Appalachian State has played well at times as it nears the stretch run of the Southern Conference regular-season race. But the Mountaineers have yet to find a level of consistency that will be essential for them to emerge as front-runners in the closely contested North Division.
The Mountaineers have yet to win back-to-back SoCon games this season.
In fact, they have won successive games just once — Nov. 26 against nonleague opponent Milligan and Dec. 1 against UNC Greensboro.
Another chance at two in a row will come today. Appalachian, coming off a victory Saturday against Elon, will play Samford at 7 p.m. in Boone.
"We have an opportunity," coach Jason Capel said.
"That's the plan," said forward Jamaal Trice, who scored 20 points against Elon. "We've really got to start doing that, stringing some wins together."
The Mountaineers (9-11, 5-5) trail UNCG by one game and Elon by a half-game in the North.
ASU beat Samford 68-63 on the road last month, but Samford has been one of the hottest teams in the SoCon recently.
The Bulldogs, a game behind ASU in the North, were cooled Monday in a 68-52 loss to College of Charleston. But they got their biggest win of the season Saturday, handing Davidson its first league loss, 77-74. It was Samford's fourth win in five games.
The Mountaineers have had no such streaks this season.
"We're talking eight (conference) games left in the regular season," Capel said. "I'm OK with where we are because we're in striking distance of everybody … and hopefully we're getting there at the right time, but we have to have attention to detail every day and a committed effort to what we're doing."
Appalachian will play twice at home in three days. The Mountaineers will face College of Charleston at 2 p.m. Saturday.
"With the North Division the way it is right now, it's very important" to win back-to-back games, said senior Omar Carter, who has averaged 19.7 points in the past three games while coming off the bench. "There's no better place to do it than at home. I believe if we get these two wins we'll be in first place."
Capel likes his team. He would just like to see it be consistent.
"I feel we're as good as anyone in the league," Capel said. "I think there are some teams that at times are locked in mentally more than we are. It's nothing physical with us. We have to mentally be locked in to execute, do the tough things, to know what our assignment is, to remember the scouting report. That's when we have our breakdowns. It's nothing the opposition does. It's what we do."
Capel also liked his team's performance Saturday against Elon, which followed an overtime loss at UNCG last Thursday.
"I'd love to get to the point where we're not having to suffer a loss to come back with energy and passion," Capel said.
"I don't want it to continue to take losses to wake us up and get us ready to play. We have a chance with the next two games at home not to do that. Hopefully we'll take full advantage and we'll gain some confidence and some momentum now."
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