ARMY PREVIEW
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army's much anticipated matchup with Navy happens this Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
It will be part of a doubleheader with the women, who begin their contest against the Mids at 11 a.m. Both games will be played in Christl Arena and will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network with Jason Knapp handling the play-by-play, and Mo Cassara and Reggie Miller serving as analysts.
The Black Knights are coming off a tough 85-76 loss to Holy Cross on Wednesday in which the Crusaders rallied from 17-points down in the second half to steal the victory. The Black Knights have now dropped seven of their last 10 games by an average of 7.3 points. The Cadets currently sit with an overall mark of 8-11 to go along with their 2-5 record in Patriot League play.
Navy has strung together four straight and have won six of its last 10 outings. Despite a four-game losing skid during that time, the Mids currently sit with a 4-3 mark in conference action and a 9-10 overall record. Over the last four games, Navy has outscored its opponents 305-240, and are winning by an averaging of 16.3 points per game.
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV • CBS Sports Network
RADIO • Army West Point Sports Network
WBNR (1260 AM, Beacon, N.Y.)
WLNA (1420 AM, Peekskill, N.Y.)
AUDIO • Knight Vision
LIVE STATISTICS • www.GoArmyWestPoint.com
TICKETS • www.GoArmyWestPoint.com
TWITTER • @ArmyWP_MBB
GAME NOTES • Army | Navy
ABOUT THE MIDSHIPMEN
Three Mids reached double digits during their last outing against Lehigh to spark Navy's four-straight victory. Sophomore George Kiernan recorded a game-high 18 points and six rebounds to lead the Mids. Hasan Abdullah and Shawn Anderson chipped in 14 and 11 points each, respectively. Abdullah added a game-high seven assists, while Edward Alade, Evan Wieck and Kiernan notched one block apiece. Navy shot 54 percent from the floor and 47.8 percent from long range during the game.
Leading the team overall is Anderson, who is averaging 11.4 points per contest. Kiernan is posting 9.4 points per outing, while Tom Lacey is averaging 8.0 points. Lacey leads the Mids and is fourth in the conference with 7.0 rebounds per game, while Abdullah is second in the league with 2.1 steals per contest.
LAST TIME OUT
Army dropped a tough 85-76 decision on Wednesday night to Holy Cross. The Black Knights held a 45-35 edge at the break but saw their visitor outscore them 50-31 in the second period to steal the win. Holy Cross' 50 points in the second frame was a season high for the Crusaders in any half this season. It was also tied for the most points allowed by the Cadets in a half as they gave up 50 points to Air Force on Dec. 7 as well.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Jacob Kessler and Jordan Fox handed Army its largest lead of the game, 56-39, with 16:56 remaining. Unfortunately, the Crusaders used an 11-0 run to pull within 56-50 over the next three minutes. The Black Knights again pushed their edge to 60-50 with 13 minutes to play, but another big 26-10 rally for Holy Cross over a 10-minute span handed the visitors their first lead of the game at 76-70. Army was never able to recover in the final three-and-a-half minutes of action.
Senior Mac Hoffman posted a career-best 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the floor. He added 2-of-4 makes at the free throw line and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Also reaching double digits was Luke Morrison (14 points), Fox (11 points) and Kessler (10 points). Rookie Tommy Funk handed out a career-high 12 assists, while Fox was two shy of matching his career best with eight helpers.
Sophomore George Kiernan scored a career-high 18 points with six rebounds as Navy rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to defeat Lehigh, 75-72, on Wednesday evening. Kiernan scored eight points and junior guard Shawn Anderson scored six during a critical 21-3 run that lasted nine minutes and turned a nine-point Navy deficit (58-49) to a nine-point Mids advantage (70-61). Anderson scored the go-ahead layup at the 4:47 mark to give Navy a 60-59 lead. Lehigh rallied late in the game to cut Navy's margin to two points at 74-72 with 11 seconds to play, but Bryce Dulin made one of two free throws with 10 seconds left to put the Mids ahead by three. Freshman center Evan Wieck blocked Austin Price's potential game-tying 3-pointer with four seconds left, and then Price missed another 3-pointer before Anderson grabbed the defensive rebound as time expired.
