Dec. 8, 2009

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Coming Up
• Navy hits the road for a true away game for the first time in 19 days as it heads over the Bay Bridge for a Wednesday night (Dec. 9) clash with Maryland-Eastern Shore.
• Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm at the W.P. Hytche Athletic Center (5,500) in Princess Anne, Md.

How To Follow
• Wednesday's game will air on WNAV (1430 AM / www.WNAV.com), beginning at 6:45 pm with the Navy basketball pregame show. Pete Medhurst will handle the call.
• The game will also be streamed online free of charge at www.UMESHawks.com(.)
• Lastly, gametracker will be provided at www.NavySports.com and fans can follow and receive text updates on Twitter at twitter.com/NavyAthletics(.)

Wednesday's Storylines
• Navy looks to get back in the win column on Wednesday after seeing its modest two-game winning streak end on Sunday vs. George Washington, 81-69.
• Navy can get back to .500 (5-5) with a win over Hawks.
• The Midshipmen have won four straight games against UMES, tied for the third-longest active winning streak against one opponent.

Scouting Navy
• Navy enters the contest with a 4-5 record, including a 1-3 record in games played away from Annapolis. Navy has defeated Longwood (79-76) on the road, but lost to Radford (76-65), Long Island (82-71) and George Washington (81-69) at a neutral site. The Mids own a 3-2 home record, winning their last two games at Alumni Hall by a combined nine points.
• Senior guard Chris Harris paces the Midshipmen in scoring at 21.4 ppg, ranking first in the Patriot League and 19th nationally in scoring. Harris has been on fire as of late, averaging 25.4 ppg in Navy's last five games, including a pair of 30-point efforts. Harris is the two-time defending Patriot League Player of the Week.
• Sophomore Jordan Sugars, who was named the league's Player of the Week on Nov. 16, is the only other Mid in double figures, averaging 13.9 ppg and a team-best 8.1 rpg. He has made 21-of-51 (.412) three-point attempts on the year.
• Four other players (Mark Veazey, Romeo Garcia, O.J. Avworo and T.J. Topercer) average between 5.2 and 9.0 ppg.
• As a team, Navy is shooting just 38.0 percent (315th nationally out of 334 teams) and scoring 68.8 ppg. Foes are shooting 41.7 percent (141 of 334 teams) and averaging 71.4 ppg. Navy ranks 41st nationally in free throw percentage (.745) and 27th in three-point percentage defense (.273).

Scouting Md.-Eastern Shore
• UMES enters the contest with a 2-5 record, and is coming off a 53-50 win over Delaware State, the program's first win over the Hornets since 2004, snapping a string of 10 straight defeats to DSU. The Hawks have lost to Stony Brook, Marquette, Missouri State, Eastern Michigan and The Citadel, but have been victorious in their last two games against Patriot League member American and Delaware State.
• Hillary Haley leads a balanced UMES attack at 10.9 ppg, but is shooting just 28.0 percent from the field. Six others average between 5.1 ppg and 8.9 ppg. Neal Pitt, who had 18 points and nine rebounds last year against Navy, paces UMES at 5.3 rpg and Kevin White dishes out 5.4 apg.
• As a team, UMES is shooting just 37.3 percent from the field (320-of-334 teams), 28.7 percent from long distance and 60.1 percent from the free throw line. The Hawks are getting outrebounded by over five rebounds a game, but average just 14.0 turnovers per game. Foes are shooting 48.8 percent against them and 36.1 percent from three-point range.

The Coaches
• Billy Lange (Rowan, 1994) is in his sixth year in charge at Navy, owning a 73-82 record on the banks of the Severn River. In his eighth year overall, he owns a 112-101 record after posting a 39-19 mark in two years at the Merchant Marine Academy in 2000 and 2001.
• Lange was named the 2008 Patriot League Coach of the Year after leading Navy to a second-place finish in the Patriot League after being picked seventh in the preseason poll. Last year, he led Navy to a third-place showing after being picked sixth.
• For his efforts last year, he was named one of 12 finalists for the prestigious Skip Prosser Award and was 10th in the mid-season voting for the Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award.
• Billy Lange and Paul Evans are the only Navy coaches (out of 19) that have equaled or surpassed the previous year's win total in their first five years in charge.
• In addition, Lange's 69 wins in his first five years rank as the third most in school history. Navy's final RPI has climbed all the way from 304 in his first year at Navy to 167 a year ago.
• Lange is assisted by Joe Burke, Eugene Burroughs, Jason Crafton, Ron Ginyard and Aaron Goodman.
• Frankie Allen (Roanoke College, 1971) in his second year at UMES, owning a 9-28 record. He is 232-322 in his 20th year as a collegiate head coach. Allen had previously served as the head coach at Virginia Tech, Tennessee State and Howard. He is assisted by G. Jamal Brown, Mike Blaine and Nick Robinson.

