Feb. 10, 2012

Army vs. Navy Game Notes

WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Army-Navy rivalry comes to West Point on Saturday afternoon when the Black Knights host the Midshipmen. The game will be played in front of a sold out Christl Arena crowd for the third straight season. Tip-off is at 2:30 p.m. and will be televised live by CBS Sports Network.

The Black Knights and Mids met earlier this season in Annapolis with Army scoring a 75-62 victory. Army has not swept the season series from Navy since 1991-92, the first season both programs competed in the Patriot League.

The winner of Saturday’s game will claim the Alumni Trophy, the prize that goes to the winner of the annual “Star Game.” While the series is nearly even over the past nine years (Navy leads, 9-8), the Mids have claimed the trophy eight of the last nine years. Army’s last Star Game win was in 2010.

ARMY ON THE AIR
Radio: The Army Sports Network will broadcast the Navy game. The game will be heard in the Hudson Valley on WALL (1340-AM, Middletown) and WEOK (1390-AM, Poughkeepsie). Rich DeMarco will handle the play-by-play.

Television: CBS Sports Network will broadcast Saturday’s game. Bob Socci (play-by-play) and Vince Curran (analyst) will call the action. The game will re-air on Feb. 13 at 3 a.m. and Feb. 14 at 6 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Web: ITT Knight Vision will carry a video stream of the CBSSN broadcast. Subscription fees apply.

ABOUT ARMY
► The Black Knights’ success this season can be boiled down to their ability to shoot the basketball. In its 10 victories, Army is shooting 50.3 percent overall and 46.6 percent from three-point range. Army has hit at least 51.0 percent of its field goal tries in each of its last five wins. In the team’s 14 losses, it is shooting just 38.7 percent overall and 31.8 percent from behind the three-point line. Army has shot below 40.0 percent in 10 of its 14 losses.

► Junior F Ella Ellis recorded his first double-double of the season against Lafayette with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Ellis has scored in double figures in 26 straight times, the longest streak by an Army player since all-time leading scorer Kevin Houston did it in 57 consecutive games from 1985-87. Ellis has scored 20 points 10 times this season, the most by a Black Knight since Jarell Brown did it 13 times in 2007-08. Ellis is 43 points shy of becoming the 28th member of Army’s 1,000-point club.

► Ellis is in the midst of a history-making season. For the second straight year, Ellis has scored more than 400 points, grabbed better than 100 rebounds and handed out more than 50 assists. The Houston native is just the second Army player to join the 400/100/50 club multiple times since assists became an official statistic during the 1981-82 season. Army Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Randy Cozzens did it three straight times from 1982-83 through 1984-85.

► With his 14-point effort against Lafayette, senior G Julian Simmons became the 17th player in Army history to score at least 1,200 points during their career. Simmons has 1,203 points, 21 shy of passing Mark Binstein for 16th place on the Army scoring list. Simmons is just five three-pointers shy of becoming the second Army player with three seasons of 60-or-more triples (Mark Lueking).

A WIN OVER NAVY WOULD …
► Snap Army’s three-game losing streak.
► Be the Black Knights’ first season sweep of Navy since 1991-92.
► Be Army’s second “Star Game” win in the last three years.
► End Army’s 11-game February losing streak.
► Be the Black Knights’ first season sweep of a league opponent since 2009 (Bucknell, Lafayette).
► Make Zach Spiker the first Army coach to win multiple Star Games since Mike Krzyzewski took four.

THE ARMY-NAVY SERIES
► Saturday’s meeting is the 116th all-time between the rivals since first game in 1920. Navy leads the series, 71-44.

► Army has won at least one game against Navy in eight of the last nine seasons. The Black Knights have had the chance to sweep the Mids six times during that span, but are 0-6 in the rematches.

► 10 of the last 13 meetings have been decided by eight points or less.

INSIDE THE SERIES
First Meeting: 1920 (Navy, 24-18)
All-Time Record: Navy leads, 71-44
At West Point: Navy leads, 29-26
At Annapolis: Navy leads, 41-17
At Neutral Site: Tied, 1-1
Last Army Win: Jan. 11, 2012 (75-62 at Navy)
Last Navy Win: Feb. 19, 2011 (75-58 at Navy)
Series Streak: Army W1
Largest Army Margin: +24 (80-56, 2/28/70)
Largest Navy Margin: +30 (93-63, 12/23/85)

ARMY STAT LEADERS
Scoring  Average: Ella Ellis (18.4)
FG Pct. (min. 25 att.): Andrew Stire (.660)
3-PT FG Made: Josh Herbeck (60)
3-PT FG Pct. (min. 25 att.): Josh Herbeck (.426)
Free Throws Made: Ella Ellis (119)
Free Throw Attempts: Ella Ellis (145)
Free Throw Pct. (min. 20 att.): Ella Ellis (.821)
Rebounding Average: Ella Ellis (5.0)
Assists: Maxwell Lenox (72)
Steals: Julian Simmons (23)
Blocked Shots: Andrew Stire/Ella Ellis (9)
Minutes/Game: Ella Ellis (30.1)

ABOUT NAVY
► Navy is under the direction of Ed DeChellis who is in his first season in Annapolis. DeChellis spent the previous eight seasons as the head coach at Penn State. He is in his 16th season as a head coach having served as the head man at East Tennessee State from 1996 through 2003. In 2011, he guided the Nittany Lions to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2001. He guided ETSU to the NCAA Tournament in 2003.

► The Mids enter Saturday’s game with a 3-20 overall mark and an 0-9 record in Patriot League play. Navy has lost 16 straight games, including a 64-52 home loss against Holy Cross on Wednesday. Jordan Sugars led the Mids with 20 points, while Worth Smith pulled down a team-high six rebounds. The game was tied at the  half, but the Crusaders shot 62.5 percent in the second half to pull away.

► Navy is scoring 58.8 points per game this season. Reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year J.J. Avila leads the team at 15.9 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per contest, but has missed the last two games. Sugars is also scoring in double figures at 11.4 points per contest.

► Sugars is the team’s leading three-point shooter with 34 makes. As a team, the Mids make 5.4 triples per game while shooting 27.4 percent from long range.

UP NEXT …
Army travels to Colgate on Wednesday, Feb. 15. The Black Knights won the first meeting of the season at Christl Arena, 91-75. Army made an Academy record 16 three-pointers in the victory. The Black Knights won last season’s trip to Hamilton, snapping a six-game losing streak at Cotterell Court.