App State Men’s Basketball Team Hits a Road Bump

Image Courtesy Of App State Facebook

Boone’s finest hit the road last Saturday (February 14, 2026) looking to keep their hot streak rolling, but the James Madison Dukes had other plans in Harrisonburg. The Mountaineers, who had been riding high on a seven-game winning run that had fans dreaming big in the Sun Belt, fell 69-58 to JMU at the Atlantic Union Bank Center.

Disappointing Game

It wasn’t the prettiest outing for App State, who started slow and couldn’t quite find their rhythm against a stingy JMU defense. The Dukes held the Mountaineers to just 35.2% shooting from the field and turned up the heat in the second half to pull away. App State led briefly early on but trailed 29-24 at the break and couldn’t mount a real comeback.

Standouts for the Black and Gold included Luke Wilson, who battled hard with 18 points and a whopping 16 rebounds (plus a couple of blocks for good measure), and Alonzo Dodd chipping in 18 points. The team showed fight, but the shots just weren’t falling, and JMU’s Justin McBride (21 points) made sure the home crowd left happy.

Coach Assessment

This was the first loss in eight games for Coach Dustin Kerns’ crew, and while it stings, it doesn’t erase the momentum they’ve built. At 18-10 overall (10-5 in Sun Belt play), App State still sits comfortably near the top of the conference standings. The defense remains stingy, the rebounding ferocious, and the locker room chemistry looks unbreakable.

Lesson to learn

Although this loss drops App State to 18-10 overall (10-5 in Sun Belt play), but every streak has to end sometime, right? The Mountaineers were the league’s hottest team coming in, and one off night doesn’t erase the momentum they’ve built under Coach Dustin Kerns. The squad still sits near the top of the conference standings, and with a tough final homestand looming, there’s plenty of basketball left to make noise.

Next up: The Mountaineers welcome Marshall to the Holmes Center on Thursday, February 19 at 6:30 p.m. Time to shake off the rust, rally the Yosef faithful, and get back to winning ways in Boone.