The Series With UMES
• Navy leads the all-time series with UMES, 5-1, and has posted four wins in a row by an average margin of 20.8 ppg, including three straight by at least 23 points. The four-game winning streak against the Hawks is tied for the third-longest active winning streak against one opponent.
• The teams split the first two meetings with Navy defeating the Hawks, 76-66, in the 1982-83 season. UMES then won its lone game in the series in the 1993-94 season, a year that Navy would reach the NCAA Tournaments, 82-71.
• Since then, the series has been all Navy, outscoring the Hawks, 76.3 to 55.5, in the last four games.
• Navy head coach Billy Lange is 3-0 against the Hawks and owns a 1-0 (last year vs. UMES) record vs. Allen.
• Allen is 0-1 against Navy, falling in last year's meeting, 76-51, in Annapolis on Nov. 25.

Recapping Last Week
• Navy had a busy week from Nov. 30 to Dec. 6, playing three games in a seven-game span, posting a 2-1 record. The Mids defeated Quinnipiac (65-62) and Penn (73-67), before falling to George Washington (81-69) on Sunday. Despite posting a 2-1 record during the week, Navy was outscored in its three games, 210-207 (70.0 to 69.0).
• Chris Harris led three Navy players in double figures, averaging 24.3 ppg last week and was 14-of-32 (.438) from three-point range. Jordan Sugars averaged 12.7 ppg and 7.3 rpg and Mark Veazey contributed 12.3 ppg.

Keeping It Close
• Navy is just one of 18 teams nationally that have not lost by 20 or more points in the last two-plus seasons (start of 2007-08). Navy's worst loss during that span was an 86-68 setback in the season opener to Towson a year ago.
• Just six teams nationally have not had a loss by as much as 18 points, and Navy is one of 11 teams nationally to have not had a loss by more than 18 points.

Inside the Numbers
• When the Midshipmen attempt more free throws than their opponent under Lange, Navy is 46-8.
• When Navy shoots a higher percentage than its opponent from the field under Lange, the Mids are 46-9.
• Navy is 58-22 all-time under Lange when scoring 70 or more.
• Navy is 38-16 all-time under Lange when shooting 42 percent or better from the field.
• The Midshipmen are red-hot from the free throw line, shooting 79.7 percent (114-of-143) in the last six games.
• Navy has made a three-pointer in 193 straight games, dating back to a Jan. 26, 2003, contest vs. Colgate.
• Since Billy Lange has taken over at Navy, the Mids have made at least three three-pointers in 153-of-155 games played.

Lange and His Homestands
• Navy recently wrapped up a season-long four-game homestand with a 3-1 record. Its lone loss came on Nov. 28, vs. preseason Northeast Conference favorite Mount St. Mary's, 65-56, in overtime.
• In Lange's five-plus years at Navy, the team has had nine homestands of three or more games. During the homestands, Navy is a combined 20-11, and has had at least a .500 record in seven of the nine homestands.

Beyond the Arc
• Navy made a season-high 12 three-pointers on 35 attempts in the loss to George Washington on Sunday. The 35 attempts are the sixth most in school history.
• In addition, Chris Harris made seven three-pointers, tied for the sixth most in school history. Harris has made seven three-pointers in a game four times during his career.
• Harris needs just 12 three-pointers to tie Greg Sprink for the top spot on the career list with 237.
• In the last three years, Navy has recorded the top three single-season three-pointers made and attempted totals, including school records of 288 made and 820 attempted in 2007-08.
• Navy teams under Lange have made 13 or more three-pointers in a game 16 times. Prior to his arrival, Navy made 13 or more three-pointers in a game just five times.
• Ironically, when Navy makes 13 or more three-pointers in a game under Lange, the Mids are just 9-7.

