Appalachian State misses buzzer-beater, loses to Norfolk State in NCAA tournament
Thursday, on the opening night of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, Appalachian State nearly pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in school history.
But that made a 54-53 loss to Norfolk State hurt a little bit more.
“These are the big games that we want to win,” Mountaineers guard Justin Forrest said, “and we wish we could win, but we just wanted the outcome to be different.
“It’s tough, man.”
Mountaineers basketball coach Dustin Kerns watched Forrest and his teammates rally from a 19-point second-half deficit. Appalachian State dug its hole by shooting 6-of-31 in the first half, including 0-for-18 from 3-point range.
But in the second half, the Mountaineers shook off what Kerns felt were nerves and shook off the tough defense Norfolk State had been playing. App State used a 16-0 run to get back into the game, and at the end, the Mountaineers had two shots to win it.
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After Norfolk State’s Devante Carter made two free throws with 8.6 seconds left, Appalachian State rushed the ball to half court and called timeout with just under five seconds left.
Next, Kerns said he thought that Michael Almonacy’s corner 3 was going in with three seconds to play. And then, after an App State offensive rebound, Forrest, the star of the team, had a 2-point attempt at the buzzer.
Neither fell, and, just like like that, the Mountaineers were out of the NCAA Tournament just 10 days after making history.
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There were not too many people who thought Appalachian State would’ve been playing Thursday when the Mountaineers lost six of their last seven regular-season games. But they caught fire in their conference tournament.
App State produced its first four-game league win streak in six years to win the Sun Belt championship.
That win over Georgia State, back on March 8, earned the Mountaineers their first NCAA bid in 21 years. And they had two really good shots Thursday, after a really great comeback, to make even more history:
Appalachian has never won an NCAA Tournament game, not in 1979, or 2000 or this year.
“I told our team don’t be sad it’s over,” Kerns said. “Be glad it happened. We’ve got a lot to be proud of. We’re hanging the first Sun Belt banner in our arena, and there’s a lot of banners up there. And so this team has a lot to be celebrated for. But there’s emotions, right? This is emotional, and when it comes to a screeching halt there, abruptly, especially with an opportunity to win it, that’s difficult.
“I just told them that at some point we’ll get through it and instead of being sad, be glad it happened.”
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AND ONE
Forest finished with 18 points to lead Appalachian. Adrian Delph and Donovan Gregory had nine points each. Norfolk State’s Jalen Hawkins scored 20 of his game-high 24 points in the first half.
Appalachian State (17-12) held Norfolk’s leading scorer, Devante Carter, to four points. Carter and Norfolk State (17-7) will play overall No. 1 seed Gonzaga Saturday.
PERSONAL FOUL
▪ Appalachian State shot 16.7 percent from 3 for the game (6-of-36) and just 25.8 percent overall (16-of-62), but did out rebound Norfolk State 46-35.
▪ Appalachian missed its final 10 field goal attempts.
ICYMI
▪ Appalachian forward RJ Duhart didn’t score, but had a career-high 11 rebounds.
▪ Forrest, a senior, now ranks No. 15 all-time in Sun Belt conference history in scoring. He said after the game that he didn’t know if we could come back next season after the NCAA granted all players an additional year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
▪ Norfolk State earned its first tournament win since upsetting Missouri in the first round in 2012.
MAKING SENSE OF THE NUMBERS
1979: Appalachian State made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1979 at Assembly Hall on the campus of Indiana. Bobby Cremins was the Mountaineers coach then. Cremins was back in the same building for Thursday’s game.
5-of-20: Appalachian State made five of its first 20 shots and were 0-of-10 from 3-point range in the first 12-plus minutes. Norfolk State got an early 22-15 lead.
15-0: Norfolk State went on a 15-0 run in the first half when Appalachian State didn’t score for more than seven minutes.
16-0: Appalachian State had a 16-0 second half run, when Norfolk State didn’t score for four minutes.
Thursday’s Live Feed
We tracked the game live. Here were the updates
APP TAKES THE LEAD
With 7:41 to play, Justin Forrest made a 3 to give the Mountaineers a 46-45 lead with 7:30 to play. App State hadn’t led since 3-2 in the first half.
App trailed by 18 just 12 minutes earlier.
Norfolk State hasn’t scored since Jalen Hawkins made a layup with 11:30 to play to give his team a 45-35 lead.
HERE COMES APP!
The Mountaineers have begun to hit some 3-point shots and have trimmed the lead to 45-35 with 11:27 left.
Justin Forrest’s 3 with less than 12 minutes left cut the lead to 8 before Kashaun Hicks made a layup for Norfolk State.
The Mountaineers trailed by 19 in the first half and 18 in the second.
