Nov. 18, 2011
• Game Notes | Live Stats | Twitter Updates
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Navy (2-1) at Quinnipiac (1-1)
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Hamden, Conn. • TD Bank Sports Center (3,254)
Radio: No Navy radio / Quinnipiac radio can be found on WQUN (1220 AM)
Television: None
Streaming Video: None
Tickets: 203-582-3905 or available at door
Series: Navy leads, 1-0
SATURDAY'S GAME BASICS
After a quick pit stop in Annapolis on Thursday, Navy returns to the airways to face Quinnipiac on Saturday afternoon in Hamden, Conn. Tip-off is slated for 2:00 pm at the beautiful, new TD Bank Sports Center on Quinnipiac's campus. There will be no Navy radio, due to conflicts with the Navy football game at San Jose State. Quinnipiac's radio will be on WQUN (1220 AM) and live stats and twitter updates will be available via links on NavySports.com(.)
MIDSHIPMEN UPDATE
• Navy's new offensive philosophy under head coach Ed DeChellis has paid off early in the 2011-12 season. DeChellis preaches taking good shots and taking care of the basketball and so far, Navy has done that. The Mids are shooting 51.2 percent from the field, one year after ranking 320th nationally in field goal percentage (.393). The Midshipmen have recorded assists on 64.7 percent (55 assists on 85 baskets) of their made field goals after having assists on just 55.8 percent (387 assists on 694 baskets) last year. The Mids are shooting a sizzling 68-of-111 (.613) from inside the three-point line so far this year.
• The Mids boast an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.22 (55-to-45) and are averaging 15.0 turnovers per game. The Mids must improve on that number as Navy committed 15.3 turnovers per game a year ago, while playing a faster tempo.
• Another area that has been stressed this year is rebounding. Navy is coming off its two worst seasons in school history in terms of rebounding margin, including a minus-9.4 margin a year ago. Navy is off to a strong start in that category, outrebounding its three opponents by 7.7 boards per game while outrebounding Longwood by seven, Penn State Altoona by 18 and being outrebounded by Siena by two.
• Navy started the season 2-0 for the first time since the 2002-03 season but was dealt its first loss of the season on Wednesday night against Siena, 65-56. The Mids were looking for their first 3-0 start since the 1998-99 season. As it stands, first-year head coach Ed DeChellis became the first coach to start his Navy career 2-0 since Naismith Hall of Famer Ben Carnevale started his Navy career 2-0 in 1946-47. DeChellis ranks fourth among current Patriot League head coaches with 221 career wins (American's Jeff Jones - 329; Bucknell's Dave Paulsen - 308; Lafayette's Fran O'Hanlon - 228).
SIENA RECAP
Siena used an 18-4 run spanning the halftime break, then held off a late Navy charge to deal the Midshipmen their first loss of the season in a 65-56 decision in front of 5,896 fans at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. The Mids jumped out to a 17-11 lead with 11:00 left to play in the first half, but scored just 10 points over the next 15 minutes to see Siena take its largest lead of the game at 43-27. The Mids rallied, cutting the margin to four (60-56) on Jordan Brickman's first career three-pointer with 48 seconds left, but Siena forced a pair of big turnovers in the final minute and made its free throws for the nine-point victory.
Navy shot a season-low 42.6 percent (23-of-54) from the field and was just 5-of-22 (.227) from the three-point line. The big difference came at the free throw line, where Siena held a 17-5 advantage and had 27 free throw attempts to Navy's nine. J.J. Avila paced the Mids with another solid floor game, producing 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists before fouling out with 15 seconds left. Freshman Worth Smith had the best game of his young career, scoring 10 points with six rebounds and two assists in 27 minutes off the bench.
NOTEWORTHY
• Navy had shot at least 54.0 percent, outrebounded both of its opponents and had an assist-to-turnover ratio of better than 1.00 in its first two wins of the season (78-70 over Longwood; 88-54 over Penn State Altoona). In the loss to Siena, the Mids shot 42.6 percent, were outrebounded by two caroms and had 14 assists against 15 turnovers.
