Feb. 12, 2010

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SATURDAY'S GAME BASICS
Navy (12-12 / 6-3 PL) completes leg two of its annual trip to the Lehigh Valley on Saturday with a key Patriot League contest at Lafayette (14-10 / 5-4 PL), beginning at 1:00 pm on Saturday in Easton, Pa. The two teams are separated by just one game in the Patriot League standings and a Navy win would allow the Mids to avoid a season sweep at the hands of Lafayette. Navy sits tied for first in the league standings at 6-3, but holds the tiebreaker edge over Lehigh (6-3 PL) after sweeping the Mountain Hawks. Pete Medhurst will handle the call on the radio dial, beginning with the Navy basketball pregame show at 12:45 on WNAV (1430 AM) and SIRIUS (Ch. 130). The game will also be streamed online as part of the Navy and Patriot League All-Access packages, and Gametracker will be provided on NavySports.com.

NOTEWORTHY
• Navy owns a 40-24 series advantage, but is 10-14 against Lafayette in Easton, and just 3-6 all-time in the Kirby Sports Center. The two teams have split the season series in each of the last two years with Lafayette winning the first meeting and Navy controlling the second game.
• Head coach Billy Lange is 6-5 all-time against Lafayette, one of three Patriot League teams that Lange has a winning record against (Lehigh and Army).
• Just three of the last 11 games (Lange's tenure) have been decided by single-digits.
• The three road teams from Wednesday night all won their games (Navy at Lehigh, Colgate at Lafayette, Holy Cross at Army). Navy, Lafayette and Lehigh are the only league teams to have won two league road games.
• Since the start of the 2007-08 season, Navy is 47-37 overall and 23-14 in the Patriot League. Just American at 52-36 overall and 27-9 in the Patriot League have better records during that span.
• Despite owning just a 3-9 record away from Annapolis, Navy improved to 2-2 in league play away from home. Navy has defeated Bucknell (69-67) and Lehigh (85-78) in road games this year. The Mids must still play Lafayette (Saturday), Army (Feb. 20) and Colgate (Feb. 27) on the road in league play. The Mids have the chance to complete season sweeps against Army and Colgate on the road.
• In Navy's 12 home games (9-3) this year, the Mids are averaging 75.4 ppg while shooting 42.6 percent from the field, 41.6 percent from the free throw line and 75.9 percent from the free throw line. In Navy's 12 games (3-9) away from Annapolis, Navy is averaging 67.8 ppg while shooting 39.1 percent from the field, 33.0 percent from long distance and 68.4 percent from the free throw line. The Mids are getting outrebounded by 9.8 rebounds per game away from Annapolis.
• With its two-point win over Bucknell last Friday night, Navy is 8-0 in games decided by six or fewer points. Since the start of last year, Navy is 19-6 in games decided by six points or less and is 10-1 in games decided by three or fewer points.
• Navy is averaging a league-best 8.4 three-pointers per game and is on pace for 251 three-pointers which would rank third all-time at Navy behind the 2007-08 (288) team and the 2006-07 (260) team. In addition, Navy's 37.1 three-point percentage is the highest since 1996-97 and would rank fifth on the all-time Navy list. Already, the 201 three-pointers rank fifth all-time.
• With Romeo Garcia leading the team in rebounding against Lehigh, it marked the first time in a 13-game span that Jordan Sugars did not lead the team in rebounding. The last time a Navy player other than Sugars led the team in rebounding came Dec. 12 against Wofford.
• Navy is one of three schools nationally (Harvard and California) to rank in the top 70 nationally in free throw percentage in each of the last five years. This year's team is shooting 72.5 percent to rank 62nd.
• Over the last three games, all victories, Navy is averaging 88.7 points per game, while shooting 46.7 percent from the field and a sizzling 51.9 percent from three-point range.
• With O.J. Avworo winning Patriot League Player of the Week, Navy players have won five of the 13 weekly awards this year and 10 of the 29 since the start of last year.
• Chris Harris continues to lead the Patriot League in scoring at 21.4 ppg. He is trying to become the third different Navy player to lead the league in scoring in each of the past four years. Greg Sprink led the league in scoring in 2006-07 and 2007-08, while Kaleo Kina led the league in scoring last year.
• Over the last five games, Harris is averaging 26.8 ppg while shooting 57.1 percent (20-of-35) from three-point range. During that span, he has two 30-point games (30 vs. Army and 40 vs. Lehigh).
• Harris has scored in double figures in all 24 games this year, one of 21 players to score in double figures in every game this year. His 24-game double-figure streak is the fifth longest in school history. Harris has scored at least 20 points in six of the last eight games, and is pacing the league in league games only at 23.9 ppg. He has 13 20-point efforts this year.
• Jordan Sugars needs just 38 points and 28 rebounds to become the sixth player in school history with 400 points and 225 rebounds in a season. He would be just the third sophomore (David Robinson and Vernon Butler) to accomplish the feat.
• O.J. Avworo became the first player in school history to have three consecutive games of 10 or more assists. Over the last three games, he has 31 assists against just five turnovers, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 6.20.

