Army West Point Athletics
Army-Navy Men's Hoops Rivalry Hits the Hardwood
January 13, 2018 | Men's Basketball
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army-Navy rivalry hits the hardwood Sunday when the Army West Point men's basketball team travels to Navy for the team's first of two meetings.Â
    The contest is set for 2:30 p.m. and will be carried live on CBS Sports Network with Jason Knapp and Mo Cassara on the call. The men's matchup will be the second part of the day's doubleheader with the women, who kick things off against the Mids at noon.
    Army is coming off a thrilling 19-point second-half comeback win in which it outscored its visitor Lafayette an impressive 55-28 in the second 20 minutes to record the 81-71 victory. After shooting a season-low 28.2 percent from the floor and 16.7 percent from long range in the first half, the Black Knights came out of the break like a completely different team. The Cadets shot 55.6 percent and 60.0 percent, respectively, in the second stanza. Another key in the victory was the 26 points scored by the Black Knights off of 18 Leopard turnovers.Â
    Four cadet-athletes reached double-digit scoring in the game, with Jordan Fox posting a game-high 18 points. The junior finished 6-of-14 from the floor, 3-of-7 from downtown and 3-of-4 at the charity stripe. Matt Wilson chipped in 15 points, while Alex King and John Emezie added 12 points each. King led the team with eight rebounds to go along with Tommy Funk's game-high six assists.Â
    For the year, Army has four averaging twin figure scoring. Fox is tops on the team with 14.9 points per game, while Wilson is notching 12.5 points per outing. King (10.4 ppg) and Funk (10.1 ppg) close out the Black Knights in double digits. Wilson is seventh in the Patriot League with 6.1 rebounds per outing, while Funk's 6.3 helpers per contest has him tied for 16th in the nation.Â
    Navy is coming off a 61-56 overtime victory against Holy Cross on Thursday. That win marked the Mids third in their last four outings with their lone loss a 70-62 decision at Colgate on Jan. 8. Senior Shawn Anderson leads the Mids with 12.6 points per game. Bryce Dulin (11.3 ppg) and Hasan Abdullah (10.7 ppg) are also chipping in double-figure scoring on the season. Tom Lacey is ninth in the league with a team-best 6.0 rebounds per outing, while Abdullah sits seventh with 3.4 assists per contest.Â
    The Mids hold a slim 6-4 edge over the last 10 meetings. Seven of those 10 were decided by single digits with five of them being determined by five or less points. There have also been two overtime games during that stretch.
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.navysports.com
TICKETS • www.navysports.com
TWITTER • @ArmyWP_MBB
GAME NOTES • Army | Navy
STARTING FIVE
Of Army's starting five, all are sporting a field goal percentage of at least .410 with the quintet accounting for 64.6 percent of the team's offensive production. Three are averaging double-digit points with Jordan Fox at 14.9 points per game, Matt Wilson averaging 12.5 ppg and Tommy Funk going for 10.1 ppg.
    Wilson's .591 field goal percentage ranks second in the Patriot League. Three have averaged 4.0 or more rebounds per contest as well. Jordan Fox is shooting 45-of-94 from long range, with a percentage of .483 that leads the conference, and is averaging 2.8 per game that puts him second in the league. Luke Morrison has added 29-of-80 treys and Funk has contributed 19-of-45 makes from behind-the-arc.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 fifth in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting at a clip of 42.2 percent, and is 24th in treys per game with 10.3 per contest. Additionally, the squad's 165 makes from behind-the-arc place them tied for 33rd in Division I. Leading that effort is junior Jordan Fox, who ranks 13th nationally at 47.9 percent from long range.
