Navy (3-3) vs. Gardner Webb (0-6)  I  Wed., Nov. 26  I  4 p.m.  I  Trask Coliseum  I  Wilmington, N.C. 
at UNCW (4-1)  I  Fri., Nov. 28  I  3 p.m.  I  Trask Coliseum  I  Wilmington, N.C.
vs. Southeastern Louisiana (1-4)  I  Sat., Nov. 29  I  Noon  I  Trask Coliseum  I  Wilmington, N.C.

Game Information
•    Navy travels to Wilmington, N.C., over the Thanksgiving weekend to take part in the three-game Live Oak Bank Holiday Classic hosted by UNCW.
•    The Mids will play Gardner-Webb Wednesday at 4 p.m., UNCW Friday at 3 p.m. and Southeastern Louisiana Saturday at noon.
•    Each of the three games will be streamed on FloCollege and carried locally on the radio by WNAV.

A Look Back
•    Navy evened its record at 3-3 with an 86-70 victory over NJIT Saturday in Annapolis.
•    The Mids used a 15-0 run to take a 21-12 lead, then ran off 12 points in a row to take a 36-21 advantage.  Navy would lead by as many as 20 points before heading into the locker room at halftime with a 51-36 lead.
•    It was Navy's first 50-point first half against a Division I team in 15 seasons.
•    The Highlanders made multiple runs at the Mids during the second half, with Navy answering each time.
•    The margin went from 58-42 to 58-50, then from 68-53 to 68-61.
•    The teams traded the next four baskets (72-65), then Navy scored the next seven points to take a 79-65 lead with 3:40 remaining. 
•    Navy shot 63 percent from the field in the first half and 50.9 percent for the game.  The Mids limited NJIT to a 36.7-percent shooting effort on the afternoon.
•    Aidan Kehoe set a career high with 21 points –– 7-8 from the floor, 7-9 from the foul line –– and added 12 boards for his first double-double of the season.
•    Mike Woods also posted a double-double –– the first of his career –– with 11 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
•    Additionally, Austin Benigni scored 20 points, Jordan Pennick had 17 and Jinwoo Kim scored 13 points.

Gardner-Webb Preview
•    Gardner-Webb posted an overall record of 11-20 a season ago and placed eighth in the Big South Conference with a 5-11 record.
•    The Bulldogs placed eighth in this year's conference preseason poll.
•    Gardner-Webb has lost each of its six games this season.  This includes road losses at Minnesota, Clemson DePaul and Richmond.

Series History
•    Wednesday's game will be the first for Navy against Gardner-Webb.
•    Navy has compiled a 14-6 record against teams currently in the Big South Conference.  This includes a 76-55 victory at Presbyterian in the 2025-26 season opener.
•    Gardner-Webb has lost both prior games it has played against teams in the Patriot League, losing to Army in 2015-16 and Colgate in 2023-24.

UNCW Preview 
•    UNCW tallied an overall record of 27-8 last season and finished in second place during the Coastal Athletic Association regular season with a 14-4 record.
•    The second-seeded Seahawks won the CAA Tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
•    UNCW finished in second place in the 2025-26 CAA Preseason Poll, four points in back of first-place Towson.
•    UNCW has posted a 4-1 record this season.

Series History
•    Navy has posted an 11-6 record against UNCW, which includes a 4-3 record in games played in Wilmington.
•    All of those games occurred when the two teams were fellow members of the ECAC South Conference / Colonial Athletic Association from 1984-85 through 1990-91.
•    Navy held a 9-5 edge in regular season games played by the teams and a 2-1 lead in tournament games.
•    The Mids posted an 8-0 record in the series with David Robinson and a 3-6 record after he graduated in 1987.  He averaged 22.0 points, 11.1 rebounds and 5.6 blocks per game against UNCW.
•    Navy has registered a 78-53 record against teams in the CAA.  UNCW has posted a 31-26 record against teams in the Patriot League.
•    UNCW assistant coach Kurt Kanaskie was an assistant coach at Navy during the 2011-12 season, the first season in which Ed DeChellis was the head coach.

