albury bucket that deflated the
Mountaineer margin to seven. Harcum then landed what would prove to be the
final strike with 2:19, though, hitting from distance to again stretch the
difference to 10.
The threes proved a stark contrast to App State’s dominance
in the paint. The Mountaineers scored 46 of their 93 points in the paint and
dominated Queens by a 20-4 spread in second-chance scoring.
“We knew that they were going to be good in the paint,” Leonard said. “We were trying to not only keep their guards out of the paint, we were trying to pull on the back side and have a lot of back-side help. I don’t think we defensively executed exactly what we wanted, and you can tell by the box score. Anytime a team shoots 56 percent, I don’t think you’re doing your job. We’ve got to do a better job collectively as a unit protecting our paint and protecting the rim.”
“I thought we did a pretty good job of getting paint
touches,” Kerns said. “We didn’t settle. Our guards did a good job of probing
and getting down there and finding some of our bigs on some dump-offs and
getting to the free throw line. I thought we did a good job of not settling.”
CJ Huntley tallied a career-high 22 to share top honors for
the Mountaineers. Huntley, from nearby Davidson, was 7-for-11 from the floor
and 7-for-7 from the line. Gregory, who was also playing in front of his
hometown crowd, equaled Huntley with 22, hitting 9-of-10 from the deck and both
of his tries from the line.
“It’s somebody different every night,” Kerns said. “Tonight, it was CJ Huntley. There was some pride in this game. It was important. There was some personal pride in this game, playing in front of their families.”
Tre’Von Spillers added 16 for the Mountaineers. App State
shot 34-for-61 (55.7 percent) from the floor and hit 16-of-18 (88.9 percent)
from the charity stripe.
Queens placed three scorers in double figures, led by Albury’s
25. Albury was 10-of-15 from the floor and 2-of-3 from distance, while hitting
all three of his free throw tries.
“I thought (Deyton) did well,” Leonard said. “We knew they
were going to allow him to get in the paint and that he was going to have to
make good decisions. (He had) six turnovers, though, and I thought he was a
little loose with the ball.
“He finished at the rim well. He shot free throws well. I’ve
been telling him that he’s got to shoot threes for a while. I’m glad he finally
got some off.”
McKee and McLaurin combined for 37 points for the Royals. McKee
registered 19 on 6-of-15 shooting and 4-of-6 from the line. McLaurin added 18
on 6-for-13 from the floor and 4-for-8 from three. The Royals shot 50.9 percent
(28-for-55) from the field and 42.3 percent (11-for-26) from deep while hitting
87.5 percent (14-for-16) from the line.
App State returns to action Saturday, taking on Gardner-Webb
in a neutral-site affair in the Novant Health Fieldhouse in Greensboro, N.C. No
video stream will be available for the contest. Queens returns to play next
Tuesday as it treks to Macon, Ga., to face Mercer. Game time in Hawkins Arena
is set for 7:00 (Eastern) with streaming over ESPN+.
APP STATE 93, QUEENS 81
APP STATE (8-2)
Brown 1-2 0-0 2, Gregory 9-10 2-2 22, Abson 2-4 3-4 8,
Harcum 3-8 0-0 9, Spillers 8-10 0-0 16, Mantis 2-5 0-0 5, Marsh 1-4 2-2 4, Tate
1-7 2-3 5, Huntley 7-11 7-7 22. Totals 34-61 16-18 93.
QUEENS (6-6)
McKee 6-15 4-6 19, McLaurin 6-13 2-2 18, Cash 3-4 0-0 6,
Ashby 1-4 3-3 6, Albury 10-15 3-3 25, George 1-1 0-0 2, Sebock 0-1 0-0 0,
Mathews 1-1 2-2 5, Pollard 0-1 0-0 0, Wilson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-55 14-16 81.
Halftime: App State
45-38. 3-Point goals: Queens 11-26
(McKee 3-9, McLaurin 4-8, Cash 0-1, Ashby 1-3, Albury 2-3, Mathews 1-1, Pollard
0-1), App State 9-24 (Gregory 2-2, Abson 1-1, Harcum 3-7, Mantis 1-3, Tate 1-6,
Huntley 1-5). Fouled out: None.
Rebounds: App State 31 (Spillers 10),
Queens 23 (McKee/Albury 5). Assists: App
State 19 (Gregory/Tate 5), Queens 13 (Albury 4). Total fouls: Queens 18, App State 16. Technicals: NA.
Points off turnovers:
App State 15, Queens 4. Points in
the paint: App State 46, Queens 34. Second-chance points: App State 20, Queens 4. Fast-break points: Queens 14, App State 6. Bench points:
App State 36, Queens 7.
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