NEW ORLEANS – App State is the fifth different team to represent the Sun Belt Conference in the last seven NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournaments. The Mountaineers are making their third appearance in the NCAA Tournament in program history and first in 21 years. They previously participated in the 1979 and 2000 NCAA Tournaments before joining the Sun Belt.
(No. 16) App State (17-11) vs. (No. 16) Norfolk State (16-7)

• Thursday, March 18
• 7:40 p.m. CT / 8:40 p.m. ET on truTV
• Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.

 
App State Team Notes

• The Mountaineers and Norfolk State are meeting for the first time ever.
• The winner will face No. 1 seed Gonzaga in the First Round on Saturday, March 20.
• App State is 13^th in the NCAA in total steals (225), 22^nd in free throws made (411), and 24^th in free throws attempted (558). The 225 total steals rank first in the Sun Belt.
• The Mountaineers held opponents to 64.5 points per game ranking second in the conference.
• Adrian Delph leads the team in scoring (13.2 ppg) and leads his team in field goals made (130).
• Michael Almonacy leads the team with 82 assists and is third on the team averaging 12.9 points per game.
• Donovan Gregory leads the team with 6.0 rebounds per game.
• App State, along with Georgia Southern, joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2014-15.

 
2021 Sun Belt Conference Tournament
App State won four games in four days to claim its first Sun Belt Championship this season defeating two-time defending champion Georgia State, 80-73, in the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Championship at the Pensacola Bay Center on March 8. It was the fourth time the teams had played this season with the Mountaineers winning three times. The Mountaineers also claimed an overtime upset of No. 1 seed Texas State, 76-73, in the Sun Belt quarterfinals.

• App State’s Michael Almonacy was named the Sun Belt’s Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament.  Almonacy made a tournament record 20 three-pointers. In the SBC Championship game, he finished with a game-high 32 points.
• Justin Forest was named to the Sun Belt’s All-Tournament team. During the SBC Tournament, he averaged 20 points through four games. Forest tallied a team-high 28 points during the quarterfinals to guide the Mountaineers to a 76-73 overtime win over Texas State.  He is second on the team in scoring (13.0 ppg).

 
2021 Sun Belt Championship Information

Sun Belt NCAA Tournament History

• App State will play this year’s NCAA First Four game at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana, the site of the Sun Belt Conference’s first NCAA Tournament appearance by Charlotte in 1977. Charlotte defeated Central Michigan, 91-86, in overtime.
• This is the 57th official appearance in the NCAA Tournament by a Sun Belt Conference member since 1977.
• Seven of the 12 current members have played in an NCAA Tournament, including five in the last seven tournaments.
• A Sun Belt Conference team has played a No. 1 seed seven times. WKU played a No. 1 seed five times: Kansas (2013, 1995), Kentucky (2012, 1986) and UCLA (2008). No. 8 Old Dominion faced No. 1 Duke in 1986, and No. 4 UAB met No. 1 Virginia in 1982.
• In 1982, a No. 4 seed UAB defeated No. 1 Virginia in the NCAA Mideast Region Semifinal, the Sun Belt Conference’s only NCAA Tournament win over a No. 1 seed.
• Since 1982, the highest seed defeated by a Sun Belt Conference team was No. 2 seed Seaton Hall by No. 7 WKU, 72-68, in the Southeast Region Second Round.
• The highest seed defeated by a current Sun Belt member was No. 3 Baylor by No. 14 Georgia State, 57-56, in the 2015 West Region First Round. R.J. Hunter hit a deep 3-pointer to give the Panthers the win with under five seconds to play.
• No. 12 seed Little Rock was the last team to advance to the Second Round in 2016 with an 85-83 win over No. 5 seed Purdue.
• The deepest a Sun Belt member has gone in the NCAA Tournament was during the 1977 tournament when former member Charlotte lost in the Final Four, National Third-Place Game to UNLV.
• Since the 1977 tournament, the deepest run for an SBC team was in 1993 when No. 7 seed Western Kentucky fell in overtime to No. 3 seed Florida in the Southeast Regional Semifinal, 81-78.
• The Sun Belt Conference’s highest seed in a tournament was No. 2 VCU in 1985.

2020-21 Sun Belt Regular Season Stats

Sun Belt National Postseason History
 
2021 Sun Belt Conference Championship Awards

Most Outstanding Player
Michael Almonacy, APP STATE
 
All-Tournament Team
Justin Forrest, APP STATE
Norchad Omier, ARKANSAS STATE
Mylik Wilson, LOUISIANA
Michael Flowers, SOUTH ALABAMA
Eliel Nsoseme, GEORGIA STATE
 
 
2020-21 Player of the Week Honors

Week 1 – Justin Roberts, Georgia State
Week 2 – Markquis Nowell, Little Rock
Week 3 – Adrian Delph, App State
Week 4 – DeVante' Jones, Coastal Carolina
Week 5 – Corey Allen, Georgia State
Week 6 – Ben Coupet Jr., Little Rock
Week 7 – Rout Monyyong., Little Rock
Week 8 – Caleb Asberry, Texas State
Week 9 – DeVante' Jones, Coastal Carolina
Week 10 – Cedric Russell, Louisiana
Week 11 – Marquis Eaton, Arkansas State
Week 12 – Marquis Eaton, Arkansas State
Week 13 – Jalen Thomas, Georgia State
Week 14 – Essam Mostafa, Coastal Carolina