Nov. 15, 2011

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GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Navy (2-0) at Siena (0-0)
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Albany, N.Y. • Times Union Center (8,444)
Radio: WNAV (1430 AM, 99.9 FM / www.wnav.com) | SIRIUS Satellite Radio: Channel 134
Radio Announcer: Pete Medhurst
Television: Time-Warner Sports (New York)
TV Announcers: Robert Lee, Tom Huerter
Streaming Video: www.NavySports.com ($7.95)
Tickets: 518-487-2202 or available at door
Series: First Meeting

Quick Hits
• Navy will make its first of two trips in a 10-day span to New York's state capital city of Albany to face traditional power Siena on Wednesday night at the Times Union Center. Navy will also face the University of Albany on Nov. 25.
• Tip-off is slated for 7:00 pm and the contest will be televised by Time-Warner Sports (in New York) and online via Siena's All-Access platform. Pete Medhurst will handle the call courtside for Navy radio on WNAV (1430 AM, 99.9 FM, wnav.com) and SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Channel 134), beginning with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
• This will be the first meeting in school history between the two teams. Siena is the second of six first-time opponents on this year's slate.
• Navy is off to a 2-0 start for the first time in nine seasons, dating back to the 2002-03 campaign. Navy last started 3-0 in the 1998-99 season. The Mids are 2-0 for only the fourth time since joining the Patriot League in 1991-92 (1993-94, 1998-99, 2002-03, 2011-12).
• First-year head coach Ed DeChellis became the first coach to win his Navy debut since Dave Smalley defeated Baltimore, 65-59, to start the 1966-67 season. DeChellis and the Navy squad won at Longwood last Friday night, 78-70. The previous five head coaches had all dropped their Navy opener.
• DeChellis then became the first coach to start his Navy career 2-0 since Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Ben Carnevale started 2-0 in the 1946-47 season. The last Navy coach to start his career 3-0 was John Wilson, who began his career 9-0 in the 1926-27 season.
• Navy is outscoring its opponents by an average of 21.0 points per game at 83.0 to 62.0 points per game. • Navy is 8-5 in its last 13 games dating back to last year. In the previous 24 games spanning two seasons (2009-10, 2010-11), Navy was 5-19.
• Navy has outrebounded consecutive opponents by at least eight rebounds in each game for the first time since December 2-5, 2008, against Texas-San Antonio and Penn.
• Navy has shot at least 54.0 percent from the field in consecutive games for the first time since November 14-19, 2006, against Brown (.543) and Stony Brook (.581). Navy shot 54.0 percent against Longwood and 56.5 percent against Penn State Altoona.
• Navy has recorded at least 20 assists in two straight games for the first time since Feb. 7-10, 1999, against Army and Holy Cross. Navy had 20 assists against Longwood and 21 against Penn State Altoona.
• Navy's 33 three-point attempts equal the fewest in a two-game span since Dec. 2-5, 2008, against Texas-San Antonio (11) and Penn (17). Navy had 15 three-point attempts vs. Longwood and 18 against Penn State-Altoona. Navy has made at least five three-pointers in 13 consecutive games and at least one three-pointer in 247 straight games, dating back to the 2002-03 season.
• Navy has had 41 assists on 62 made baskets this season and is shooting 50-of-79 (.633) from inside the three-point line so far this year.
• Navy has had eight different players score in double figures through two games this season. Last year, Navy had nine players reach double-figure scoring in a game during the entire season.

Previewing Siena
• Siena has been one of the top mid-major programs of the last few years and expectations are high that the Saints will once again be strong after last year's 13-18 record. The Saints return two starters, but will be without the services of returning starting point guard Rakeem Brookins, who will miss the entire season with a bulging and herniated disk in his back.
• The contest will be the season opener for the Saints, who are picked to finish sixth in the competitive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). The Saints have been dealt some big blows in the last couple of weeks as a pair of highly-regarded freshmen from Africa were declared ineligible in late October by the NCAA, on top of Brookins' injury. The Saints must also replace one of the school's all-time greats in Ryan Rossiter, who was the MAAC Player of the Year, after averaging 18.7 points per game and 13.2 rebounds per game.
• Siena will still pose quite a formidable task, especially on the interior, where it is expected to start three players 6-6 or taller. OD Anosike is the most-decorated of the trio, averaging 8.9 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per outing a year ago. Owen Wignot also returns after aveaging 6.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in 28 starts. Guard Kyle Downey appeared in 23 games, averaging 6.2 points per game last winter.

Series History With Siena
• This will be the first meeting between the two teams.
• Navy is 43-16 (.729) all-time against teams from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (1-1 vs. Canisius, 4-0 vs. Fairfield, 20-4 vs. Loyola (Md.) and 18-11 vs. Manhattan). Two of Navy's four wins against Fairfield came in the 1985-86 seasons when Siena's current head coach Mitch Buonaguro roamed the Fairfield sidelines as its head coach.
• Navy is 152-121 (.557) all-time vs. Division I schools in the state of New York.
• Lastly, Navy is 3-1 all-time on November 16.