• Navy is shooting 68-of-111 (.613) from inside the three-point line so far this year. The Mids were 21-of-35 (.600) against Longwood, 29-of-44 (.659) against Penn State Altoona and 18-of-32 (.563) against Siena. Conversely, Navy is shooting just 17-of-55 (.309) from three-point range this year and is 11-of-40 (.275) over the last two games.
• Entering the Quinnipiac game, Navy has made at least five three-pointers in 14 straight games dating back to last year and at least one three-pointer in 248 consecutive games, dating back to the 2003 season.
• Eight of Navy's first 12 games of the season will be away from Annapolis. The Midshipmen are 1-1 so far on the road with a win over Longwood (78-70) in the season opener and a loss to Siena (65-56) on Wednesday night.
• Navy's 28-point halftime lead (49-21) against Penn State Altoona was tied for the ninth-largest halftime lead in school history. It was the largest halftime lead since leading Washington (Md.), 49-19, at the halftime break on Dec. 20, 2006.
• With Worth Smith scoring in double figures against Siena, Navy has now had nine different players reach double figures in just three games this year. Last year's team had nine players score in double figures for the entire season.
• J.J. Avila's 6-of-6 shooting performance against Penn State Altoona was tied for the sixth-most field goals made without a miss in school history. Avila is shooting 69.0 percent (20-of-29) from the field this year.
SUGARS JOINS ELITE GROUP
• Jordan Sugars became the ninth player in school history to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds when he did so against Siena. Sugars now has 1,051 points (20th on Navy career list) and 508 rebounds (20th). He is the shortest player (6-3) in school history to be part of the club that features David Robinson, Vernon Butler, Greg Sprink, Chris Williams, Eddie Reddick, Kevin Sinnett, Hank Kuzma and Don Lange.
• With 449 points and 92 rebounds, Sugars would join Robinson, Butler and Sinnett as the only players in school history with 1,500 points and 600 rebounds. All three players have their jerseys hanging in the Alumni Hall rafters.
PREVIEWING QUINNIPIAC
Located just north of New York City in Hamden, Conn., Quinnipiac has turned into one of the elite programs in the Northeast Conference (NEC). Last year, Quinnipiac finished second in the league behind a strong Long Island squad with a 22-10 record. This year, the Bobcats were picked to finish fifth, but if early returns are any indication, they will be right near the top at the end of the year again. Quinnipiac has lost to Fairfield (72-60) this year, but beat Yale (68-62) in its home opener on Wednesday.
The Bobcats are led by senior guard James Johnson, who scored 25 points with four rebounds and three assists against Yale in his only appearance of the year. Sophomore forward Ike Azotam has been dominant inside averaging 17.0 points per game and 14.0 rebounds per game. He has had double-doubles in both games, recording 17 points and 18 rebounds against one of the country's best big men in Yale's Greg Mangano. Mangano was just 1-of-7 from the field against the Bobcats, scoring five points with 10 rebounds.
Quinnipiac is shooting just 34.9 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from three-point range.
NAVY-QUINNIPIAC SERIES HISTORY
The two teams have played just once, but it was a memorable contest. Navy defeated the Bobcats, 65-62, in Alumni Hall on Nov. 30, 2009, when Chris Harris scored the final of his game-high 31 points with a 45-footer as the clock expired to give the Mids a three-point victory. Navy led virtually the entire game, owning a 17-point lead at 43-26 with 16:51 to play when Quinnipiac started to chip away, eventually tying the game at 61 on a James Feldeine jumper with 26 seconds left. Navy made just five field goals in the second half and before Harris' heroics, the Midshipmen went over 10 minutes without a field goal. Feldeine led Quinnipiac with 24 points, while Justin Rutty scored 15 points with nine rebounds (seven offensive). Mark Veazey added 18 points and three assists for the Midshipmen.
DECHELLIS TAKES OVER NAVY HOOPS PROGRAM
• On May 23, Navy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk announced that Ed DeChellis was hired as the program's 19th coach in school history. DeChellis took over for Billy Lange, who left Navy to take the associate head coach position at Villanova. Lange served as the head coach for seven seasons, compiling a 92-115 record.
