<p>NAVY (11-8 / 1-3) at ARMY (12-7 / 2-2)
January 21, 2007 - 12:00 pm (EST)
Christl Arena (5,043) • West Po>nt, N.Y.
TELEVISION: ESPNU (Bob Socci and John Feinstein)
RADIO: WNAV (1430 AM), WFED (1050 AM) (Pete Medhurst)
INTERNET: <a href=“http://www.wnav.com%5B/url%5D”>www.wnav.com</a>, <a href=“http://www.federalnewsradio.com%5B/url%5D”>www.federalnewsradio.com</a>, <a href=“http://www.yahoosports.com%5B/url%5D”>www.yahoosports.com</a></p>
<p>Tipping It Off
The nation’s top rivalry takes center stage yet again on Sunday at high noon as Navy will travel to Army for the 105th meeting between the two teams. Navy enters the contest with an 11-8 (1-3) record, while Army is 12-7 (2-2) overall. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU with Bob Socci and John Feinstein calling all the action. Navy fans can listen via the airwaves on WNAV (1430 AM, wnav.com) and WFED (1050 AM, federalnewsradio.com) with Pete Medhurst calling the game. Due to contractual obligations between the Patriot League and ESPNU, the game will not be streamed online.</p>
<p>On This Date in Navy History
January 21th - Navy is 12-7 all-time on January 21, including 1-0 against Army. The Mids defeated the Black Knights, 80-74, during the 1994-95 season. Navy has lost one in a row on the date, falling to Holy Cross, 79-56, in 2005. Corey Johnson scored 13 points in that contest.</p>
<p>Series History
• Army and Navy renew what is argubly the greatest rivalry in all of sports for the 105th time on Sunday in West Point. The rivalry has been played every year since 1933 and at least twice since 1991-92. The rivalry is the third-most frequently played rivalry among all Patriot League schools.
• The two teams have split the series as of late, alternating the last six games between them. However, before the current six-game run, Navy won 36-of-41 contests from 1981 to 2003. Included in the total is four straight N-Star victories and 23-of-26 wins in the Star Game.
• This will mark the first meeting between the two teams when both teams have had a winning record since the 1996-97 season. Navy was 7-6 and Army was 5-4 when the two teams met on Jan. 8, 1997, a 70-56 Midshipmen win.</p>
<p>About Army
Army is one of the nation’s surprise teams after league voters picked the Black Knights to finish eighth in the preseason. Army boasts a 12-7 overall record and is 2-2 in league play. The 12 wins already matches the most since the 1984-85 team won 16 games and with a win can move above .500 in league play at this point in the season for the first time since the 2001-02 squad opened 3-2. Army has done this so far with an efficient offense and a stifling defense.</p>
<p>The Black Knights are tops in the league in scoring defense (59.6), scoring margin (+5.0), field goal percentage defense (.395) and three-point percentage (.438) and are second in field goal percentage (.463).</p>
<p>Army is paced by a pair of guards in Jerell Brown and Matt Bell. The duo is averaging a combined 32.4 ppg and is shooting .476 from the field, including a sizzling 88-of-180 (.489) from three-point range. The pair is accounting for just over half of Army’s scoring this year and in league play, the percentage bumps up to 55.2 percent (32.7 ppg of Army’s 59.2 total ppg). On the interior, freshman Chris Walker, is averaging 7.4 ppg and 4.8 rpg and nine other players average at least 1.9 ppg. Ten different players are averaging at least 10.0 mpg.</p>
<p>Great (Navy) Moments
The Army-Navy rivalry is unquestionably the nation’s top rivalry in all sports and the rivalry has provided Navy fans some great moments on the hardwood during the 104-game history.
• Last year, Navy rallied in overtime for a 67-62 victory at raucous Christl Arena on Super Bowl Sunday, behind inspired play by Matt Fannin and Greg Sprink’s 23 points. Navy scored the last six points of overtime with Fannin’s eight-foot bank shot with 34 seconds left giving Navy the lead for good.
• In 2005, Taj Mathews scored a career-high 26 points to lead Billy Lange to his first Star Game win over Army, 84-69, at Alumni Hall.
