The 1985-86 Navy Midshipmen: "The Greatest Service Academy Basketball Team"
by
Justin Kischefsky
Chapter 1 / November 15 – Preseason Thoughts, First Games
Chapter 2 / November 16 – Navy Takes to the Road for Games in the Northeast, Far East and Southeast
Chapter 3 / November 17 – CAA Play Begins
Chapter 4 / November 18 – Mids Start to Roll After Loss
Chapter 5 / November 19 – Star Game Cliffhanger, Redemption vs. Spiders, CAA Tournament Champions
Chapter 6 / November 20 – March Madness, Epilogue
1985-86 Information Page
All this week, NavySports.com will relive the historic 1985-86 Navy men's basketball season that culminated in the team reaching the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. In this fourth chapter, we see the Mids start to get on a roll that runs for six weeks.
February 1 * Annapolis, Md. * CAA
Navy 95, UNCW 68 (click for box score)
As February began, so too did the second half of the CAA regular season. The conference standings through the first half of the campaign looked like this:
7-0 Richmond
6-1 Navy
4-3 East Carolina
4-3 George Mason
3-4 UNCW
2-5 James Madison
1-6 American
1-6 William & Mary
UNC Wilmington had split its six CAA games following its January loss to Navy. The Mids did a very good job of containing Brian Rowsom in that initial 76-61 decision. The future NBA player was 3-23 from the floor in scoring eight points in that game. He was 5-12 from the field and scored 13 points in the first half of the February rematch. Despite Navy taking leads of 25-10 and 30-12, Rowsom, who in this game was moved away from David Robinson in UNCW's offensive game plan, helped the Seahawks close to within 39-35 at halftime.
The loss of another comfortable lead was a trend noticed by all inside and outside of the program.
"I think they thought this was going to be easy," said Paul Evans after the game to the Baltimore Sun. "All of a sudden we weren't scoring, we weren't getting second shots and we weren't doing anything on defense."
After another halftime promise by Evans to practice immediately after the game if things didn't improve, the Mids began the second half by scoring the first 10 points of the stanza to build a 49-35 lead. Robinson scored six of those points, then added four more as the lead ballooned to 55-37 with 13:31 left on the clock. The margin would remain at least 16 points over the rest of the game.
"We played pretty well in the first half of this game," said UNCW player Greg Bender. "We had changed up some things offensively and defensively from the first meeting of the season. The Navy coaching staff made some adjustments in the second half and we didn't respond very well."
Robinson tallied 31 points and nine boards to better the 25 points and 10 caroms amassed by Rowson. Robinson was one of five Mids to score at least 10 points in the game as Navy shot 60-percent from the field on the afternoon.
February 3 * Annapolis, Md. * CAA
Navy 71, East Carolina 56
East Carolina was on a modest three-game winning streak when it traveled to Annapolis to face Navy. In the first game of the year between the teams, Navy held a 10-point first-half lead before going into halftime leading by five points. In Halsey Field House, the Mids took a nine-point lead (19-10) with 10 minutes left in the first half but went into halftime leading by just one point, 29-28.
Vernon Butler was only 1-3 from the field in scoring four first-half points. He opened the second half with an offensive rebound and putback before he scored on a jumper. Robinson added a layup with Butler receiving the assist, then Butler scored on a basket and ensuing foul shot to have a hand in each of Navy's first nine points of the frame and boost the team's advantage out to 38-32. After an East Carolina steal and layup, Butler bookended an ensuing 9-0 Navy run with baskets to extend the cushion out to 47-34 with 11 minutes left on the clock. The lead remained in double digits over the remainder of the game.
"David and Vernon controlled the paint both on offense and defense," said East Carolina player Keith Sledge. "Vernon had such a wide base when he posted you up and he was so strong. He had really soft hands and a feathery touch on the low block. David blocked five shots on one of our possessions. Coach (Charlie) Harrison instructed us to attack him, but he was so good at blocking shots and avoiding body contact. Our assistant coach would stand in the paint with a broom attempting to block our shots during layup drills."
Butler, who had lost nearly 20 pounds in two weeks due to being sick with a virus, scored 22 points after intermission on 9-12 shooting from the floor.
"He didn't play sick," said Harrison to The (Baltimore) News-American.
"I wasn't being aggressive in the first half," said Butler in the same postgame article. "Their team was being aggressive, we weren't. And with the way the refs were calling it we had to come out strong."
Robinson was held to just 11 points –– his lowest scoring output in 42 games –– but contributed 10 rebounds and 10 blocks for his third triple-double of the season and the fourth of his career (he ended his career with five). Carl Liebert, who had totaled 11 points in making the first start of his career two days earlier, totaled 10 points and nine rebounds in his second start.
February 6 * Fairfax, Va. * CAA
Navy 81, George Mason 68
George Mason had won three games in a row and climbed to within shouting distance of the Spiders (9-0) and Mids (8-1) with a 6-3 record when the Patriots played host to Navy. The Mids had left Fairfax with losses to George Mason in each of its last three trips there, with those defeats coming by 10 points (in 1981-82), six points (1983-84) and four points (1984-85).
Navy had allowed an individual to score more than 30 points just once all season, and that player was George Mason's Rob Rose who poured in 32 points on 12-15 shooting from the field when the teams first met in Annapolis. Slowing him down in the Patriot Center was key for the Mids in the second game.
The Mids took an early 8-2 lead in the rematch. The Patriots promptly took a 13-8 advantage. Back came Navy and it soon took a 22-17 lead before heading to the locker rooms with a 33-29 cushion. Rose was 0-3 from the floor in the first half, but teammate Ricky Wilson was 5-5 in scoring 11 points. Meanwhile, Robinson rested during the break after having produced 14 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks during the opening 20 minutes of play.