Solid at the Stripe
• Navy started the year struggling at the free throw line, but has turned it around nicely in the last six games.
• Through the first three games of the season, Navy was just 41-of-65 (.631) from the free throw line. Over the last six games, Navy has gone 114-of-143 (.797) from the charity stripe.
• Throwing out Billy Lange's first year at Navy (2004-05), Navy can make a case as the country's best free throw shooting team, at least in terms of national rankings.
• Over the last four years, Navy has ranked in the top 70 nationally in free throw percentage and owns four of the top eight single-season percentages on the Navy charts.
• Now, including this year, Navy is one of three teams from the above list (Harvard and California) to rank in the top 70 nationally in each of the last five years, meaning Navy, California and Harvard are the only schools out of 334 to rank in the top 70 in free throw percentage every year since the start of 2005-06.
• Navy is shooting .736 from the free throw line since the start of the 2005-06 season, making 1,917 of its 2,606 attempts.

Tale of Two Halves
• Navy has had much luck starting games, but not much luck finishing games, showing signs of struggle in the second half.
• Navy is outscoring its seven opponents in the first half (305-293), but is getting outscored by three points per game in the second half (312-339).

Navy and League Honors
• Navy has started the year off on the right foot, garnering three of the Patriot League's first four weekly honors. Jordan Sugars was named the initial weekly winner after averaging 15.0 ppg and 12.0 rpg during Navy's opening weekend.
• Chris Harris has been honored in each of the last two weeks after averaging 25.4 ppg in the last five games (two weeks).
• Navy has won 34 PL Player of the Week awards since joining the league, the fourth most in league history.
• Since the start of last year, Navy players have won eight of the 20 weekly honors, three more than American, who is next on the list with five.

Harris Raking In The Honors
• Chris Harris has been named back-to-back Patriot League Player of the Week, joining just Michael Heary, Skip Victor and Kaleo Kina as Navy players to win the award in back-to-back weeks.
• He was then honored as the MidMajority.com Baller of the Week on Tuesday (Dec. 8), and also the ECAC Player of the Week on Tuesday (Dec. 1).
• Harris scored a career-high 37 points in the Mids' 87-70 win over Towson on Nov. 24. It equaled the most points for a Navy player since Michael Heary scored 38 in the 1996-97 season. The 37 points were one shy of the Alumni Hall record for a Navy player and the 16th most in school history.
• He then added 17 points, all in the second half and OT, in the loss to Mount St. Mary's, 31 in the win over Quinnipiac, 16 in the win over Penn and 26 in the loss to George Washington. Over his last five games, Harris has made 18 three-pointers, while scoring 127 points for a 25.4 ppg average.
• Harris currently leads the team and the Patriot League, and ranks 19th nationally in scoring at 21.4 ppg.
• Harris owns five of the top 13 single-game three-point performances in school history. His eight three-pointers are the third most in school history, while his seven three-pointers (four different times) are tied for sixth in school history.
• In addition, Harris also owns six of the top 15 single-game three-pointers attempted marks.

Harris 30-Point Facts
• With his 31-point performance agianst Quinnipiac on Nov. 30, Chris Harris became the seventh player to have two 30-point games in a three-game span (John Clune, Jack Conrad, Don Lange, Bill Radcliffe, David Robinson, Greg Sprink and John Tolmie).
• Harris also became one of 10 players in school history with three 30-point games in his career (30 vs. Villanova last year, 37 vs. Towson, 31 vs. Quinnipiac).
• Harris' 37 points against Towson were the second most in Alumni Hall history for a Navy player behind Michael Heary's 38 points vs. Holy Cross (Jan. 29, 1997).
• The 37 points were the most for a Patriot League player since Holy Cross' Keith Simmons scored 38 vs. Chattanooga on Dec. 5, 2005.
• In addition, Harris teamed with Jordan Sugars to combine for 61 points, the fourth most for a Navy duo in school history and the most for a Navy pain in Alumni Hall.
• Harris had all 37 of his points in the game's first 33 minutes, failing to score in the last seven minutes.
• He then notched his second 30-point game of the year last Monday vs. Quinnipiac with 31 points. Harris reached the 30-point mark on the game's final shot, a half-court buzzer-beater that gave Navy a 65-62 decision.

# GO NAVY #