GAME NOTES: Southern Conference foes at totally opposite ends of the spectrum are set to collide tonight, as the Appalachian State Mountaineers travel to Greenville, South Carolina to challenge the Furman Paladins. ASU is looking for its seventh consecutive victory tonight, as the Mountaineers have won six straight and eight of their last 10 overall. The club's most recent success came in the form of an 88-81 besting of Georgia Southern last Saturday, which improved the Mountaineers' season ledger to 11-6 and their conference record at 6-2. As for Furman, it has lost four of its last five games, although the club did manage to pull out a 74-66 victory over the College of Charleston its last time on the hardwood. The win was just Furman's third of the season, and the Paladins currently sit at 2-7 in SoCon play. Furman leads the all-time series between these two teams by a 42-31 count.

Kellen Brand matched a career-high with 20 points to lead Appalachian State to victory over Georgia Southern last Saturday, a game in which the Mountaineers shot a solid 50.9 percent from the floor and converted 13-of-25 tries from beyond the arc. Donald Sims added 19 points in the win, and Donte Minter scored 16 points to go with 13 rebounds. Jeremy Clayton joined the trio in achieving double digits, tallying 15 points while grabbing six boards. The Mountaineers are led this season by Minter, who averages 12.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Sims checks in as the club's second-leading scorer with 11.9 ppg, and Brand rounds out ASU's trio of double-figure scorers with 11.0 ppg.

The Paladins shot a respectable 46.7 percent from the floor in last Saturday's eight-point victory over the College of Charleston. Alex Opacic poured in a game-high 20 points to go with nine rebounds to lead the Paladins, and Justin Dehm added 12 points of his own. Noah States also hit double digits, tallying 11 points and grabbing six rebounds. Furman won battle down low, besting CofC in the paint by a 40-30 margin, and the Paladins held the Cougars to a mere 29.6 percent shooting effort from beyond the arc. Dehm and Opacic currently lead the team in scoring, netting 11.3 and 10.9 ppg, respectively.

Furman has been nothing short of dreadful this season, and there is no reason to suspect the red-hot Mountaineers won't leave Greenville with a satisfying road victory.