Dec. 18, 2008

• Navy Game Notes (12-18-08)

NAVY (8-2) at CANISIUS (3-7)
Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008 • 2:00 pm (ET)
Koessler Athletic Center (2,176) • Buffalo, N.Y.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Navy looks for its ninth win of the season on Saturday at Canisius. The game will be the fourth contest in a five-game stretch away from Annapolis. The Mids are currently 2-1 on their five-game road trip that will end Monday night at 17th-ranked Villanova. Tip-off for Saturday's game is at 2:00 pm.
• The Mids are looking for their ninth win on Dec. 20, which would equal the earliest Navy has ever won nine games. Navy also won its ninth game of the year on Dec. 20, in the 2006-07 season. However, that team needed 12 games, whereas a win against Canisius would come in the 11th game of the year.
• Navy's 8-2 start matches the program's best start since the 1983-84 team started 9-1. The 1998-99 and 1984-85 teams also went 8-2.
• Navy has won three straight "true" non-conference road games, defeating William & Mary (Nov. 22), Penn (Dec. 5) and Mount St. Mary's (Dec. 9). Navy's only loss away from Alumni Hall was a neutral-court loss to Virginia Tech (Dec. 7).
• The Mids have won five of their last six December games, dating back to last year.
• Navy is 4-1 this season when trailing at halftime. Since the start of last year, Navy is 12-5 when trailing or tied at halftime.
• The Mids have held eight of their last nine opponents to 66 or fewer points in reguation. The lone team to surpass 66 points in regulation play during that span is Virginia Tech (79 points on Dec. 7).
• Navy leads the all-time series with Canisius, 1-0, winning last year's battle in Annapolis, 71-60.
• Navy has received votes in the Associated Press poll for the second time in three weeks. The Mids received one vote in both the Dec. 1 and the most-recent poll, Dec. 15.
• In addition, Navy has seen its number of votes increase in each of the last three weeks in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll. Navy's 29 points ranks it 36th among all teams and the highest among all Patriot League teams.

A Navy Win Would...
• be Navy's second in a row and ninth in the last 10 games. • tie (with the 2006-07 team) Navy's earliest date (Dec. 20) ever in winning its ninth game of the year.
• improve Navy to 9-2 for the first time since 1984-85. That team started 9-2 and was 14-2 after 16 games.
• improve head coach Billy Lange's overall record to 98-87.
• improve Navy to 2-0 all-time against Canisius.
• increase Navy's road-game winning streak to four games.
• push Navy's record all-time against the MAAC to 44-15, and move Billy Lange's record to 4-0 against the MAAC.

# GO NAVY #