Army West Point Athletics
Black Knights Travel to Binghamton on Wednesday
December 05, 2017 | Men's Basketball
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point men's basketball team sets off for Binghamton on Wednesday for another out-of-conference road matchup at the Events Center.
    The game will be carried live on ESPN3 with tip slated for 7 p.m.
    Army is coming off a 2-1 week in which they strung together two straight to claim the Papa John's Bulldog Bash title over the weekend in Charleston, S.C. The Black Knights saw three tabbed to the all-tournament team with sophomore Tommy Funk earning MVP honors. Also garnering praise was fellow classmate Matt Wilson and rookie Tucker Blackwell. Jordan Fox is leading the team with 17.4 points per game. Wilson and Funk are also averaging double digits at 13.7 and 10.6 points per outing, respectively. Wilson had chipped in a team-best 7.6 rebounds per contest, which has him third in the Patriot League, while Funk is leading the conference with 7.0 assists per game.Â
    Binghamton is riding a four-game winning streak after defeating Cal State Northridge, Hartwick, Delaware State and most recently Colgate. The Bearcats are 3-0 on their home court so far this season and are averaging 83 points during those games. Juniors Thomas Brice and J.C. Show are leading the team with 15.9 and 15.3 points per contest. Bruce's 9.2 rebounds per game has him tops on the team and second in the America East conference, while fellow classmate Timmy Rose is dishing out a team-best 3.8 assists per outing.
HOW TO FOLLOW
ONLINE • ESPN3
RADIO • Army West Point Sports Network
WBNR (1260 AM, Beacon, N.Y.)
WLNA (1420 AM, Peekskill, N.Y.)
AUDIO • Knight Vision
LIVE STATISTICS • www.BUBearcats.com
TICKETS • www.BUBearcats.com
TWITTER • @ArmyWP_MBB
GAME NOTES • Army | Binghamton
20-20 VISION
Junior guard Jordan Fox is the only cadet-athlete to eclipse the 20-point plateau during the 2017-18 season, having accomplished the feat in three straight games for Army this year. The Jackson County, Ky., native scored a career-high 33 points in the team's 94-73 road victory over Marist before tying his previous best of 26 against Columbia three days later at Christl Arena. For his career, Fox has documented nine 20+ scoring efforts, having done so six times last season.Â
CHASING HISTORY
Fox has etched his name into the records books, tying Matt Bell's career mark of 250 to crack the program's top-10 with his third and final assist last game against Marist. He now sits 30 away from the No. 9 spot, held by Marcus Nelson who totaled 280 assists in his career.Â
LIVIN' LA VIDA LONG RANGE
Army has made at least one 3-point bucket in each of its last 231 games, dating back to Dec. 19, 2009. The last time the Black Knights did not hit a trey was when they went 0-of-7 from behind-the-arc in a 59-46 win at Dartmouth.Â
ABOUT THE BEARCATSÂ
Binghamton enters Wednesday's game on a four-game winning streak that started Nov. 22 in its final game of the Cancun Challenge. In that stretch, the Bearcats have defeated Cal. State-Northridge (70-65), Hartwick (97-65), Delaware State (85-64) and Colgate (76-65). They come into the game with a perfect 3-0 mark at the Events Center, their home arena.Â
    Thomas Bruce has been the squad's greatest threat on both ends of the court through the first nine games of the season, leading the way in points (143), field goal percentage (.630) rebounds (83 – 22 off./61 def.) and blocks (27). The junior forward is averaging 15.9 points and 9.2 boards per contest. The other member of Binghamton's one-two punch in its offensive half of the court is J.C. Show, who is going for 15.3 points per game by shooting at a .394 clip from long range (26-of-66).Â
A WIN OVER BINGHAMTON WOULD…
Match Army's longest winning streak of the season at three games. It would also be Army's seventh consecutive victory over the Bearcats, dating back to the 2010-11 season.Â
ARMY VS. AMERICA EAST TEAMS
The Black Knights are 31-16 all-time against current members of America East. Of the nine schools in the league, Army has faced Binghamton (10 times), New Hampshire (nine times) and Albany (eight times) the most. Army leads six series against AE schools, including a perfect mark against Maine (5-0), Vermont (4-0) UMass Lowell (1-0) and UMBC (1-0). The Black Knights also hold the all-time series lead opposite Binghamton (8-2) and New Hampshire (6-3). The Cadets have competed against Hartford (1-1), Albany (3-5) and Stony Brook (2-5) as well.
STARTING FIVE
Of Army's starting five, three are averaging over a .500 field goal percentage with all five shooting better than .400. Three are averaging double-digit points with all five going for at least 7.4 points per game. Matt Wilson's .608 field goal percentage leads the Patriot League. Three have averaged 5.0 or more rebounds per contest, with three of the four who have attempted a 3-pointer shooting over .440. Jordan Fox had converted on 23-of-45 from long range, with an average of 3.3 per game that is the second-most in the league. Tommy Funk has added 9-of-17 treys.Â
SWEEPING THE NATION
The Black Knights are among the nation's best in several statistical categories, both as a team and individually. Army currently sits 13th in assists per game (18.9), led by sophomore guard Tommy Funk's pace of 7.0 helpers per contest, which puts him tied for 14th nationally. Funk's 49 total assists is also tied for the 27th-most in the country. He is sharing the rock with one of the top shooting teams in the nations. The Cadets rank 18th in 3-point field-goal percentage at 42.3 and 22nd in 3-pointers per game with 10.6. The catalyst of that group is junior guard Jordan Fox, whose 51.1 success rate from behind-the-arc ranks 25th nationally. Fox's 3.29 treys per game puts him tied for 32nd in the nation.
    The squad also finds itself 13th in defensive rebounds per game (30.86) and 21st in total rebounds per contest (42.29). Army is out-rebounding its opponents by an average of 7.4 per game, the 43rd-highest nationwide.Â
    Army has sported one of the stingiest defensive units in Division I, ranking 44th in opponent field goal percentage (39.0). On the opposite side of the floor, sophomore Matt Wilson is scoring on 60.8 percent of the shots he takes with the 47th-best field goal percentage.
NEXT UP
Army is coming to the midway mark of its eight-game road trip, traveling to Wake Forest on Friday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Demon Deacons are at Charlotte on Tuesday prior to welcoming the Cadets. They then have the next week off after their meeting with Army and return to the court on Dec. 18 with a road contest at Costal Carolina at 7 p.m.
