ETSU’s Big Three

too much for ASU
By Steve Behr
 
East Tennessee State’s “Big Three” was too much for Appalachian State’s 13.

East Tennessee State got 78 points from three players — Courtney Pigram, Kevin Tiggs and Mike Smith — and buried the Mountaineers 89-70 in front of 2,520 at the Holmes Center Saturday night.

Tiggs did the most damage, scoring 31 points, including 10-of-11 from the free throw line. Tiggs also rattled in four dunks, three of them in traffic.

Pigram, the Buccaneers’ point guard, added 29 points, and Smith scored 18. No other East Tennessee State player scored more than four points the entire game. It was more than enough to snap the Mountaineers’ three-game winning streak.

“I thought all three of those guys played really, really well, especially Pigram and Tiggs,” Mountaineers coach Houston Fancher said. “I thought they were sensational.”

Appalachian State’s Ike Butts scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds, giving him his sixth double-double in seven games. Butts also blocked five shots in 33 minutes of work. Ryann Abraham scored a team-high 15 points and Eduardo Bermudez added 10 points.

But it was no match, particularly in the second half, for the offensive firepower the Buccaneers displayed. Appalachian State led 37-35 at halftime, but East Tennessee State scored the first seven points, and used that as its basis for a 15-5 run to take a 50-42 lead with 16:09 left in the game.

Appalachian State eventually pulled to within 58-53 with under 11 minutes left, but East Tennessee stormed back, with the help of two Tiggs 3-pointers, and went on a 12-0 run, taking a 70-52 lead that would not be threatened. The Buccaneers eventually took a 22-point lead (89-67) before Marcus Wright hit a 3-point jumper late in the game.

“We’ve got some good players and those good players rose to the occasion,” East Tennessee State coach Murry Bartow said. “These two players here (Pigram and Tiggs) are two of the best players in our league and they stepped up and made plays.”

East Tennessee State shot just 33.3 percent from the field in the first half, but hit 18-of-32 shots (56.3 percent) in the second. The Bucs also scored 29 points off 21 Appalachian State turnovers, and made 23-of-26 free throws off 21 Appalachian State fouls.

The Mountaineers were just 11-of-17 from the foul line and converted seven points off 11 East Tennessee State turnovers. Appalachian State hit 44.1 percent from the field for the game, but just 38.7 percent in the second half.

“The absolute difference in the game was points off turnovers,” Fancher said “It was 29-7 points off turnovers. There’s a 22-point difference there and we lost by 19. ...East Tennessee was just much tougher than we were tonight.”

Appalachian State takes another week off before playing Kentucky in Louisville, Ky. this Saturday.

East Tennessee State 89, ASU 70
East Tennessee State (6-3)
Hamlin 2-3 0-0 4, Brown 1-2 1-1 3, Smith 4-12 9-10 18, Pigram 12-22 1-2 29, Tiggs 9-18 10-11 31, Hubbard 1-3 0-0 2, Sollazzo 0-1 2-2 2, Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 29-65 23-26 89.
Appalachian State (4-3)
Hunter 0-3 1-2 1, Butts 6-13 1-1 13, Abraham 6-10 0-0 15, Bermudez 5-6 0-0 10, Brand 1-3 3-4 5, Sims 0-9 5-6 5, Booth 2-4 1-2 7, Wright 3-3 0-2 8, Webb 3-5 0-0 6, Dowdell 0-0 0-0 0, Hughes 0-2 0-0 0, Archer 0-0 0-0 0, Highsmith 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 11-17 70.
Halftime score—ASU 37, ETSU 35. 3-point goals—ETSU 8-24 (Pigram 4-8, Tiggs 3-8, Smith 1-6, Jones 0-1, Williams 0-1), ASU 7-20 (Abraham 3-6, Booth 2-4, Brand 0-1, Webb 0-2). Rebounds—ETSU 35 (Smith 8), ASU 41 (Butts 15). Assists—ETSU 9 (Smith 3), ASU 13 (Sims 4). Turnovers—ETSU 11, ASU 21. Total fouls—ETSU 19, ASU 21. Fouled out—ASU, Abraham. Technical fouls—ASU, team. A—2,520.