Up Next
• After Navy heads to the New York Capital region to face traditional power Siena on Wednesday, the Mids will catch a flight on Thursday morning, then return to the airways again for a Saturday, Nov. 19, contest at Quinnipiac in Hamden, Conn.
• Navy leads the series with Quinnipiac, 1-0, defeating the Bobcats on Nov. 30, 2009, when Chris Harris banked in a 45-footer as the clock expired to give Navy a 65-62 victory at Alumni Hall.
• The Mids will then return home to face Conference USA member Tulane on Tuesday, Nov. 22, at Alumni Hall. It will be the first meeting against the Green Wave.
• Navy closes out the hectic travel schedule with another flight to Albany, N.Y., to take on the University of Albany in the team's first meeting on Friday, Nov. 25.
• Navy ends the Thanksgiving Holiday with a home game on Sunday, November 27, against Mount St. Mary's. Navy leads the series with the Mount, 8-6, including an 81-68 decision in Emmitsburg last year.

A Navy Win Over Siena Would ...
• Give Navy a 3-0 start for the first time since the 1998-99 season.
• Improve Navy's road record to 2-0 after going 4-11 in true road games during the 2010-11 season.
• Allow Ed DeChellis to start his Navy career 3-0, becoming the first coach since John Wilson in 1926-27 to do so.
• Improve its record to 9-5 over the last 14 games dating back to last year.

More Quick Hits
• Navy will be facing a team playing in its season opener for the second straight game as Siena tips off its season on Wednesday night. Penn State Altoona was playing its season opener on Sunday afternoon.
• Of teams across the country that have played at least two games this year (through Sunday), Navy is tied for third in the country in field goal percentage (.554) behind Texas A&M and Indiana.
• Navy's starting lineups during the first two games have featured one senior (Jordan Sugars) and four sophomores and / or freshman. In the opener against Longwood, Navy started one senior (Sugars), three sophomores (Avila, Loupos and Roberts) and one freshman (Alter). In the win over Penn State Altoona on Sunday, Wyatt (a sophomore) started for Alter.
• Through Monday's games, Navy has two of the Patriot League's three wins so far during the 2011-12 season.
• Navy ranks as the 10th-youngest, least-experienced team in America for the upcoming season in terms of years of experience per player. Of Navy's 16 players on the roster, 12 are freshmen or sophomores and the lone junior, Jordan Brickman, did not play basketball during his first two years at Navy.
• Senior guard Jordan Sugars ranks 20th on the Navy career scoring list with 1,043 points. He is also tied for 20th on the school's career rebounding list (499) and fifth on Navy's career three-pointers made list (159).
• Sugars needs 457 points and 101 rebounds to join past Navy greats David Robinson (1984-87; 2,669 pts, 1,315 rebs), Vernon Butler (1983-86; 1,952 pts, 1,115 rebs) and Kevin Sinnett (1976-79; 1,687 pts, 797 rebs) as the only players in school history with 1,500 points and 600 career rebounds. Standing just 6-3, Sugars is already the shortest player in school history to become a part of the 1,000-point / 500-rebound club.
• Sugars was one of three players returning nationally (UC Santa Barbara's Orlando Johnson and Missouri State's Kyle Weems) to average 16.0 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game and make at least 60 three-pointers a year ago.
• Sugars saw his streak of eight straight games scoring in double figures end against Penn State Altoona, but he has still made a three-pointer in nine straight games.
• Sugars has scored in double-figures in 51 of his 89 career games and has 19 career 20-point games. Since the start of his sophomore season, Sugars has reached double-figures in 49-of-60 games and has made a three-pointer in 55-of-60 games during that span.
• Carlton Smith is shooting 13-of-19 (.684) from the field during his career. He is already 5-of-6 (.833) this year.
• Kevin Alter became the third freshman in school history to start at point guard in the season opener, joining Corey Johnson (2004-05 season) and Bruce Grooms (1976-77) as the only players to do so.
• J.J. Avila needs 18 points for 400 in his career. If he were to get it against Siena, he would do so in his 34th career game, which would be tied for the third-fastest mark since freshmen became eligible before the 1972-73 season. John Clune (1952-54) owns the record at 19 games, but he did it in his first season as a sophomore when freshmen were not eligible to play.
• Although the season is young, Avila ranks fifth in the Patriot League in rebounding (7.0), first in field goal percentage (.786) and second in assists (4.5). Of players that have played at least two games, Avila is fifth in the country in field goal percentage (.786).
• Jordan Brickman is the lone junior on the team and has six assists against two turnovers in 23 minutes of action. Brickman was recruited by Billy Lange as a freshman, but left the team during his freshman season. He has since rejoined the squad and gives the Mids a viable option at the point guard position.
• Thurgood Wynn has scored 16 points in just 20 minutes so far this year. After shooting 13-of-37 (.351) as a freshman, Wynn is shooting 7-of-10 (.700) from the field so far this year.
• Jared Smoot's first two baskets during his career at Navy have been thunderous dunks, both coming against Penn State Altoona. Chall Montgomery also scored his first career points on a breakaway dunk against the Lions.

# GO NAVY #