WEDNESDAY'S LEHIGH RECAP
• Chris Harris scored a career-high 40 points and Navy took over first place in the Patriot League with an 85-78 win over Lehigh, in front of a handful of fans at Stabler Arena. The win moved Navy's overall record to .500 (12-12) for the first time since being 4-4 on Dec. 4.
• Navy led by seven at halftime, 43-36, before Lehigh opened the second half scoring the first nine points of the half. The game was still tied at 60-60 when Navy took control with a 16-6 run.
• Romeo Garcia joined Harris in double figures with 10 points, while adding a team-high seven rebounds. Garcia connected on a big three-pointer late in the second half as the shot clock wound down to cap off Navy's 16-6 spurt. Garcia added one assist and two steals.
• Meanwhile, O.J. Avworo had his third big game in a row, just missing yet another double-double with eight points and 11 assists against just two turnovers.
• The Mids have now scored 80 points or more in three straight games for the first time since Dec. 22, 2007 to Jan. 2, 2008. Navy improved to 28-5 all-time under Lange when reaching the 80-point mark.

MORE ON HARRIS' 40-POINT NIGHT
• Chris Harris' 40 points against Lehigh were the most for a Navy player in a Patriot League game.
• The 40 points were the most since David Robinson had 50 in his final collegiate game against Michigan in the 1987 NCAA Tournament (March 12, 1987).
• The 40 points were the 11th most in school history.
• He became the sixth player in school history to score 40 points (John Clune, Don Lange, Bill Radcliffe, David Robinson and John Tolmie).
• He now has five career 30-point games, becoming the sixth player in school history to do that. His four 30-point games this year are the eighth most in a single season and he is only the sixth player to have four 30-point games in a year.
• The 40 points were the most for a Patriot Leaguer since the 2005 season, and the 11th most in a game nationally this year.

HARRIS ON A BIG-TIME ROLL
• Senior guard Chris Harris enters the game as the Patriot League's leading scorer at 21.4 ppg, while ranking 14th nationally. In league games only, Harris is averaging 23.9 ppg.
• Harris now has 1,517 career points to rank eighth on the career scoring list at Navy. He needs 11 points to tie Kaleo Kina for seventh. His 1,517 points rank 19th in the Patriot League annals.
• Harris also needs just one assist to become the second player in school history to score 1,500 points, dish out 250 assists and grab 150 steals. Kaleo Kina is the other.
• Harris has 72 three-pointers this year to rank sixth on the single-season list this year. He already ranks first (91 in 2008) and second (85 in 2009). His 272 career three-pointers rank first by a wide margin (Greg Sprink, 2nd w/ 237). He ranks fifth on the Patriot League list for three-pointers made.
• In the last eight games, Harris is averaging 25.0 ppg, while shooting 50.0 percent (28-of-56) from long distance and 91.9 percent (68-of-74) from the free throw line. In Navy's six league wins, Harris averages 26.2 ppg and has made 23 three-pointers.
• Leads the Patriot League in scoring (21.4 ppg), free throw percentage (.886), three-pointers made (72) and steals (1.8).
• Has scored 29.92 percent of Navy's points this year, the 12th-highest percentage in the NCAA this year. His 514 points already rank 12th on the single-season points list and his 21.4 ppg average is the 10th-best mark in school history.
• Has the two longest consecutive free throws made in a row marks, making 37 and 35 in a row, respectively, earlier this year.
• Lastly, his 88.6 percent free throw percentage is second in school history behind Scott Long's 88.9 percent in 2002. He is a career 85.3 percent free throw shooter, ranking third on that list. Already his 156 free throws made rank as the eighth most in school history, and ranks fourth nationally.