The game was very even in the first eight minutes with Lehigh leading, 16-14 before Navy reeled off a 9-0 run. Sophomore Ryan Pearson drilled a 3-pointer during the stretch and Wieck made back-to-back layups. Senior guard Tim Abruzzo sandwiched two 3-pointers around an Abdullah trey to give Navy a 10-point lead at 32-22 with four minutes to play in the first half. However, Lehigh would close the first half on an 11-1 run with a Kempton 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game to halftime tied at 32-32. Lehigh would push its lead to 11 points on a dunk by Pat Andree at 54-43 with 12:42 to play, before Navy senior James Hemphill scored two buckets inside as the tide turned in Navy's favor ahead of its key 21-3 run.
STARTING FIVE
Of Army's starting five, three are averaging a .450 field goal percentage or higher with Mac Hoffman's .542 leading the way. Four of the five are also averaging more than 3.6 rebounds, while two are handing out 4.3 assists per game.
A WIN OVER NAVY WOULD...
Hand Army its ninth win of the season and earn the Black Knights their second-straight victory over the Mids and fourth in the last 10 meetings. It would also hand the Cadets their third win of the Patriot League season, pulling them to 3-5.
ARMY VS. PATRIOT LEAGUE TEAMS
The Black Knights are 265-380 all-time against current members of the Patriot League. Of the nine other schools in the league, Army has faced Navy (125 times), Colgate (120 times) and Lehigh (105 times) the most. Army leads three series against Patriot League schools in Colgate (61-59), Lehigh (63-42), and Loyola (5-3). The Cadets have also competed against American (11-26), Boston University (8-14), Bucknell (21-52), Holy Cross (21-63), Lafayette (27-44) and Navy (48-77).
EFFICIENCY IS KEY
Strong shooting and the ability to spread the ball around are both keys to Army's success. The Black Knights' 1.2 assist-to-turnover ratio is second in the Patriot League, while their 16.5 assists per game and 43.3 field goal percentage rank first and fourth, respectively. With no one truly dominating the ball offensively, it is helping to create open looks for shooters on the outside where the Cadets are first in the conference with 9.6 made 3-pointers per game. That mark also has them tied for 21st in the NCAA.
SOPHOMORE SWAG
Jordan Fox has emerged as a leader for the Black Knights. He currently leads Army and is 14th in the Patriot League averaging 12.7 points per game. What's more impressive though is how he's scoring. The sophomore has converted on 86 of his 188 attempts from the floor. That's good enough for .457 percent shooting. Things don't stop there as Fox is among the leaders in the conference with a .407 mark from behind-the-arc. He is averaging 1.9 treys per outing, which is ninth in the league. In addition to that, Fox is second on the team with a .821 percentage from the charity stripe. The Jackson County, Ky., native is second in the conference with a 2.4 assists-to-turnover ratio, recording 100 assists to just 42 turnovers. And lastly, Fox has posted double figures in 13 of Army's 19 contests.
NEXT UP
Army heads back on the road for a league contest with Boston University on Wednesday. That contest is slated for a 7 p.m. tip at Case Gym and will be broadcast live on the Patriot League Network. The Terriers currently sit with a 10-9 overall record to go along with their 5-2 mark in Patriot League play. Boston U. started conference action 5-0 before suffering its first league losses at the hands of Loyola and Colgate. The Terriers are at Bucknell on Saturday before welcoming Army four days later.