• DeChellis arrives at Navy from Penn State, where he led the Nittany Lions to a runner-up finish in the Big 10 Tournament, a second-round NCAA Tournament appearance and a 19-15 overall record. In 2009, DeChellis guided his alma mater to an NIT Championship and a school-record 27 victories while being named the league's Coach of the Year. He arrives in Annapolis with a 219-231 in 15 previous seasons as a collegiate head coach.
• DeChellis is just the sixth coach since 1995 to leave a BCS school for a mid-major program.
ALWAYS NEAR THE TOP
• Navy is 30-26 in the Patriot League since the start of the 2007-08 season, posting the third-best Patriot League record during that four-year span. The 30 wins are the third most in the Patriot League during that span, behind American (41-15) and Bucknell (32-24). From the 2001-02 season through the 2007-08 season (seven years), Navy won a combined 32 PL games.
• With Navy tying for fourth and American placing second in 2010-11, the two teams are the only programs in the league with top-four league finishes in each of the last four years.
NAVY SOPHOMORES LEAD THE WAY
• After a sensational year by the six-member class of 2014 as freshmen, the group has gotten off to another stellar start in the 2011-12 season. The six-member group has scored 114 of Navy's 222 points (51.4 percent) this year and have tallied at least 32 combined points in each game. The group scored 49 points in the win over Longwood, 32 against Penn State Altoona and 33 against Siena.
• So far this year, the group is averaging 38.0 points per game, 13.0 rebounds per game and 9.3 assists per game while shooting 45-of-76 (.592) from the field. J.J. Avila (20-of-29) and Thurgood Wynn (11-of-15) have combined to shoot 31-of-44 (.705) from the field. The rest of the Navy team has shot 54-of-122 (.443) from the field.
• Last year, the group scored 762 points, the most for a freshmen class in school history. The group averaged 24.6 points per game, just shy of the 25.7 the freshman class of 2006 averaged for the school record.
THE FUTURE IS NOW
• When Navy takes the court in 2011-12, it will do so as one of the nation's youngest teams. Navy will have three seniors, one junior, six sophomores and six freshmen on the traveling roster entering the year. The total amount of games played by the nine returnees is just 306, with 87 of them coming from senior captain Jordan Sugars.
• The combined number of starts by the nine returnees entering the season was just 102, with 53 coming from Sugars.
• Navy ranks as the 10th-youngest, least-experienced team in America for the upcoming season. Of Navy's 16 players on the roster, 12 are freshmen or sophomores and the lone junior, Jordan Brickman, did not play basketball his first two years at Navy.
OUTPERFORMING EXPECTATIONS
Over the last eight years (including this year), Navy has been selected sixth or lower in every preseason poll to date. And in six of the seven years, Navy has outperformed its preseason placing. The lone exception came in the 2005-06 season, when Navy was picked sixth and finished seventh.
WHAT'S COMING BACK?
• Navy returns roughly 60.0 percent of its production from last year after graduating four seniors that played in a combined 379 career games.
• The Midshipmen return 1,217 of their 2,113 points scored from last year (57.6 pct.).
• Navy returns 62.9 percent of its 980 rebounds from last year (616 rebounds returning).
• The Midshipmen return just 55.5 percent of their 387 assists from a year ago (215 assists returning).
• The area that Navy returns the most is three-pointers made (67.8 pct.) and three-point attempts (66.9 pct.).
• The category that Navy returns the least is free throws made (49.3 pct.) and free throw attempts (50.6 pct.).
FROM THE "DID YOU KNOW" CATEGORY
The NCAA-approved, standard three-point line is 25 years old this year and Navy played in the first game featuring the line. The No. 9-rated Midshipmen faced 17th-rated North Carolina State in the 1986 Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic in Springfield, Mass., on Nov. 22, which tipped off the 1986-87 college basketball season.
Trailing by two at 84-82, the Wolfpack's Kenny Drummond ironically buried a three-pointer with 14 seconds left to lift N.C. State to an 86-84 victory. The Midshipmen were led by David Robinson with 36 points.
Navy was 3-of-4 from long distance in the contest, while North Carolina State went 10-of-20.
# GO NAVY #