THREE-POINT SNIPING
• Navy has made a three-pointer in 208 straight games and at least three three-pointers in 168-of-170 games during the Lange era.
• The Mids are shooting 42-of-81 (.519) from three-point range in the last three games, all wins.
• Navy made 15 three-pointers vs. Colgate, the second-best total in school history. The Mids then made 13 vs. Bucknell (then the 10th-best mark in school history), before making 14 against Lehigh on Wednesday night, tied for the sixth-best total in Navy history.
• Of the 26 times in school history that Navy has made 13 or more three-pointers in a game, 21 of the occurrences have come under Lange.
• Chris Harris' 72 three-pointers are the sixth most in school history, while Jordan Sugars' 61 are the ninth most.
• In addition, Romeo Garcia is shooting 42.3 percent from long range (30-of-71) to rank seventh on the Navy single-season three-point percentage list. Sugars ranks eighth at 42.1 percent (61-of-145).
• Chris Harris made eight three-pointers against Lehigh, tied for the third most in school history. Harris has made seven or more three-pointers in a game six times during his career. Of the 15 times that a Navy player has made seven or more treys in a game, eight of the occurrences have come under Lange.

NAVY DUO PROVIDING FIREPOWER
• The Navy duo of Chris Harris and Jordan Sugars are averaging a combined 36.5 points per game between them, having scored 876 points so far. The pair has scored 51.0 percent of Navy's points this year and are on pace for 1,095 points (30-game season), which would make them the seventh Navy duo to score a combined 1,000 points and would be the fifth-highest total in school history.
• Harris is already part of two Navy duos (with Greg Sprink in 2008; with Kaleo Kina in 2009) that has scored 1,000 combined points.
• If Harris (21.4 ppg) and Sugars (15.1) keep their averages over 15.0 ppg, they would become the seventh Navy pair to each average 15.0 ppg in a season.

A STAR IN WAITING
• There is no secret that Chris Harris has waited for his opportunity to become Navy's primary offensive threat, ranking second on the team in each of the last two seasons behind Greg Sprink in 2008 and Kaleo Kina in 2009.
• Now that Harris has taken over the offensive reigns, a new offensive star appears to have emerged as a go-to-guy down the road. Jordan Sugars' 15.1 ppg average currently ranks as the fifth-best average by a sophomore in school history behind David Robinson (23.6), Kevin Sinnett (16.0), John Clune (21.2) and John Tolmie (17.5). In addition, his 8.2 rebound per game average is the fifth-best average by a Navy sophomore.
• Sugars is on pace for 453 points and 246 rebounds (30-game season), which would make him the fifth player in school history (Eddie Reddick, David Robinson, Vernon Butler and Don Lange) with 400 points and 225 rebounds in a season, and just the third sophomore (Robinson and Butler) to reach those marks. Just three players (Robinson, Lange and Butler) have grabbed 250 rebounds in a season.
• Lastly, Sugars' 11.9-point per game improvement from last year ranks as the second-best improvement nationally from last year to this year. Just Pittsburgh's Ashton Gibbs (12.0 ppg) has a better improvement.