• On Feb. 17, 1996, Navy led by 13 with 6:28 to play, before a furious Army rally fell short, 54-51. The Black Knights ended the game on a 14-4 run, but a Hassan Booker free throw salted the game away.
• Lastly, in an 11-game stretch from Feb. 24, 1979 to Feb. 27, 1988, the Mids won all 11 games in the series. However, nine of the 11 games were decided by six or fewer points. During that span from 1984-87, the school’s two all-time leading scorers (Navy’s David Robinson and Army’s Kevin Houston) combined for 192 points in just five games. Robinson scored 100 points with 50 rebounds and 20 blocks, while Houston scored 92 points with 19 assists. During Navy’s five wins from 1984-87, Navy won by two, one, 30, three (ot) and six points.</p>
<p>Holy Cross Leftovers
Navy struggled to find the range in the second half against the league-leading Crusaders, dropping a 61-42 decision on Wednesday night. Navy trailed by one at halftime, but Holy Cross shot 66.7 percent after halftime to put the game away.
• Navy has now scored under 55 points in four of its last seven games, including under 45 in two of them.
• Navy’s defense, meanwhile, has held four of its last five opponents to 61 points or less.
• The Mids haven’t shot above 45 percent in seven straight games.
• Navy shot 10 or fewer free throws for the sixth time this year, converting just 5-of-8 free throw attempts against the Cruaders.
• Navy has now shot under 30 percent in a half in four of the last seven games, and hasn’t shot over 50 percent in a half since the first half against Washington (Md.), when it shot .548 (17-of-31).
• Navy equaled a season low with just 11 turnovers, matching the totals against St. John’s and Villanova.
• Navy started three freshmen in a game for the first time since Jan. 3, 2006, against UMBC. Navy has now started three freshmen in a game 15 times under Billy Lange.
• Navy’s bench scored 24 points, compared to 18 for the starters. Adam Teague was 6-of-9, the rest of the team shot 9-of-38 (.237).</p>
<p>Defensive Comparison
Navy’s defense has been outstanding all year long, and it has shown in Patriot League play. The Mids are allowing just 58.8 ppg (4th in the league) in their four conference games. So far, Navy has allowed just one team (Lehigh - 71) to score more than 61 points in a game. The 58.8 ppg average would rank as the second-lowest average in Navy’s 15-year Patriot League history (1999 - 57.0 ppg).
• The total is easily the top mark in Billy Lange’s three years at Navy. The 2004-05 team allowed 76.8 ppg through four games, while last year’s team gave up 74.8 ppg through four games. Navy’s 235 points (58.8 ppg) in the first four games of Patriot League play is the fewest since the 1997-98 team allowed just 232 points (58.0 ppg) in its first four league games.
• On Dec. 17 and Dec. 20, Navy allowed 40 (10th fewest in school history) points against Delaware Valley College and 37 (6th fewest in school history) points against Washington (Md.) in back-to-back games. It marked the first time since the 1948-49 season that Navy allowed 40 or fewer points in back-to-back games.
• Over the last 13 games, Navy has allowed just four teams to reach 70 points (Penn - 79, Howard - 75, Yale - 74 and Lehigh - 71). Howard, however, needed two overtimes to reach the 70-point plateau, scoring just 57 points in regulation.
• If looking at just regulation totals, Navy is allowing just 57.2 ppg over the last 13 games.
• Over the last 13 games, foes are shooting 259-of-644 (.402) from the field, and just 69-of-230 (.300) from long distance.
• Over the last 13 games, just one team (Yale - .522) has shot over 50 percent and six of the teams shot .400 or lower.</p>
<p>.400 Is The Magic Number
This year’s team is 8-1 when holding foes to shoot .400 or lower from the field. Villanova defeated the Mids on Nov. 25, 70-61. Just three teams, St. John’s (.548), Stony Brook (.500) and Yale (.522) have managed to shoot at least .500 from the field.</p>
<p>Navy’s Top D
Navy has held opponents to 60 points or less eight times this year in 19 games. Prior to this year, the Mids had accomplished that feat just three times before this year. Navy is 10-1 under Billy Lange when holding foes to 60 or fewer points.</p>