Coastal Carolina vs App State Odds, Lines and Spread (Jan. 13)

• App State is a 2.5-point favorite against Coastal Carolina on Thursday
• Coastal Carolina has lost all three true road games this season
• Read below for analysis and a betting prediction

Appalachian State (8-9, 2-2 Sun Belt) is a 2.5-point home favorite against Coastal Carolina in a Sun Belt game at 6:30 pm Thursday on ESPN3. The Mountaineers are 2-4 straight up and ATS in their last six, which includes step-up-in-class losses to in-state foes Duke and North Carolina.

Coastal Carolina (9-6, 1-2) will play host to the Mountaineers on Saturday when the teams complete the home-and-home series. The Chanticleers scheduled game at South Alabama on Saturday was canceled because of Covid-19 protocols in the South Alabama program.

Coastal Carolina vs Appalachian State Odds

Odds from DraftKings on Jan. 12.

Scheduling Conflicts

Coastal Caroline and Appalachian State have had one common opponent early in Sun Belt play, and each lost at Troy within the last seven days. Troy beat the Chanticleers 69-59 as a 1-point underdog on Jan. 6 and beat the Mountaineers 68-53 as a 2-point favorite two days later.

Appalachian State’s non-conference scheduled included losses to Iona, Duke, North Carolina and Vermont, all ranked in the top 100 in the NCAA Net rankings. The Chanticleers beat the only Power 6 team they have faced, an 80-56 home trouncing of South Carolina as a six-point underdog.

The Mountaineers’ non-conference schedule is rated 35th in Division I in KenPom, and their strength of  strength of schedule sits 78th.

Grudge Rematch

Appalachian State has knocked Coastal Carolina out of the Sun Belt tournament in each of the last two seasons. The Mountaineers  a 64-61 overtime victory in the semifinals in Pensacola, Fla., last year to propel them to a victory over Georgia State in the tournament finals and a trip to their first NCAA tournament since 2000.

Appalachian State beat the Chanticleers 70-65 at home in the second round of the 2020 conference tournament, when each finished in the second division in league play.

App State Comes Back

Senior 6’4 guard Adrian Delph (16.0 points per game) leads a veteran Appalachian State squad that seemingly never has met a halftime deficit it cannot overcome.

The Mountaineers have overcome 17 halftime deficits since he start of the 2019-20 season, the most recoveries NCAA Division I in that span. They have two comeback wins this year, overcoming a five-point halftime deficit to beat East Tennessee State and a six-point deficit to beat Louisiana-Monroe.

Taking care of business on the road!#TakeTheStairs pic.twitter.com/8Glm2cspUu

— App State Basketball (@AppStateMBB) January 7, 2022

Delph is the Mountaineers’ only double-digit scorer, and senior point guard Michael Almonacy (9.5 points, 3.5 assists), junior guard Donovan Gregory (9.4 points, 5.5 rebounds) and senior guard Jason Forrest (8.6 points) are bunched behind him. Forrest was named to the preseason All-Sun Belt team.

Delph had a career-high 39 points and seven three-pointers in a 75-68 loss to preseason Colonial Athletic Association favorite Delaware on Nov. 22. He is averaging 33.7 minutes per game.

Follow Adrian Delph and Appalachian State throughout the season…https://t.co/Pdwg6HdSCC pic.twitter.com/oZ3WeKlAWv

— College Insider Inc. (@collegeinsider) January 12, 2022

Chanticleers’ Big Numbers

Coastal Carolina is at or near the top of the Sun Belt leaderboard in several offensive categories, including points per game (77.1, second), scoring margin (plus-12.4, first) and rebounding margin (plus-8.6, first) and assists-to-turnover ratio (plus-1.2, tied for second). It also leads the league in field goal percentage defense (37.4).

Big man 6’9 Essam Mostafa leads the Chanticleers in scoring (15.9) and rebounding (9.8) and is shooting 53.3 percent from the field. Guars 6’6 Vince Cole (13.5) and 6’3 Rudi Williams (13.4) are double-figure scorers, and guard 6’6 Ebrima Dibba is averaging 7.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and a league-leading 6.5 assists.

Cole had 21 in the loss at Troy the last time out. Mostafa has eight double-doubles, and Dibba leads the Sun Belt with

By the Numbers

Appalachian State is 7-3 straight up and ATS in the series that began when the Chanticleers joined the Sun Belt in 2016-17. The Mountaineers are 4-1 straight up and ATS at home, including the home game in the 2020 conference tournament. Coastal’s only victory in Boone was an 84-77 victory as a 4.5-point underdog on Feb. 29, 2020.

Coastal Carolina is 184th in KenPom adjusted efficiency margin and Appalachian State is 207th, which amounts to a difference of only 1.5 percentage points.

Although Coastal Carolina has the better stats this season, Appy State’s. numbers have been skewed by the degree of difficulty of its schedule. The Mountaineers have a decided edge in the series, and being at home makes a difference.

The pick: App State -2.5 (-110)