Navy (8-16, 5-6 Patriot League) at Lafayette (9-15, 4-7 Patriot League)
Saturday, Feb. 8 • 1 p.m.
Kirby Sports Center • Easton, Pa.

Series History
Overall: Navy leads, 57-36 / Patriot League: Navy leads, 34-31
Last Game: Navy, 71-70 / Jan. 5, 2025 (Annapolis, Md.)
at Lafayette: Lafayette leads, 21-17 / Patriot League: Lafayette leads, 18-14
Last Game: Lafayette, 78-62 / Jan. 13, 2024

Broadcast Information
Video: ESPN+ / Gary Laubach, John Leone
Navy Radio: None

Five Starting Notes
1 – Saturday's game closes out a stretch in which the Mids play four out of five games (in four different states) and seven out of 10 games away from home.
2 – This is Navy's fifth trip to Pennsylvania to play a game this season.
3 – Ed DeChellis will tie the Navy record for the most games as a Navy head coach on Saturday.  It will be his 417th game on the Navy sideline, which matches the total of Ben Carnevale.
4 – The team winning the rebounding statistic in Navy-Lafayette games has posted a 20-3 record over the last 24 games (one tie).  However, the Leopards grabbed more rebounds in the first game of the 2025 season, which was won by the Mids. 
5 – This is the 44th season in the last 46 in which Navy and Lafayette are facing each other.  The teams have played at least once in all but two seasons since the 1979-80 campaign (1988-89 and the 2020-21 COVID season).

Game Information
•    The Mids play their seventh road game in a span of 10 games Saturday when they travel to Easton, Pa., for a 1 p.m. game against Lafayette.
•    The game will be streamed through ESPN+.
•    There will not be a WNAV broadcast of the game.

About Lafayette
•    Lafayette has tallied an overall record of 9-15 this season, which includes a 6-5 record in home games
•    The Leopards have compiled a 4-7 record during the Patriot League season.  Lafayette has posted a 2-3 mark in league home games.
•    The Leopards dropped a 71-58 decision to Loyola Wednesday night at home.

Series History
•    Navy holds a 57-36 lead in the series with Lafayette, which began Jan. 10, 1920.
•    This year marks the 57th season with at least one Navy-Lafayette game, and is the 44th season in the last 46 in which they are facing each other.  The teams have played at least once in all but two seasons since the 1979-80 campaign (1988-89 and the 2020-21 COVID season).
•    The Leopards lead the Mids, 21-17 in games played in Easton.
•    Navy narrowly leads Lafayette, 34-31, in Patriot League regular season games.  The Leopards hold an 18-14 lead in league games played in Easton.
•    The home team has won the last three games in the series.  That matches the longest home court winning streak in the series since the home team won five in a row from 2005-07.
•    Fifteen of the last 21 games in the series have been decided by single digits.  This includes five of the last nine games played in Easton.

Navy-Lafayette Series Statistical Oddities
•    The team winning the rebounding contest has posted a 20-3 record over the last 24 games (one tie).
•    The team holding the lead at halftime has posted an 8-9 record over the last 19 games (one tie).  That's the same record in the span as the team making more three-point field goals.

On This Date
•    Navy has posted an 21-11 record in games played on Feb. 8.  This includes a 7-4 record in Patriot League games.  This will be the first Navy-Lafayette game to be played on Feb. 8.

Against Pennsylvania
•    Navy has totaled a 392-270 record in games played against opponents located in Pennsylvania.  

In Pennsylvania
•    Navy has totaled a 78-143 record in games played in Pennsylvania.
•    This includes an 18-21 record in games played in Easton.
•    Saturday's game marks the fifth time the Mids are traveling to the Keystone State for a game this season (seventh game in all).

A Look Back (Boston U. 87, Navy 65)
•    Boston U. began the game by making nine of its first 11 attempts from the floor, including a 3-3 effort from three-point range.  That gave the Terriers a 25-11 lead.
•    Navy cut the margin to six points twice and five points once before going into halftime trailing 39-32.
•    Navy again made it a five-point game at 46-41 early in the second half.  Boston responded with eight points in 80 seconds to take a 54-41 lead.
•    Boston shot 66.7 percent from the floor after halftime and 59.6 percent for the game.  Navy shot just 45.8 percent from the field on the night.
•    Boston held a 40-14 advantage in points scored in the paint.
•    Austin Benigni scored 23 points and Donovan Draper contributed 16 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists.

A Look Ahead 
•    Navy starts a week of home games with a Wednesday night game against Lehigh.

Benigni Scores 1,000th Point
•    Austin Benigni is in 24th place for the most career points by a Mid with 1,103.  

Pennick on a Good Run
•    Jordan Pennick has scored in double figures in four of Navy's five wins and once in Navy's six losses during the Patriot League season.
•    He is averaging 13.8 points (69 total) and 3.8 rebounds a game (19) over the last five games.  Pennick is shooting 46.3 percent (25-54) from the floor and 39.5 percent (15-38) from three-point land in this span.

Missing Home
•    Navy is in the middle of playing seven road games in a span of 10 games from Jan. 8-Feb. 8.
•    Saturday's game is Navy's fourth road game in a span of five games and 14 days.
•     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 Ranks Third at Navy for Career Wins
•    Navy's Jan. 2 win over American moved Ed DeChellis into third place for the most wins as a Navy head coach with 189.
•    DeChellis will tie Ben Carnevale for the most games as a Navy head coach Saturday with 417 games.

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 119th nationally with an average of 11.46 offensive boards a game this year.
•    Aidan Kehoe (3.67 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 nine games.  Navy has totaled 98 second-chance points (10.9 ppg) and allowed 55 (6.1 ppg) in this span.
Five Mids with 20 Points
•    Carnegie Johnson became the fifth Mid to score at least 20 points in a game this season when he scored a career-high 21 points Feb. 1 vs. Bucknell.
•    The high for different Mids to score at least 20 points in a game during the Patriot League era is seven.

Benigni's 10+ Point Scoring Streak
•    Austin Benigni has scored in double figures in eight-straight games and in 14 of the last 15 games.  The only outlier in this span was a nine-point game at Holy Cross.

At the FT Line – Austin Benigni / 2024-25
•    Benigni ranks first in the Patriot League and fifth in the NCAA for free throws made (141).
•    He ranks second in the league and 16th nationally in free throws attempted (163). 
•    He also ranks second in the league and 60th nationally with a free throw percentage of 86.5 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 425 attempts in 86 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.
•    Benigni enters the weekend ranked first in the Patriot League in scoring and second in 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 on the Offensive Boards
•    Navy has scored on 29 of the 46 possessions (63.0%) in which Aidan Kehoe has grabbed an offensive rebound since the start of the 2025 Patriot League season.

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 289 points (9.6 ppg) and 274 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 272 points (8.8 ppg), made 50 three-point baskets (1.61 fgm/g) and grabbed 104 rebounds (3.4 rpg).