Army West Point Athletics
Black Knights Set For Road Test at Lafayette
February 06, 2018 | Men's Basketball
WEST POINT, N.Y. -Â The Army West Point men's basketball team will look to make it two-straight wins Wednesday when it travels to Lafayette.
   The contest is slated for 7 p.m. and will be carried live on the Patriot League Network.
   Army got back in the win column Saturday following an 82-70 victory over American. That win marked the Cadets' 13th of the year, which matched its overall record from a year ago. It also handed the Black Knights six conference wins to match their total from last season. Army needed that victory, as it was riding a three-game skid heading into Saturday's contest.Â
   The Cadets finished with five players in double digits for the second-consecutive outing, and the fourth time overall. Matt Wilson led the Black Knights with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Luke Morrison (12 points), Tommy Funk (11 points), Alex King (11 points) and Lonnie Grayson (10 points - career high) closed out the cadet-athletes in twin figures. Jacob Kessler and King were tied for tops on the team with six rebounds each.Â
   Fox, Wilson and Funk are all averaging double-figure scoring with Fox's 14.1 points per game leading the way. Wilson follows closely with 13.0 ppg, while Funk is coming in at 10.5 ppg. Wilson is also pulling down 6.0 rebounds per outing, which is tops on the team. Funk sits first in the conference as well as 16th in the nation with 6.1 rebounds per contest. Fox is second in the league with a 3-point field goal percentage of 43.4 percent and 2.7 treys per game.Â
   Lafayette is coming off a 74-59 loss at Patriot League frontrunners Bucknell on Saturday. Rookie Alex Petrie registered a team-best 19 points after finishing 5-of-11 from the floor, 2-of-3 from downtown and 7-of-8 at the charity stripe. Paulius Zalys was the only other Leopard to record twin figures as he tallied 10 in the contest.
   The Leopards have won just three of their last 10 outings with a sweep over Colgate and a victory at American. Two are averaging double-digit scoring for Lafayette with senior Matt Klinewski chipping in 17.3 points per game, which has him third in the league. Petrie isn't far behind in the eighth spot coming in at 14.5 points per contest.
   Over the last 10 meetings, Army holds the slim 6-4 edge. The Black Knights won the team's last matchup after posting 55 points in the second half. The Cadets trailed by a season-high 17 points at the break (43-26) but put up that impressive mark in the 20 minutes of action to record the 81-71 victory.
HOW TO FOLLOW
ONLINE • Patriot League 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.GoLeopards.com
TICKETS • www.GoLeopards.com
TWITTER • @ArmyWP_MBB
GAME NOTES • Army | Lafayette
IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT
Consistency has been the name of the game for second-year head coach Jimmy Allen, who has started every game this season with the same five players: Jordan Fox, Tommy Funk, Jacob Kessler, Matt Wilson and Luke Morrison.Â
    Army is one of only 11 teams in the nation to start the same five players in every game, along with Central Michigan, Davidson, No. 9 Duke, Elon, Montana, Northern Kentucky, Old Dominion, Pennsylvania, No. 3 Purdue and No. 2 Virginia.Â
STARTING FIVE
Of that pivotal group, all five are sporting a field goal percentage of at least .431 with the quintet accounting for 65.7 percent of the team's offensive production. Three are averaging double-digit points with Jordan Fox at 14.1 points per game, Matt Wilson averaging 13.0 ppg and Tommy Funk going for 10.5 ppg.
    Wilson's .602 field goal percentage ranks second in the Patriot League. Three have averaged 3.9 or more rebounds per contest as well. Jordan Fox is shooting 62-of-143 from long range, with an average of 2.7 per game and a percentage of .434 that puts him second and third in the league, respectively. Luke Morrison has added 47-of-111 treys and Funk has contributed 25-of-62 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 12th in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting at a clip of 41.2 percent, and are tied for 22nd in treys per game with 10.2. Additionally, the squad's 235 makes from behind-the-arc place them tied for 25th in Division I. Leading that effort is junior Jordan Fox, who ranks 34th nationally at 43.4 percent from long range.
    That success from deep comes from sharing the ball, evident by Army's rank of tied for 12th in the nation in assists per game with 17.6 and tied for 22nd in total helpers with 404. Sophomore Tommy Funk has paced the team in that category. The Warrington, Pa., native has dished out an average of 6.1 helpers per game and a total of 140 assists, putting him 16th and 20th, respectively.Â
    Funk's classmate, Matt Wilson, is among the most efficient scorers in the nation, converting on 60.2 percent of the shots he takes as the Alexandria, Ky., native sports the 22nd-best field goal percentage nationwide.Â
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Army has led by double digits on 15 occasions this season, sporting an impressive 12-4 record during those games with five wire-to-wire victories. Adversely, the Black Knights have trailed by 10 or more in 10 contests this season with a 3-7 mark in those games. Additionally, the Cadets are 2-2 in games when they have both led and trailed by double digits.Â
ABOUT THE LEOPARDS
Lafayette has stumbled through Patriot League play after starting 2-1. The Leopards currently sit with a 4-8 mark and have dropped three of their last four games with their lone win coming over Colgate, 93-83, on Jan. 31. They are currently ninth in the Patriot League standings.Â
    Matt Klinewski is the team's leader in scoring (17.3 ppg), rebounding (5.8 rpg) and blocks (17), while Eric Stafford boasts a team-high 74 assists. Alex Petrie joins Klinewski as the only other Leopard in double digits this season, averaging 14.5 points per game. Paulius Zalys also ranks second on the squad with 4.9 rebounds per contest.Â
A WIN OVER LAFAYETTE WOULD…
Surpass Army's win totals from last season, both overall (14) and in Patriot League play (7), marking the highest number of wins for head coach Jimmy Allen on both accounts at the helm of the Black Knights. It would also move the Cadets within one game of third place in the league standings behind either Boston U. or Colgate, who are both 8-4 in league play entering their game against one another Wednesday night.Â
DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORERS
The Black Knights have been scoring in bunches this year, having four or more players score double-digit points in 11 games and five cadet-athletes in double digits in four contests. This has been especially true of late as the Cadets found five players in double-digits for each of the last two games at Bucknell and against American.
    Army is 7-4 in those contests, including a 5-2 mark when four players score 10 or more points. Sophomore Matt Wilson has been part of those groups on all 11 occasions, the only player to do so.Â
TEAM RECORDS
The 2017-18 Black Knights are on pace for a historic season, rising through the program's rankings in multiple categories. The Black Knights' 3-point field goal percentage of 41.2 percent is currently a program record and is the only time an Army team would finish better than 40 percent from behind-the-arc. The Cadets also tied a program-record 16 triples in the win over Air Force at Madison Square Garden.Â
    Army is scoring at a rate of 77.3 points per game, the second-highest average in program history behind only the 1993-94 squad's 77.6 points per game. Additionally, the team's 404 assists rank ninth all-time at an average of 17.6 helpers per game. If the team continues at that pace through the rest of the year, it will set a program record, currently held by last year's team who dished out 519 assists.
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 42.8 percent success rate. Additionally, the Cadets currently rank third in the front court, scoring on 46.5 percent of their shots behind only Boston U. (46.8 percent) and Bucknell (46.5 percent).
NEXT UP
Army welcomes service-academy rival Navy to Christl Arena on Saturday for the annual Star game. The contest will be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network with tipoff being slated for 1:30 p.m. The Mids will travel to Holy Cross before coming to West Point for the highly-anticipated rematch. In the first meeting, the Black Knights captured a 64-62 wire-to-wire victory in Annapolis, Md., on Jan. 14. Â