The scoring at the beginning of the second half was as follows: Butler layup, Butler layup, Robinson dunk, Butler layup. Combined, that pushed the Navy advantage out to 41-29 after just three minutes of playing time. The margin soon grew to as many as 15 points and it remained at least 10 points for all but 90 seconds of the rest of the contest.
Rose ended the game with just nine points and Wilson added only eight more points to his stats line in the second half. The Navy side of the box score showed an inspired Robinson with 33 points, 20 rebounds and six blocks. He was one of four Mids to score in double figures.
"They really tried hard to get me mad tonight, but I didn't let them get to me," said Robinson in The (Baltimore) News-American. "We just feel they're a pretty nasty, dirty team."
February 8 * Harrisonburg, Va. * CAA
Navy 63, James Madison 51
For the second game in a row, Navy ventured to a city in which it had been winless. This time, the Mids took an all-time record of 0-4 with them into the JMU Convocation Center after having suffered road losses to the Dukes during the 1980-81 (18 points), 1982-83 (10), 1983-84 (six) and 1984-85 (three) seasons. This James Madison team, however, entered the game with a 4-17 record and was winless in each of its last six games.
Navy led for the final 38 minutes of its game against James Madison when the teams met a few weeks earlier in Annapolis. The Mids started the game in Harrisonburg by taking a 10-4 lead, but soon the Dukes took a 16-15 advantage. The lead changed hands several more times, including when James Madison took a 22-21 lead. The Mids closed the half on a 10-0 run to take a 31-22 lead at the break.
Navy seemingly was in control of the game as it stretched the lead out to as many as 16 points (44-28) early in the second half. James Madison rallied and winnowed the difference down to as few as five points (50-45) with 2:37 remaining. It soon was a 53-47 Navy lead when Robinson scored on a dunk while being fouled to push the lead out to 56-47 with 1:36 showing on the clock. That was enough for the Mids to hang on for the victory.
With Robinson limited to 24 minutes of playing time because of fouls, Kylor Whitaker scored 17 points, Butler added 11 points and seven rebounds and Doug Wojcik dished out seven assists.
"Our kids played well without David," said Evans in The Baltimore Sun. "We were ahead 17-16 when he went out in the first half and they increased our lead to nine points. Doug Wojcik and Kylor Whitaker each did outstanding jobs."
February 12 * East Rutherford, N.J.
Navy 78, Fairfield 53
The Mids next stepped out of conference play to make a trip to Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., to play a Fairfield team that was 10-1 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play and 17-5 on the year. Making the challenge even more difficult for Navy was the absence of Butler. Injured late in the game at James Madison, Butler did not make the trip to the Garden State and thus ended his streak of 116-straight games in the starting lineup. Navy had not taken to the court without Butler among the starting five since he arrived on The Yard as a freshman. During those 116 games he set Navy career records with 1,779 points and 1,057 rebounds.
With Butler's absence, the bench was a little shorter for the Mids against the Stags as four starters –– Robinson, Liebert, Whitaker and Wojcik –– played all 20 minutes of the first half that saw them close the frame on a 24-9 run to take a 34-20 lead at intermission. The advantage would range between 14 and 32 points in the second half to secure the Mids their 20th win in 24 games on the year.
Robinson scored 19 points and snared a Navy and arena (including NCAA, ABA and NBA games) record 25 rebounds, Whitaker posted 16 points and six assists, Liebert contributed 14 points and three steals and Wojcik added 11 assists, eight points and three thefts.
"It was good for the team to know it can win without Vernon," said Wojcik in the Baltimore Evening Sun. "We weren't down before the game. Concerned, but not panicky."
Fairfield ended the 1986 season with an overall record of 24-7, won the MAAC regular season (13-1) and tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The Mids held eventual NBA player A.J. Wynder to six points in 32 minutes of playing time.
February 15 * Annapolis, Md. * CAA
Navy 74, American 53
American had posted a 1-9 record in its last 10 games prior to making the drive from our nation's current capital to the one-time capital of the U.S. The Mids would make that 10 losses in 11 games for the Eagles as Navy never trailed in the game.
Navy slowly built a 30-20 lead at halftime thanks to holding American to 33-percent shooting in the first half. The Mids opened the second half on an 8-2 and 15-4 run to fully separate from the Eagles. Liebert (nine) and Whitaker (six) accounted for all 15 points during the run.
Butler played 12 minutes in a reserve role for the Mids, who were led by Robinson's 16 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks. Whitaker posted 12 points and six assists and Derric Turner, who had played in the plebe game earlier in the day, added 11 points and an equal number of rebounds.
An equally important event was taking place two hours southwest of Annapolis as Richmond lost a 73-58 decision at home to George Mason. That meant with one more conference win by each team, an outright CAA regular season title would be decided in Annapolis in 10 days when the Mids played host to the Spiders.
February 17 * Annapolis, Md. * CAA
Navy 66, William & Mary 51
The Mids learned in the locker room before their game against William & Mary that Navy would be ranked 17th in the Associated Press poll slated to be released the next day. Buoyed by that news, Navy went on a 17-0 first-half run to build a 31-12 lead. The Mids held the Tribe to 21-percent shooting from the field during the opening 20 minutes of play. Navy remained firmly in control of the game throughout the second half despite being outscored, 33-31, in the last 20 minutes.
It was an uneven performance by the Mids against a Tribe team that was 3-10 in CAA player after the defeat.
"We went out and played like we could turn ourselves on and off," said Wojcik in the Annapolis Capital. "Coach was really upset with us. I could tell he was when he got the technical called on himself. I think he did it just to let us know he was upset."
Whitaker was held scoreless in the first game against William & Mary, but was 8-13 from the field in scoring 16 points in the second game. Robinson played all but one minute of the game and totaled 19 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocked shots.
