Lehigh (9-14, 4-8 Patriot League) at Navy (8-17, 5-7 Patriot League)
Wednesday, Feb. 12 • 7 p.m.
Alumni Hall • Annapolis, Md.

Series History
Overall: Navy leads, 56-36 / Patriot League: Navy leads, 37-30
Last Game: Navy, 79-54 / Jan. 29, 2025 (Bethlehem, Pa.)
at Navy: Navy leads, 30-19 / Patriot League: Lehigh leads, 17-16
Last Game: Navy, 71-69 / Jan. 17, 2024

Broadcast Information
Video: ESPN+ / Joe Miller, Mike Heary
Navy Radio: WNAV / Joe Miller, Mike Heary

Five Starting Notes
1 – Ed DeChellis will set the school record for the most games as a Navy head coach Wednesday night.  The Lehigh game will be his 418th on the sideline, which is one more than Ben Carnevale's 20-year total.
2 – Six of Lehigh's eight league losses have been in games decided by no more than seven points.  This includes all four league road losses (19 points total in road losses).
3 – Nine of the last 11 Navy-Lehigh games played in Annapolis have been decided by singles digits.  This includes each of the last three (15 points total).  
4 – Navy's Emmett Davis is coaching in his 30th Patriot League season, which is the most of any basketball coach in league history.  Lehigh's Brett Reed ranks third on the list as he is in his 23rd league campaign.
5 – The road team in the Navy-Lehigh series holds leads in league regular season games played between the teams.  Navy has posted a 21-13 record in league games played in Bethlehem and Lehigh has tallied a 17-16 record in league games played in Annapolis.

Game Information
•    Navy returns to Annapolis for the start of back-to-back home games Wednesday night when it plays host to Lehigh at 7 p.m. in Alumni Hall.
•    The game will be streamed through ESPN+ and WNAV carry a radio broadcast of the game.  Joe Miller and Mike Heary will be on the call for the simulcast.

Attending the Game
•    Only those vehicles driven by someone with a Department of Defense (DoD)-approved identification card will be allowed onto the USNA.
•    Fans without DoD approved vehicle access to the USNA must park outside of The Yard.  The simplest way to do this is to park ($10 per vehicle) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (550 Taylor Avenue, Annapolis, Md., 21401).  Enter the blue / west parking lot through gate 5 off of Taylor Avenue.  The free fan shuttle bus will leave from and return to the Blue Angel jet.  Fan shuttle bus hours begin one hour before tip and ends one hour after the conclusion of the game.
•    Fans also can park downtown and walk through the gate one visitors center (52 King George St., Annapolis, MD, 21402) or gate eight.
•    Whether a visitor rides the shuttle bus or walks through one of the USNA gates, everyone ages 18 and over must have a valid picture ID (i.e.: State issued driver's license, student I.D., or a government issued passport). Visitors ages 17 and younger who do not have a valid picture ID must be accompanied by an adult. 

About Lehigh
•    Lehigh has posted a 9-14 overall record, which includes a 2-10 record in road games.
•    The Mountain Hawks have compiled a 4-8 record during the Patriot League season.  Lehigh has posted a 1-4 mark in league road games.
•    Since the teams met two weeks ago, a 79-54 Navy win on Jan. 29, Lehigh has won at Holy Cross (69-67), won at home against Colgate (94-68) and lost in overtime to American (78-75) in Bethlehem.
•    Six of Lehigh's eight league losses have been in games decided by no more than seven points.  This includes all four league road losses (19 points total).

Series History
•    Navy and Lehigh first met on Jan. 21, 1911.  The Mids posted a 31-24 victory in the inaugural game.
•    Navy leads the series with Lehigh, 56-36.  This includes a 30-19 lead for the Mids in games played in Annapolis.  However, the Mountain Hawks hold a 17-16 edge in games played in Alumni Hall.
•    Navy leads Lehigh, 37-30, in Patriot League regular season games.  The Mountain Hawks are in front of the Mids, 17-16, in league games played on The Yard.

Navy-Lehigh Series Statistical Oddities
•    The team making more three-point field goals has won nine-straight games over the last 12 games (the three-point field goal total has been tied three times).
•    The team leading at halftime has posted an 11-4 record over the last 18 games (the halftime score has been tied three times).
•    The team grabbing more rebounds has posted a 13-4 record over the last 17 games.
•    Nine of the last 11 games played in Annapolis have been decided by singles digits.  This includes each of the last three (15 points total).  Eight of the games have determined by no more than six points.

On This Date
•    Navy has posted an 15-15 record in games played on Feb. 12.  This includes a 4-5 record in Patriot League games.  
•    This will be the first Navy-Lehigh game to be played on Feb. 12.

Against Pennsylvania
•    Navy has totaled a 392-271 record in games played against opponents located in Pennsylvania.  

A Look Back (Lafayette 61, Navy 51)
•    Navy missed its first 10 shots from the floor, but only trailed 8-0 when it made its first basket at the 11:49 mark.  Another six-minute scoring drought put the Mids behind the Leopards, 23-9.  
•    Lafayette held a 25-16 lead at halftime as Navy shot just 20 percent from the floor.
•    The Mids closed to within 25-20 early in the second half, but quickly fell behind 34-20.  Lafayette later went on a 7-0 run to take a 51-35 lead.
•    Navy shot just 29.7 percent from the field while Lafayette shot 58.3 percent in the second half and 47.1 percent for the game.
•    Austin Benigni scored 19 points and Jordan Pennick scored 14 points.  The two were 12-35 from the floor.