    That success from deep comes from sharing the ball, evident by Army's rank of eighth in the nation in assists per game with 18.5 and tied for 26th in total helpers with 296. Sophomore Tommy Funk has paced the team in that category. The Warrington, Pa., native has dished out 6.3 helpers per game and sports a total of 101 assists on the season, putting him at 16th and tied for 20th, respectively.Â
    Funk's classmate, Matt Wilson, is among the most efficient scorers in the nation, converting on 59.1 percent of the shots he takes with the 41st-best field goal percentage in the nation.Â
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Army is averaging 32.0 points per game from inside the paint. That number outscores its opponents, who are registering just 27.8 per outing in that category. Another notable stat is that the Black Knights are converting on average 16.1 points per contest from their opponent's turnovers. Lastly, the Cadets have not only seen strong offensive output from it's starting five, but for the year Army's bench is averaging 27.8 points per outing, which is far more than their opponents' mark of 19.8 per game.
ABOUT THE MIDSHIPMEN
Navy enters Sunday's matchup with the Black Knights having picked up a 61-56 overtime win against Holy Cross on Thursday to move to 3-2 in Patriot League play. The Midshipmen have won three of their last four, all of which came on their home court. The third-ranked team in the Patriot League preseason poll picked up wins over Lehigh, 78-66, and American, 70-64, before dropping a 70-62 decision at Colgate last Monday.Â
    Three Mids are averaging double-digit points, led by Shawn Anderson's pace of 12.6 points per game. Bryce Dulin (11.3 ppg) and Hasan Abdullah (10.7 ppg) are Navy's other scoring leaders, while Tom Lacey's 6.0 rebounds per game is the most on the team. Anderson has also collected 5.6 boards per contest and has dished out 56 assists in total. Abdullah has compiled a team-high 61 helpers on the year.Â
A WIN OVER NAVY WOULD…
Give Army its 50th victory in program history over the Midshipmen, dating back to the 1919-20 season. It would also be the Black Knights' third-straight win at Alumni Hall and the sixth in the last eight meetings in Annapolis, Md. Lastly, it would give Army three-straight victories, marking the fourth such streak in head coach Jimmy Allen's two-year tenure at the helm of the program.Â
EFFICIENCY IS KEY
The Black Knights are among the best teams in the Patriot League in field goal percentage, both on the offensive and defensive ends of the court. Army leads the league in defensive field goal percentage, limiting its opponents to a 42.0 percent success rate. Additionally, the Cadets currently rank third in the front court, scoring on 46.1 percent of their shots behind only Bucknell (46.6 percent) and Boston U. (46.5 percent).
    One of Army's greatest strengths this season has been rebounding, collecting a Patriot League-high 38.0 boards per game. Crashing the glass has been a key to victory for the Black Knights this season, winning all seven games in which they outrebound the opposition. However, the Cadets are 3-6 in the six games they've been outrebounded.Â
COMEBACK KIDS
The Black Knights have earned back-to-back come-from-behind victories in their last two games. Army was in the hole 10 points on Monday evening at American before edging the Eagles, 58-54. The Cadets then turned around two days later to overcome a 19-point deficit Thursday afternoon in its 81-71 win over Lafayette.
    The win against the Leopards marked the team's largest comeback victory since erasing a 25-point Navy lead in the final 12:51 of last season's annual Star game. The Cadets rallied with a 33-8 run that knotted the score at 62-62, during which Army drained five 3-pointers. The Black Knights also made 12-straight field goals at one point during the epic comeback. Â
OH HAPPY DAY!
Army has played on all seven days of the week this season, having notched at least one win on six of them. The Black Knights have enjoyed Tuesday games as the team is a perfect 4-0 on the second day of the work week. Additionally, they are 2-0 in Saturday matchups and 1-0 on Thursday and Sunday contests. On the other days of the week, Army is 1-1 on Mondays, 1-4 on Fridays and 0-1 on Wednesdays.
NEXT UP
Army stays on the road as the team heads up to Worcester, Mass., for a meeting with Holy Cross on Wednesday. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. at the Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex. The Crusaders will square off with in-state foe Boston U. on Sunday prior to their game against the Black Knights.
