ASU begins busy week with ’Cats
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

The good news for Appalachian State’s men’s basketball team is that it finally gets to play a home game. The bad news is that they play a rough two-game schedule this week.

Appalachian State faces two of its biggest tests at the Holmes Center this week, beginning Monday against Davidson and then Thursday against Wichita State. The Mountaineers (3-2) have played five games away from home and look forward to playing in front of their home crowd.

“Obviously we’re going to need a good crowd of support there and the kids are going to have to come out and try to press the ball as soon as we can to try to play this team,” Mountaineers coach Houston Fancher said.

Davidson (2-2) cracked the Associated Press top 25 last week before losing to Western Michigan. However, the Wildcats recovered to beat North Carolina Central 98-50 last Saturday.

They go into Monday’s game looking to avenge last year’s 81-74 loss to the Mountaineers (3-2), the Wildcats’ lone Southern Conference setback last season. The Wildcats average 90.5 points per game and their only other loss was to No. 1 North Carolina 72-68 in Charlotte.

“They’re a top 25 team,” Fancher said. “They’re extremely talented, they’re very well-coached and they’re very dynamic in what they do offensively. They put points on the board and they’re a very physical team on the defensive end.”

Davidson returned its entire roster from last year, including shooting guard Stephen Curry, the son of former Charlotte Hornets sharpshooter Del Curry. Stephen Curry leads the Wildcats in scoring with 23 points per game, but has also been hampered by an injury to his non-shooting wrist.

The Wildcats also get 13.5 points per game from point guard Jason Richards and 9.5 from forward Thomas Sander.

Offensively, Davidson has turned the ball over just 48 times in four games, an average of 12 per outing. Defensively, they’ve forced 84 turnovers, an average of 21 per game.

That’s bad news for the Mountaineers, who average 18.6 turnovers per game, while opponents have converted an average of 16.4 points per contest off Appalachian State turnovers.

They made 21 turnovers in a win over Campbell last Wednesday.

“They don’t make a lot of mistakes,” Fancher said. “They’re a team, obviously moreso than anybody we’ve played up to this point, that if you turn over the basketball, they take advantage of you. They don’t lose possessions very often, so you have to be on top of your game against a team like Davidson.”

The Mountaineers have used the outside shooting of leading scorer Kellen Brand (15.2) and Ryann Abraham, who scored 14 against Campbell.

Inside, Donte Minter averages 11.4 points per game, while Jeremy Clayton chips in 8.2.

Brand would have liked one more dress rehearsal on the road before hosting Davidson, but feels the Mountaineers are ready.

“It obviously helps us because it’s tough to play on the road and the tougher it is to play, we have to come together as a team,” Brand said. “We finally get to go back home. I actually wish we had another road game so we could play in another atmosphere, but I think we’re going to be all right for Monday.”

Fancher said that the Mountaineers are not where he wants them to be, but it’s still early. Wins against Davidson and Wichita State would give the Mountaineers a big boost heading into the Mountaineers’ road game at Georgia Southern, which is Saturday.

The Mountaineers beat Wichita State 60-58 last year in the BracketBusters game in Wichita, Kan. The Shockers, who are no stranger to the NCAA Tournament, have a new coach in former Winthrop boss Greg Marshall and are 3-2, having beaten Illinois-Chicago and Wyoming and in their last two games.