A Look Ahead 
•    Navy plays host to Army Saturday in the annual Star Game, part of the Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA.  Tip is slated for 1:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.

Pennick on a Good Run
•    Jordan Pennick has scored in double figures in four of Navy's five Patriot League wins and two times in Navy's seven league losses.
•    Pennick totaled a career-high 20 points in Navy's Jan. 26 game at Army.  He was 4-6 from three-point range and 5-8 from the floor in scoring 15 second-half points. 
•    He scored all 17 of his points in the second half Jan. 29 at Lehigh.  Pennick was 5-7 from three-point range and 6-8 from the floor in the second half.
•    Pennick scored 12 points Feb. 5 at Boston U. and then 14 Feb. 8 at Lafayette
•    He is averaging 13.8 points (83 total) and 4.0 rebounds a game (24) over the last six games.  Pennick is shooting 42.9 percent (30-70) from the floor and 34.8 percent (16-46) from three-point land in this span.

Missing Home
•    Navy just finished a stretch of playing seven road games in a span of 10 games from Jan. 8-Feb. 8.
•    The Mids closed that span by playing four out of their last five games on the road.  Navy played games in four different states from Jan. 26-Feb. 5.
•    Navy has played back-to-back road games three times.
•     Navy will travel the second-most one-way miles for weekday regular season games this season during the Patriot League campaign.
•    Conversely, the Mids will travel the third fewest one-way miles for weekend league games.

DeChellis On Top Spot for Navy Coaches
•    Ed DeChellis will set the school record for the most games as a Navy head coach Wednesday night.  The Lehigh game will be his 418th on the sideline, which is one more than Ben Carnevale's 20-year total.

Davis Leads Patriot League Coaches
•     Navy assistant coach Emmett Davis is in his 30th    season as a Patriot League coach. That leads all men's    basketball coaches for the most Patriot League seasons in a career.
•    Davis also coached at Navy for five seasons (1987-91)
    prior to the Mids joining the Patriot League.
•     The Patriot League is in its 35th season of sponsoring men's basketball (began 1990-91).

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 ranked first in the Patriot League and 40th nationally during the 2023-24 season with an average of 12.45 offensive rebounds per game.
•    Navy stands first in the league and 118th nationally with an average of 11.44 offensive boards a game this year.
•    Aidan Kehoe (3.72 OR/G, 1st PL, 11th NCAA) and Donovan Draper (2.16 OR/G, 4th PL) rank among the league leaders in offensive rebounds.

Second-Chance Points 
•    Navy has regularly turned those second-chance opportunities into points. 
•    The Mids have scored more second-chance points than their foes in each of the last 10 games.  Navy has totaled 112 second-chance points (11.2 ppg) and allowed 59 (5.9 ppg) in this span.

Benigni's 10+ Point Scoring Streak
•    Austin Benigni saw his streak of games with scoring in double figures come to an end when he scored eight points in 18 minutes of playing time Nov. 25 against Washington (Md.).  
•    His run of 26 games is tied for fifth place for the longest streak of scoring in double figures in school history.
•    Benigni enters the Feb. 12 Lehigh game having scored in double figures in nine-straight games and in 15 of the last 16 games.  The only outlier in this span was a nine-point game at Holy Cross.

At the FT Line – Austin Benigni / 2024-25 
•    Austin Benigni ranks first in the Patriot League and fifth in the NCAA for free throws made (146).
•    He ranks second in the league and 16th nationally in free throws attempted (168). 
•    He also ranks second in the league and 54th nationally with a free throw percentage of 86.9 percent.
•    Benigni is tied for second at Navy during the Patriot League era (1991-92 to present) and tied for 15th in program history for the highest career free throw attempts per game average with 430 attempts in 87 games (4.94 fta/g).

Benigni Leading in Points and Assists
•     Austin Benigni typically has led the Mids in either points or assists –– and occasionally both –– in a game since the start of the 2023-24 season.
•     Benigni is on pace to become the third Mid to lead the team in total points and assists in multiple seasons since assists began being tracked with the 1972-73 season.
•     Benigni is closing in on becoming the eighth Mid with 1,000 points and 300 assists in a career.
•     Benigni also has posted the second 400-point, 100-assist season of his career and the 10th by a Mid.
•    Benigni enters the game ranked second in the Patriot League in scoring and assists.
•    Since the league expanded to 10 teams starting with the 2013-14 season, a player has finished among the top-three in both statistical rankings three times.

Kehoe Lately
•    Aidan Kehoe moved into the regular rotation during Navy's Feb. 21, 2024, game at Loyola and made his first start in the next game against Holy Cross.
•    He had totaled 26 points (1.0 ppg) and 40 rebounds (1.5 rpg) in 26 career games prior to taking to the floor against the Greyhounds.
•    Since then, he has totaled 295 points (9.5 ppg) and 283 rebounds (9.1 rpg). 

Pennick Lately
•    Jordan Pennick had appeared in 16 games prior to Navy's Feb. 17, 2024, game at Boston U., and totaled 26 points (1.6 ppg) and 18 rebounds (1.1 rpg).
•    Since then, he has scored 286 points (8.9 ppg), made 51 three-point baskets (1.59 fgm/g) and grabbed 109 rebounds (3.4 rpg).