MAY I ASSIST YOU?
• Since O.J. Avworo's insertion into the starting lineup at the start of last year, the junior transker has accustomed himself nicely to Billy Lange's style of play. He is now playing the best basketball of his career, averaging 11.0 ppg and 8.6 apg against just 2.2 turnovers per game in the last five outings.
• Avworo already has 242 assists in just 53 career games, moving into 14th place on the career assists list. His per game average of 4.57 assists per game is the fifth-best average in a career.
• So far this year, he has 133 assists to rank 15th on the single-season chart. He is averaging 5.78 assists per game to rank 10th on the single-season assists per game list.
• He owns a career assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.66 (242-to-146) to rank tied for sixth on that list.
• He became the first player in school history to have 10 or more assists in three straight games, and was the first player in school history to have double-doubles featuring points and assists when he had 14 points and 10 assists against Colgate and 17 points and 10 assists against Bucknell. He narrowly missed his third straight double-double with eight points and 11 assists against Lehigh.
• Over the last three games, Avworo is averaging 13.0 ppg and 10.3 apg while having an assist-to-turnover ratio of 31-to-5 (6.20).

ADVENTURES WITH NAVY BASKETBALL
• Navy has had several adventurous times the last couple of weeks as the Mid-Atlantic blizzards have affected Navy's basketball team.
• Against Colgate on Jan. 31, eight inches of snow fell the day of the game, limiting the crowd to just 1,098 fans. Navy officials were expecting a crowd of about 3,500 for the contest.
• A week later, Navy officials moved up its game with Bucknell to Friday night because of the blizzard that hit the Mid-Atlantic on Feb. 5-6. Annapolis received 28 inches of snow and just 417 fans made the dangerous trek out to Alumni Hall. Navy officials were expecting close to 4,000 fans for that game.
• The team then moved up its departure to noon on Tuesday (instead of 4:00 pm) when another major storm affected the region. The game was played somehow on Wednesday night, despite dangerous snow-covered roads and a trip to Lehigh's Stabler Arena that should take 12 minutes that took 45 minutes.
• Since Navy did not have classes on Wednesday or Thursday, the team decided to stay in the region and practiced at Muhlenberg College on both Thursday and Friday.

WHEN IT GETS COLD, NAVY HEATS UP
• Even with the travel issues and major storms in the area, Navy is playing its best basketball when the more snow has fallen. Over the last three games, Navy is averaging 88.7 points per game, is shooting 46.7 percent from the field, 51.9 percent from three-point range and 70.9 percent from the free throw line.
• Navy has had assists on 60-of-84 field goals (71.4 percent) and has averaged 20.0 assists over the last three games against just 12.7 turnovers per game. Navy has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.58 (60-to-38) over the last three games.

.500 IN LEAGUE PLAY USUALLY MEANS TOP FOUR SEED
• A Navy win over Lafayette would give the Mids a 7-3 record in league play with just four to play, assuring Navy a .500 record in Patriot League play. Just four times in Patriot League history has a team finished .500 or better and not been a top four seed in the league tournament (1992 Colgate, 2002 Lafayette, 2003 Bucknell and 2004 Holy Cross).
• In addition, a win would give Navy a 7-3 start in the Patriot League for the first time since the 2000-01 season. Navy has been 7-3 or better in six previous seasons and in the years it started 7-3 or better, Navy never finished worse than 9-3 (when there were seven league teams) or third in the league standings. Navy won the conference title four previous times when it started 7-3 or better.

SENIORS RECEIVE SERVICE ASSIGNMENTS
• At dinner on Thursday night, while the basketball team was at the Bethlehem Brewworks Restaurant, the three seniors on the team (Chris Harris, T.J. Topercer, Scott Brooks) all received their service assignments via text message from friends back in Annapolis, where the ceremony was being held. All three seniors, who all received the selection of Surface Warfare Officer, received their first choices. The seniors will board the ships as commissioned officers following graduation in late May.
• Chris Harris will board the U.S.S. Fort McHenry in Norfolk, Va., and will join former teammates and 2009 grads Clif Colbert and Adam Teague on the ship.
• Scott Brooks received the assignment of the U.S.S. Wemby Island in Little Creek, Va.
• Lastly, T.J. Topercer will board an amphibious (also known as an LSD) ship, the U.S.S. Germantown, in San Diego.

WHAT'S NEXT
• Navy will return home for its second-to-last home game of the season on Wednesday night against Holy Cross, beginning at 7:00 pm in Alumni Hall. The Mids will be looking to avenge a 79-60 loss to the Crusaders on Jan. 20.

# GO NAVY #