ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Aidan Kehoe and Austin Benigni combined for 42 points with Kehoe adding 12 rebounds and Benigni dishing out six assists during an 88-55 victory by the Navy men's basketball team (7-5) over Coppin State (2-13), Friday evening at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.

Benigni surpassed the 1,500-point mark for his career during the game.

Also, Navy has assured itself of a winning non-league record against NCAA Division I foes for the first time since the 2022-23 season when it posted a 6-5 record opponents foes on its level as part of a 7-5 non-league campaign.  The Mids enter a Sunday noon game at home against NCAA Division III Rosemont College with a 6-5 record against D1 opponents this season.

Today was Navy's first game since December 7 due to final exams taking place at the USNA.

"Our guys go through a lot academically," said Navy head coach Jon Perry.  "You have three days of exams, then you have the Army-Navy Game, which is great for all of us to be part of.  And then you have three more days of exams.  There are a lot of distractions.  It is a credit to the leadership, the leadership of (team captain) Mike Woods and the seniors; they focused the guys.  We went to work the last two days after exams."

Navy scored the first 10 points of the game and held Coppin State without a made field goal until there was 11:33 showing on the clock when a jumper by the Eagles made it a 14-5 game.  The Mids took a second 11-point lead at 16-5 before the Eagles clawed back and it was a two-point game at 20-18 with 7:27 remaining in the half.

"At the start of the game," said Benigni, "we weren't scoring but we were putting up really good shots and moving the ball well.  A lot of times that happens when you don't play for awhile.  At the second television timeout, we kind of turned it up a little and people started to hit some shots."

The Mids slowly expanded their lead and regained that 11-point cushion at 31-20 with a little more than three minutes left in the half.  Navy would go into halftime holding a 36-24 lead thanks to the Mids shooting 48 percent and holding the Eagles to a 25-percent effort.  

Kehoe was 6-8 from the floor in scoring 13 first-half points to go along with six rebounds.  His efforts helped the Mids to a 20-10 advantage in points scored in the paint.  

"The staff is doing a great job of getting the team focused on the defensive end," said Perry.  "We are trying to use our defense to help our offense.  The numbers say we are pretty good at transition offense, so we are really trying to be in gaps and provide support to each other.  Ball screen coverages, we mix those up in the middle of the game to try and keep people off balance a little bit.  I think the most important thing is transition defense is pretty good for us; we are not giving up layups in transition because we took good care of the ball today."

Navy opened up a 40-24 lead at the start of the second half only to see Coppin State trim it to nine at 43-34 less than four minutes into the frame.  It became a 52-41 Navy lead when the Mids ran off the next five points at the start of a 17-4 spurt that boosted it to a 69-45 advantage with 5:25 left on the clock.   

The Mids were 6-12 from the floor and limited the Eagles to a 2-8 showing from the field during the run that broke open the game.  Five different players scored for the Mids during that seven-minute span.

Navy upped its field goal percentage after halftime to 53.6 percent.  That overall mark included a 6-12 showing from three-point land after the Mids were 2-10 from long range in the first 20 minutes.  

Navy also held a 42-26 advantage on the glass on the night, which included a 14-10 lead in offensive boards.  That effort led to a 17-6 lead in second-chance points scored by the Mids.

Kehoe notched his fifth double-double of the season and the 13th since he recorded his first one during the 2024-25 season.  Also, he now has three double-doubles this year and four in his career with at least 20 points.  He entered the day tied for sixth in the country this season with a field goal percentage of 67.4 percent.  That percentage will only improve as he was 10-13 (76.9%) from the floor today.  Additionally, half of his 12 caroms came on the offensive glass.

"I think every game he has scored in double digits, we have had success," said Perry of Kehoe.  "When that ball goes in (to him), he has a good feel.  He has worked incredibly hard.  A credit to him and his effort.  I was really excited for him on the defensive end (three blocks)."

Benigni is now the ninth Mid to reach 1,500 career points and he ended the day with 1,516 points.  Fittingly, his point to reach that plateau came on a free throw.  He was 12-14 from the charity stripe today and now has tallied 521 points from the foul line in his career.  Benigni ranks third in Navy history, fifth among service academy players and second among active NCAA Division I players in career free throws made.

Benigni also is tied for ninth at Navy with 389 career assists and is one of nine active players with at least 1,500 points and 350 assists on the NCAA Division I level.

"It definitely is a really cool experience," said Benigni of reaching 1,500 points.  "I put in a lot of work and people put a lot of work into me.  The coaches have spent countless hours with me working on my game.  Definitely wouldn't have been able to do it without my teammates."

"I think it is a credit to his hard work and his dedication to the game," said Perry of Benigni reaching 1,500 career points.  "We are proud of him as a program, but I think he will tell you he has his eyes set on other things, and that is winning and trying to pursue a Patriot League championship."

Also having effective games were Cam Cole with 11 points on 3-4 shooting from three-point range and Donovan Draper with eight points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.