Nov. 13, 2008

• Navy Game Notes | Towson Game Notes

NAVY (0-0) at TOWSON (0-0)
Friday, Nov. 14, 2008 • 7:00 pm (ET)
Towson Center (5,000) • Towson, Md.
Radio: WNAV (1430 AM; Annapolis)
Streaming Video: www.TowsonTigers.com (subscription)
Live Stats: www.TowsonTigers.com

Mids Open 2008-09 Campaign at Towson on Friday Night
• Navy will tip off its 102nd year of basketball on Friday night, as it travels up the Beltway to take on regional rival Towson, beginning at 7:00 pm (ET). The contest will mark the season opener for both teams. Navy tuned up for the season with scrimmages against Loyola and Coppin State.
• The game will be broadcast over the radio waves by WNAV (1430 AM, Annapolis; wnav.com) with Pete Medhurst handling the call, beginning with the Navy basketball pregame show at 6:45 pm (ET).
• The Mids will open their season away from Annapolis for the third straight year and are looking for their third straight win in a season opener. In the 2006-07 season, Navy topped Loyola (Md.) in the 2KSports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, 73-61, in Jamaica, N.Y. Last year, Navy routed Longwood, 88-72, in Farmville, Va. • Navy owns a 76-25 all-time record in season openers and is 2-2 under Billy Lange.

The Book on Navy
• Lange welcomes back four starters and seven letterwinners from last year's squad that posted a 16-14 overall record and 9-5 mark in the Patriot League, good for second place. The 16-14 record was the program's first winning record since the 2000-01 season. Navy was picked sixth in the preseason Patriot League poll in voting done by the league's coaches and SIDs, despite returning double-digit scorers in junior Chris Harris (14.5 ppg), who was a first-team all-Patriot League preseason selection, and senior Kaleo Kina (14.0 ppg), as well as standout sophomores Romeo Garcia and Mark Veazey. Garcia will miss the game after suffering a hamstring injury in mid-October. Senior captain Adam Teague will start in his place.
• All eyes will also be on sophomore O.J. Avworo, who will be playing his first game in almost 20 months after sitting out last year following his transfer from the University of Idaho. Avworo started 24 games for the Vandals in 2006-07, dishing out over three assists a game, while compiling a 1.30 (95-to-73) assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Brian Richards, Clif Colbert, Greg Brown, T.J. Topercer, Scott Brooks, Jeremy Wilson, Ted Connolly and Jordan Sugars will all provide depth off the bench.

The Book on Towson
• Towson enters the 2008-09 campaign selected 10th in the preseason Colonial Athletic Association poll after recording a 13-18 record last year. Pat Kennedy, who needs just 39 wins for 500 in his career, returns three starters and nine letterwinners from last year's team, including last year's leading scorer, Josh Thornton (13.2 ppg). Thornton will be aided by Junior Hairston (12.0 ppg, 8.9 rpg) and Tony Durant (8.7 ppg). Durant is the older brother of Seattle Supersonics star and former Texas standout, Kevin Durant. Towson will also be aided by a slew of transfers, including 6-6 point guard Brian Morris, who started at Richmond as a freshman in 2006-07, and averaged 8.1 ppg and 2.8 apg.
• The Tigers averaged 65.4 ppg a year ago, while giving up 68.8 ppg. Towson took exceptional care of the ball a year ago, averaging just 11.8 turnovers per game and boasting a 1.20 assist-to-turnover ratio, which was 28th in the country.

Towson's Projected Starters (2007-08 Stats) Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Year Stats / Notes F 22 Jarrel Smith 6-7 210 So. First year at Towson F 25 Robert Nwankwo 6-8 220 So. 1.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 0.5 bpg G 20 Brian Morris 6-6 185 So. First year at Towson G 23 Josh Thornton 6-2 175 Jr. 13.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg G 32 Troy Franklin 5-11 160 Fr. First Year at Towson

Navy's Projected Starters (2007-08 Stats) Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Year Stats / Notes C 44 Mark Veazey 6-11 230 So. 3.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.3 bpg F 33 Adam Teague 6-8 225 Sr. 6.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg G 24 Kaleo Kina 6-4 200 Sr. 14.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.5 apg G 5 Chris Harris 6-2 185 Jr. 14.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1.9 spg G 23 O.J. Avworo 6-0 195 So. First year at Navy

Navy Stock Tips
• Navy is 20-14 under Lange when making at least 10 three-pointers in a game, including 9-6 a year ago.
• Despite all the three-point success, Navy went 1-8 a year ago when attempting 30 or more three-pointers, and is just 3-11 all-time under Lange.
• Navy was one of four teams last year that had four players connect on 44 or more three-pointers.
• Navy was 8-2 last year when scoring more than 80 points, with both of the losses coming in overtime. The Mids are 20-5 under Lange when reaching 80 points.
• Navy went 0-6 a year ago when scoring 69 or fewer points. Navy is 8-34 under Lange when scoring 0-69 points.
• The Mids went just 3-6 in games decided by five points or less, but went 13-8 in games decided by six or more points. Navy was 9-3 in games decided by 11 or more points.
• The Mids went just 8-10 in games when leading at halftime last year. Navy was 8-4 when trailing or tied at halftime.
• The Mids are 31-8 under Lange when shooting a better percentage from the field than their opponent.
• Navy is 31-7 under coach Lange when shooting more free throws than its opponent.
• Chris Harris has scored in double figures in 17 straight games, dating back to last year. The Mids went 11-6 during that span and is 12-7 all-time when Harris scores 10+ points.
• The Mids are 11-5 all-time when Adam Teague reaches double-digit scoring.
• Navy went 5-2 a year ago when Kaleo Kina scored 20 or more points in a game.
• Navy is 15-8 all-time when Kaleo Kina scores 10 points with four assists in the same game. On the flipside, the Mids are just 4-8 all-time when Chris Harris reaches those marks.
• Greg Sprink, Kaleo Kina and Chris Harris led Navy in scoring in 29 of the 30 games played last year. Adam Teague led the Mids against Army (Feb. 23) with 18 points.
• Sprink, Harris and Kina combined for 74 double-figure scoring games. The rest of the team had 16 combined. However, Navy was one of six schools nationally to have 10 different players score at least 10 points in a game.
• Navy's big three of Sprink, Harris and Kina last year accounted for 66.8 percent of Navy's scoring, 71.7 percent of Navy's assists, 66.0 percent of Navy's field goal attempts, 73.8 percent of three-point attempts and 64.0 percent of all free throw attempts.

# GO NAVY #