This year’s opponent in the Cats’ annual venture to Freedom Hall is the Appalachian State Mountaineers. When most people think about App State they think about last season’s upset victory over Michigan at the Big House and their overall success in the Football Championship Subdivision. They won back-to-back-to-back National Titles from 2005-2007. Under Head Coach Houston Fancher they have found success on the hardwood as well. To be more specific they have found recent success against SEC teams, winning their last two contests against SEC squads on a neutral floor. They defeated Arkansas last season in Little Rock and upended Vanderbilt two years ago in Puerto Rico.

Head Coach Houston Fancher is in his ninth season at the helm and has compiled a 128-121 record at Appalachian State. After experiencing ups and downs during his first six seasons, it looks like the Mountaineers may have finally turned the corner. In the last two years plus they have compiled a 47-24 record, finished first in the Southern Conference North Division in two strait seasons and won a school record 25 games and earned an NIT berth in 2006-07.

This season App State returns three starters, all guards, from last year’s squad. They have started the young season at 4-3, with losses at UNC-Wilmington, at Niagara and against East Tennessee State.

The abundance of returning guard play has allowed the opportunity for Fancher to really open up the Mountaineer offense. They are averaging 80.6 points-per-game this year, which is up from 71.4 last season. The Mountaineers are also averaging 78.8 possessions-per-game, up from 68.7. They are currently tied with Tennessee for the eighth fastest pace of play in the nation.

Two of their returning starters, junior Kellen Brand (6-1, guard) and sophomore Donald Sims (6-1, guard) are leading the Mountaineers in scoring with 12.4 and 12 points-per-game respectively. Brand and Sims’ numbers are very similar and their games are similar as well. Both are small, shoot-first pass-second guards who hover around 36-percent from beyond the arc.

After losing the majority of their frontline from a year ago, Fancher really needed one of his youngsters to step up. Sophomore Isaac Butts (6-10, center) has done just that. After averaging just three points and nine minutes a year ago, Butts now finds himself averaging 11.4 points and 11.4 rebounds-per-game. His 11.4 rebounds-per-game are good for eighth in the nation. He has recorded six double-doubles in seven games and has been extremely productive on the offensive glass, as 38-percent of his rebounds have been of the offensive variety. When he gets the ball on the block he usually scores as he is shooting nearly 63-percent from the field.

The Mountaineer attack is balanced as they have two other players averaging double figures and another just under ten points a game. The last returning starter, senior Eduardo Bermudez (6-3, guard) is averaging 11.3 points and is a tremendous rebounder for his size, with 5.6 per game. Junior Ryann Abraham (5-10, guard) averages 10.4 points and his their best distributor of the basketball with 3.1 assists-per-game.

All of the Appalachian State guards have the ability to knock down shots from deep.

Junior College transfer Josh Hunter (6-6, forward) has been big for the Mountaineers as well, averaging 9.7 points and 8.0 rebounds-per-game.

Houston Fancher will bring a small team who enjoys getting up and down the court into Freedom Hall tomorrow afternoon. Appalachian State is new to the frantic style of play so don’t expect them to give Kentucky the same kind of problems VMI did. Still, it will be interesting to see how the Cats fare against a lesser talented team with an up-tempo style of play. I expect the Mountaineers to often surround Butts with four guards and force Kentucky to contain penetration. Something they have struggled to do at times.

Alright, that’s enough hoops action now to a little more in-depth knowledge of the broads of App State.  Appalachian State is located in Boone, North Carolina and has it’s share of Yumps.  To check out more Appalachian State Yumps…CLICK HERE.