APP FINALLY MAKES A 3
After missing 19 straight 3s to start the game, the Mountaineers made one with just over 16 minutes left in the second half. Michael Eads scored for Appalachian State. Unfortunately, just 23 second later, Kashaun Hicks made one for Norfolk State, which leads 41-25 with 15:55 to play.
HALFTIME: NORFOLK STATE UP 16
Norfolk State took a 36-20 lead at halftime as App State simply couldn’t score.
The Spartans used a 15-0 run to stretch out their lead as the Mountaineers went more than seven minutes without a basket.
In the first half, App State shot 6-for-31, including 0-for-18 from 3-point range. The Mountaineers had more turnovers (nine) than field goals.
Norfolk State was out-rebounded 26-18 but made 5-of-10 3-point shots, and Jalen Hawkins came off the bench to score 20 points in the first half, making 6-of-7 shots.
MOUNTAINEERS FINALLY END LONG DROUGHT
App State didn’t score for a long time. Justin Forrest made a layup to pull the Mountaineers to within 19-15 with 9:51 to play. App didn’t score again until Donovan Gregory hit a floater with 2:12 left. That ended a 15-0 run. Norfolk State led 34-18.
NORFOLK STATE BUILDS LEAD
With Appalachian State really struggling to score, Norfolk State pushed the lead lead to 27-15 with 6:23 left in the first half.
The Mountaineers are 0-for-11 from 3-point range and just 5-for-21 from the field. Norfolk has switched to a 2-3 zone to invite App State to take more jump shots and the Mountaineers are obliging them.
NORFOLK’S JALEN HAWKINS GETS HOT
With 11:13 left in the first half, Norfolk State has stretched its lead to 19-11. Norfolk State’s Jalen Hawkins is 3-for-3 from the field, all 3-point attempts, and has 10 points.
App State is 4-for-14 as a team with as many turnovers as made field goals.
APP STATE STARTS COLD
The Mountaineers made just 1-of-6 shots to start Thursday’s game. Norfolk State was 3-for-10, struggling to finish around the rim against the athletic Mountaineers.
Norfolk State leads 7-3 with 15:42 left in the first half.
PREGAME NOTES
▪ Time: 8:40 p.m. Thursday
▪ Channel: TruTV (Stream on NCAA March Madness Live)
▪ Location: Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana
App State-Norfolk State betting odds
App State opened as a 2-point favorite and the line has moved slightly to minus-3 as of Wednesday afternoon, with the over/under at 133.5.
“If you’re looking for a first four upset, Norfolk State could be it. Every measurable statistic says they should be the favorite, but oddsmakers disagree,” said Kyle Newman of Oddschecker.com. “App State seems to be a favorite on name brand only. Could they win this game? Absolutely given the unpredictability of two low-tier teams playing each other. That said, Norfolk should be the favorite here and they’re the underdog. This should be an easy bet.”
App State-Norfolk State NCAA tournament matchup
App State Key Players: Adrian Delph (13.2 ppg, 4.5 ppg), Justin Forrest (13.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg), Michael Almonacy (12.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg), Donovan Gregory (10.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg).
Norfolk State Key Players: Devante Carter (15.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg), Joe Bryant (11.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg)
App State notable: The Mountaineers lost six of their last seven games before the Sun Belt Tournament, where they caught fire and won four games in four days, sparked by tournament MVP Almonacy, who averaged 21.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and made 20 3-point shots during the run.
Norfolk State notable: The Spartans limit opponents to 40.4 percent shooting, 29th best in the nation. They force 15.1 turnovers per game, which ranks 38th. ... Norfolk beat N.C. Central and Morgan State to win the MEAC Tournament title and have won six straight games. The Spartans were aided in the MEAC tournament by conference favorite N.C. A&T having to drop out due to COVID-19 issues. ... Norfolk State, which averages 75.2 points per game, gets nearly 30 per game from its bench and has used 10 different starting lineups.
Quick Hits:
▪ This is the first meeting between the two schools.
▪ App State is in the tournament for the third time in school history and the first time in 21 years. App State has never won a tournament game.
▪ Norfolk State is in for the second time in school history and first time since 2012, when the No. 15-seeded Spartans shocked No. 2 seed Missouri 86-84.
▪ Eight Mountaineers are N.C. natives: Donovan Gregory (Charlotte/Carmel Christian); Andy Muse (Winston-Salem/Mount Tabor); Bryant Greene (Boone/Watauga); CJ Huntley (Huntersville/Davidson Day); Adrian Delph (Gastonia/Kings Mountain); RJ Wilson (Raleigh/Leesville Road); James Lewis (Mount Holly/Northside Christian); and Jamie Baker (Concord/Northwest Cabarrus)
Up Next: The winner faces No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga on Saturday
This story was originally published March 18, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