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NAVY PREVIEW
Game Information
Navy (9-10, 4-3 PL) at Army West Point (8-11, 2-5 PL)
Saturday, January 21, 2017 | 1:30 PM (ET)
West Point, N.Y. | Christl Arena (5,043)
TV - CBS Sports Network
Radio: 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV & 1500 AM WFED
Live Stats | Game Notes
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's basketball team (9-10, 4-3 PL) will carry its four-game winning streak into Saturday's game at Army West Point (8-11, 2-5 PL) in Christl Arena. The Army-Navy women's game will be played at 11:00 AM and the men will play the second game of the doubleheader at 1:30 PM. Both games will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
Jason Knapp, Mo Cassara and NBA Hall of Famer Reggie Miller will handle the announcing duties on CBS Sports Network. Pete Medhurst will have the Navy radio call on 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV in Annapolis and on 1500 AM WFED in Washington, D.C. Live statistics will be available. Due to the game being televised, there will not be an internet video stream.
Midshipmen Storylines
• Navy (9-10, 4-3 PL) enters Saturday on a four-game winning streak and in a three-way tie for third place in the Patriot League.
• After dropping its first three Patriot League games, Navy has reeled off wins over Colgate (67-55), Loyola (75-62), Lafayette (88-51) and Lehigh (75-72).
• Navy defeated Lehigh, the Patriot League preseason favorite, on Wednesday for just the second time in the last 15 meetings in the series.
• Navy trailed by 11 points in the second half, but used a late 21-3 run over nine minutes to take control of the game.
• Sophomore forward George Kiernan scored a career-best 18 points with six rebounds against Lehigh.
• Kiernan was 7-of-11 from the floor and 4-of-6 on 3-pointers to help Navy shoot 54 percent from the floor and 48 percent on 3-pointers.
• Sophomore point guard Hasan Abdullah tallied 14 points with seven assists, two rebounds and a steal.
• Junior guard Shawn Anderson scored 11 points with five rebounds and four assists, while senior Tim Abruzzo and freshman Evan Wieck each added eight points.
• Navy led in bench points against Lehigh, 41-14.
• Navy snapped a six-game home losing streak to the Mountain Hawks, earning its first win against Lehigh in Alumni Hall since 2010.
• Prior to the win over Lehigh, Navy defeated Lafayette, 88-51, on Jan. 14.
• Junior guard Bryce Dulin scored 23 points in Navy's win at Lafayette. Dulin was 9-of-11 from the floor and 5-of-6 on 3-pointers.
• Navy's 37-point win margin at Lafayette was its largest in program history in a Patriot League road game and the second largest in overall road games behind its 45-point win over Delaware (108-63) on Jan. 20, 1986.
• Navy had a six-game conference winning streak during the 2015-16 season.
• Anderson leads Navy in scoring at 11.4 points per game and is second in rebounding (5.2) and assists (2.9).
• Anderson ranks 43rd in program history in career scoring with 760 points.
• Kiernan is second on the team in scoring at 9.4 points per game.
• Junior forward Tom Lacey is third on the team in scoring at 8.0 points per game and is first in rebounding (7.0).
• Lacey ranks fourth in the Patriot League in overall rebounds per game (7.0) and is first in offensive rebounds per game (2.7).
• Lacey's 7.0 rebounding average is the highest by a Navy player since Jordan Sugars averaged 8.0 rebounds in 2009-10, seven seasons ago.
• Abdullah is fourth on the team in scoring at 7.7 points per game and is first in assists (3.0) and first in steals (2.1).
• During Navy's four-game winning streak, Abdullah is averaging 11.8 points, 4.5 assists and 3.5 steals.
• Abdullah ranks 22nd in the NCAA in total steals (39) and 34th in steals per game (2.05).
• Abdullah ranks second in the Patriot League in steals per game (2.1).
• Dulin is fifth on the team in scoring at 7.4 points per game. Dulin has scored 43 points in Navy's last three games.
• Senior center Edward Alade is Navy's active leader in career games played with 107.
• Senior guard Zach Fong ranks 12th in program history with 124 career 3-pointers made.