Navy vs. CAA on the Road
•    Navy has posted an 25-27 record against current CAA teams when the game was played on the road.

UNCW vs. Patriot League at Home
•    UNCW has posted a 17-9 record in home games played against current teams in the Patriot League.

Southeastern Louisiana Preview
•    Southeastern Louisiana finished the 2024-25 campaign with an overall record of 18-14 and tied for fourth place  in the Southland Conference with a 12-8 record.
•    The Lions have posted a 1-4 record this season.  This includes road losses at Ole Miss, Georgia Tech and Mississippi State.

Series History
•    This will be Navy's first game against Southeastern Louisiana.
•    The Mids have played just one prior game against a team that currently is in the Southland Conference.  Navy posted an 81-67 victory over Houston Christian on Jan. 3, 1980, in a game played in DeLand, Fla.
•    Saturday's game will be the first for Southeastern Louisiana against a team from the Patriot League.

On This Date
•    Navy has posted records of:
    12-3 record in games played on Nov. 26,
    10-8 record in games played on Nov. 28,
    12-3 record in games played on Nov. 29.

Navy in This State
•    Navy has tallied a 24-37 record in games played in North Carolina.

Navy Against This State
•    Navy has posted a 65-71 record against teams located in North Carolina.
•    Navy has posted a 1-3 record against teams located in Louisiana.

A Look Ahead
•    Navy returns to the Mid-Atlantic Region for a Dec. 3 game at Delaware State, then a Dec. 7 game at home against Air Force.

Service Assignments Announced
•    Seniors at the USNA learned of their service assignments upon graduating from Navy this spring during lunch on Thursday, Nov. 20.
•    Those entering the Navy will do so with the rank of Ensign and those entering the Marine Corps will be 2nd Lieutenants.
•    The seniors on the men's basketball team received the following assignments:

Austin Benigni - Navy aviation (pilot)
Cam Cormany - Navy aviation (flight officer)
Donovan Draper - Navy information warfare
Aidan Kehoe - Navy surface warfare (nuclear)
Sam Krist - Marine Corps ground
Mike Woods - Navy surface warfare

On the Road Again, and Again and Again
•    Navy is playing at least one road game in each of the first five weeks of the season.

Week of    Road Games
Nov. 2-9    at Presbyterian (Nov. 3)
Nov. 10-16    at Penn State (Nov. 11)
Nov. 17-23    at North Carolina (Nov. 18)
Nov. 24-30    3 Games at UNCW (Nov. 26-29)
Dec. 1-7    at Delaware State (Dec. 3)

Navy vs. 2025 NCAA Tournament Teams
•    The Mids will play games this season against 2025 NCAA Tournament teams Yale, North Carolina and UNCW.  
•    This is just the third time since Navy joined the Patriot League in 1991-92 in which it will play as many as three non-league games against teams that appeared in the previous year's NCAA Tournament (2006-07, 2021-22). 

About the 2025-26 Navy Team
•    Navy returns from the 2024-25 season:
    * all 5 starters
    * 14 of 19 letter winners
    * 18 of 26 players
•    Navy leads the NCAA with 86.6 percent of its scoring back from last year.
•    Navy is one of nine teams in the country that returns at least 65 percent of its points, rebounds and assists from last season.

Happy Anniversary
•     The 2025-26 season marks 40 years since the 1985-86 Mids advanced to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament.
•    Behind then-junior David Robinson, Navy compiled a 30-5 overall record and defeated Tulsa, Syracuse and Cleveland State in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Duke in the regional final.  
•    Robinson was the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year and earned multiple All-America accolades.  He averaged 22.8 points, 13.0 rebounds and 5.9 blocks per game.  He recorded 207 blocks on the year, which bettered every team in the country except for the 213 by eventual national champion Louisville.
•    The 30 victories remains a service academy record.

Woods to Captain Mids
•     Mike Woods will serve as the captain of the men's basketball team for the 2025-26 season.

Home in Alumni Hall
•     Alumni Hall has been home to the Navy basketball teams since the 1991-92 season.
•    The Mids have compiled an overall record of 291-190 record in the facility.
•    There have been 61 future NBA players to play in Alumni Hall since it opened.
•    The court was christened Dave Smalley Court during the 2005-06 season.
•    Smalley was associated with Navy athletics for over 50 years as a player, coach, physical education instructor and administrator.
•    The 1957 graduate of the USNA scored 856 points during his three varsity seasons.  He also played on the Navy baseball team before he served five years as an officer in the Marine Corps.
•    Smalley later served as an assistant coach for the men's team for four years before becoming the head coach beginning with the 1966-67 season.  He stayed in that role until becoming the first Navy women's basketball coach in the summer of 1976.

Navy Good Again on the Offensive Boards 
•    Navy has been very good over the last number of years at winning the offensive rebound margin.
•    The Mids are +1,053 in offensive rebounding margin over the last 12 seasons.

Benigni Scores 1,000th Point
•    Austin Benigni became the 27th Mid to score 1,000 career points during Navy's Jan. 18, 2025, game at Bucknell.
•    He reached the milestone in his 81st career game.  That ranks him 12th for the fewest games needed to score 1,000 points.
•    Benigni is in 10th place for the most career points by a Mid with 1,398 points.  

Navy Career Scoring List
Rnk.    Pts.    Player, Years
1.    2,669    David Robinson, 1984-87
9.    1,496    Chris Williams, 1998-01
10.    1,398    Austin Benigni, 2023-pres.

•    Benigni ranks 10th at Navy with 28 career games with 20 or more points.  

20-Point Games - Career
Rnk.    No.    Player, Years
1.    68    David Robinson, 1984-87
2.    46    John Clune, 1952-54
3.    40    Vernon Butler, 1983-86
4.    36    Greg Sprink, 2005-08
5.    34    Don Lange, 1952-54
6.    33    John Tolmie, 1967-69
7.    31    Chris Harris, 2007-10
    31    Kevin Sinnett, 1976-79
9.    30    Michael Heary, 1995-98
10.    28    Austin Benigni, 2023-pres.

Donovan Draper's Double-Doubles
•    Though he has played a little more than only two full seasons, Donovan Draper ranks ninth at Navy with 15 career double-doubles. 
•    He grabbed the 600th rebound of his career Nov. 18 at North Carolina and now ranks 13th at Navy for the most career caroms.
•    Draper snared the 600th board of his career in his 70th game, making him the third fastest to 600 rebounds.

Most Career Rebounds (Games)
Rnk.    Rebs.    Player, Years (games)
1.    1,314    David Robinson, 1984-87 (127)
10.    624    Jordan Sugars, 2009-12 (116)
11.    611    Tom Lacey, 2015-18 (111)
12.    603    Worth Smith, 2012-15 (111)
13.    602    Donovan Draper, 2024-pres. (70)

Kehoe Shooting
•    Aidan Kehoe ranked second at Navy for the highest field goal percentage in a single season in 2024-25.

Highest Field Goal Pct. / Season (Min. 200 FGA)
Rnk.    FG%.    Player, Years
1.    .644    David Robinson, 1985
2.    .621    Aidan Kehoe, 2025
3.    .620    Will Kelly, 2016

•    Kehoe also ranks among the Navy leaders for career field goal percentage.

Highest Field Goal Pct. / Career (Min. 300 FGA)
Rnk.    FG%.    Player, Years
1.    .625    Evan Wieck, 2017-20
2.    .617    Aidan Kehoe, 2023-pres.
3.    .613    David Robinson, 1985-88