• As a team, Navy ranks first in the Patriot League in rebounding margin (+4.4) and rebounds allowed per game (29.6).
• Navy is second in the conference in scoring defense (64.6) and offensive rebounds per game (11.5).
• Navy is ranked 37th in the NCAA in scoring defense (64.6).
• In conference only games, Navy is first in the Patriot League in scoring defense (60.1) and first in rebounding margin (+5.7).
• Navy has had 11 different players score in double figures in a game this season.
• Grant Vermeer has been nominated to the 2017 Allstate NABC Good Works Team.
• Navy is in its 26th season of Patriot League play.
• Navy's all-time Patriot League record is 163-194 (.457).
Army West Point Storylines
• Army West Point enters Saturday's game at 8-11 overall and 2-5 in the Patriot League.
• The Black Knights are currently in a three-way tie for eighth place.
• After opening league play at 0-3, Army is 2-2 in its last four game.
• Army fell at home to Holy Cross on Wednesday, 85-76.
• Holy Cross rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit to defeat the Black Knights.
• Senior forward Mac Hoffman scored a team-high 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting and also had eight rebounds.
• Junior forward Luke Morrison scored 14 points, sophomore guard Jordan Fox tallied 11 points with eight assists and sophomore guard Jacob Kessler scored 10 points.
• Freshman guard Tommy Funk dished out a game-high 12 assists.
• On the season, Fox leads Army in scoring at 12.7 points per game and is also averaging a team-best 5.3 assists, which is the second-highest in the league.
• Freshman forward Matt Wilson is second on the team in both scoring (11.3) and rebounding (5.3).
• Wilson leads the Patriot League in field goal percentage at .682.
• Morrison averages 9.4 points and sophomore forward John Emezie averages 9.3.
• Hoffman is averaging 6.3 points and 6.7 rebounds.
• In overall games, Army ranks first in the Patriot League in 3-pointers made per game (9.6) and is second in scoring offense (74.7).
• Army ranks 21st in the NCAA in 3-pointers made per game (9.6).
• Jimmy Allen is in his first season as the head coach of Army West Point.
• Allen served as an assistant coach at Army for six seasons before earning his promotion after the departure of Zach Spiker to Drexel.
• Allen served as an assistant coach at Navy for six seasons from the 1996-97 season through the 2001-02 season under Don DeVoe.
• Allen served on the coaching staff at Navy with current Navy assistant coach Emmett Davis and current Bucknell head coach Nathan Davis.
Series History vs. Army West Point
• Navy leads the all-time series against Army West Point, 77-48.
• The two teams split the season series in 2015-16.
• Army posted an 80-78 double-overtime win in Annapolis last season on Feb. 20, snapping Navy's five-game winning streak in the series.
• Army's Kevin Ferguson scored on a tip-in with 0.7 seconds left in the game. Ferguson had 22 points and 19 rebounds in the contest and Tanner Plomb scored 24.
• Army's five senior starters combined for 71 points in the game.
• Navy won the Star Game at West Point on Feb. 1 last season, 64-50. The game was previously scheduled for Madison Square Garden on Jan. 23 but was postponed due to a snowstorm in New York City.
• Will Kelly scored 15 points with 10 rebounds and Tilman Dunbar added 13 points and nine rebounds in the win at Army.
• Navy has won four straight games against Army in Christl Arena.
• Navy defeated Army three times during the 2014-15 season, sweeping the season series and posting a 56-52 win in the Patriot League Tournament First Round in Annapolis.
• This season's Army-Navy Star Game will be contested in Annapolis on Feb. 18.
Looking Ahead
• Navy will next play at American (5-13, 2-5 PL) on Wednesday at 7:30 PM.
• American is in a three-way tie for eighth place in the Patriot League.
• American will have a short turnaround before the Navy game, as the Eagles are playing at Holy Cross on Monday evening on CBS Sports Network.