Navy (22-6 / 14-1) at Army (11-17 / 5-10)
Saturday, Feb. 21  I  1:30 p.m.  I  Christl Arena  I  West Point, N.Y

TV / CBS Sports Network  I  Ed Cohen, Mo Cassara
Radio / WNAV, WFED  I  Matt Sabados

Five Starting Notes
•    Saturday's game is the 106th anniversary of the first Army-Navy game.  The teams originally met on Feb. 21, 1920, in West Point.  Navy won a 24-18 decision that day.
•    The last two Star Games to be played in Christl Arena were decided by a total of five points.  Also, two of the last three Star Games played at West Point have gone to overtime. 
•    Navy is averaging 66.6 points per game and Army 65.7 points per game over the last seven games to be played at West Point. 
•    Saturday's game will be the 38th to be played in Christl Arena.  Only Navy's Alumni Hall (40) has played host to more games in the series.
•    21 of the last 29 games (since Feb. 11, 2012) in the series have been decided by single digits. 

Game Information
•    Navy travels to West Point, N.Y., to face Army Saturday in the annual Star Game –– part of the Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA –– between the programs.
•    The 1:30 p.m. game will be televised by the CBS Sports Network, with both WNAV and WFED providing audio coverage.

A Look Back
•    Navy shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half and held Lehigh to a 33.3 percent effort for the game as the Mids posted a 72-49 win over the Mountain Hawks Wednesday night in Alumni Hall.
•    Navy used an 11-0 run to build an 18-8 lead, then took a 26-14 advantage before heading into halftime with a 32-20 lead.
•    The Mids took leads of 40-27, 49-33 and 57-37 in the second half.
•    Navy limited Lehigh to a 3-18 (16.7%) shooting mark from three-point land for the game, with the Mids also holding a 41-33 edge on the glass.
•    Austin Benigni scored 19 of his 25 points after halftime and set a new career high with six three-point field goals.
•    Aidan Kehoe registered his fifth double-double in a row with 14 points and 15 rebounds.
•    Donovan Draper totaled eight points, 11 rebounds, four assists and five steals.

Mids Earn First Outright PL Title Since 1997
•    Navy's Feb. 18 win over Lehigh earned the Mids the outright 2026 regular season title in the Patriot League.  
•    This is the sixth time in which Navy has earned at least a share of the Patriot League title (last was in 1990-00) and the ninth time in which the Mids have at least shared a conference crown.
•    Navy has won outright titles in 1985-86, 1986-87 and 1996-97.

Navy's Regular Season Titles
1984-85 - ECAC South / 11-3 / Tied 1st
1985-86 - CAA / 13-1 / 1st
1986-87 - CAA  / 13-1 / 1st
1993-94 - Patriot League / 9-5 / Tied 1st
1995-96 - Patriot League / 9-3 / Tied 1st
1996-97 - Patriot League / 10-2 / 1st
1997-98 - Patriot League / 10-2 / Tied 1st
1999-00 - Patriot League / 11-1 / Tied 1st
2025-26 - Patriot League / 14-1 / 1st

Atop the Standings 
•     The Navy men's and women's basketball teams are each in first place in the Patriot League.  Navy is one of eight schools to have both men's and women's teams have at least a share of first place.

Men's and Women's Teams in First Place
Atlantic Coast Conference - Duke
Big South Conference - High Point
Big West - UC Irvine
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference - Howard
Patriot League - Navy 
Summit League - North Dakota State
Sun Belt - Troy
West Coast Conference - Gonzaga

Army Preview
•    Army has posted an overall record of 11-17 this season and has tallied a 6-8 record in home games.
•    The Black Knights have posted a 5-10 record in league games, which includes a 2-5 record at home.
•    Army won an 87-77 game at Loyola on Wednesday to snap a four-game losing streak.

Series History
•    The two service academy programs first met on Feb. 21, 1920, in West Point.  The Mids emerged with a 24-18 victory in that inaugural game.
•    Navy leads the all-time series by a count of 88-56.  This includes a 39-30 lead in games played at Army and a 26-11 edge in games played in Christl Arena.
•    The teams have been fellow members of the Patriot League since the 1991-92 season.  Navy holds a 46-23 lead in league regular season games played by the teams.  The Mids also are in front of the Black Knights, 23-10, in league games played at Army, all of which have been played in Christl Arena.

Trophy Game to be Played at Army
•    The Alumni Trophy was first presented to the winner of the Star Game in 1984.  It consists of two 15-inch silver plates, one with the U.S. Military Academy seal and one with the U.S. Naval Academy seal.  
•    It was a gift of Capt. Victor Delano, USN (Ret.), a 1941 alumnus of the Naval Academy.
•    Due to natural wear and tear of the casing over the years, the trophy was refurbished during the 2022 summer.
•    Navy is in possession of the trophy thanks to its 61-54 victory in Annapolis in 2025.
•    Navy has posted a 33-9 record in the Trophy Game and has tallied a 14-7 in such games played at West Point.
•    The Mids also hold a 62-40 advantage in Star Games.  Army leads the series 26-25 in Star Games played at West Point, but Navy holds a 13-7 lead in Star Games played in Christl Arena.
•    The last two Trophy / Star Games played at West Point gave been decided by a total of five points.  Also, two of the last three Star games played at the venue have gone to overtime.

Close Games Are the Norm
•    Four of the last 12 games in the series have gone to overtime, as have six of the last 19 games.
•    21 of the last 29 games (since Feb. 11, 2012) have been decided by single digits.  This includes 10 games determined by five or fewer points.
•    Three of the last four games played in West Point have been decided by single digits.  

Series Longevity
•    This is the 103rd season in which Army and Navy are facing each other.  The only four years in which the teams have not met since the first game in 1919-20 were the 1928-29 through 1929-32 seasons.
•    Navy has faced Army in more seasons than any other opponent.
•    The 103 years of at least one Army-Navy game being played ranks second for the most seasons in which a Patriot League series has been contested.
•    Army and Navy are meeting this year for the 94th season in a row. That is the longest uninterrupted series among Patriot League programs.
•    Army and Navy will play for the 145th time Saturday.  That ranks fourth for the most games played among Patriot League teams and first for the most games played by the Mids against an opponent.

Series Points Recently
•    The scoring between Army (65.3 ppg) and Navy (68.5 ppg) has been nearly identical over the last 18 games in the series.
•    The scoring has been especially close over the last number of games played in West Point (Army: 65.7 ppg, Navy: 66.6 ppg).

Series Three-Point Field Goals Made
•    The team that has made MORE three-point field goals has posted a 15-11 record over the last 26 games and a 43-32 record since the introduction of the three-point shot (there have been five games in which the teams made the same number of triples).

Halftime Leads in the Series
•    The team LEADING at halftime has posted a 12-5 record over the last 17 games and a 61-19 record since 1974 (there have been three games in which the score was tied at halftime).

Rebounding Leads in the Series
•    The team grabbing MORE rebounds has posted just a 21-25 record over the last 49 games (there have been three games in which the teams grabbed the same number of rebounds) but also a 49-42 record dating back to 1973 (there have been four games with the teams having the same number of rebounds).

Series Venues
•    Christl Arena will be playing host to its 38th Army-Navy men's basketball game on Saturday.  Of the eight venues to play host to a game, only Navy's Alumni Hall (40) has been the site for more.

Army-Navy on the Airways
•    Saturday's game will be the 34th Army-Navy game to be aired by the CBS Sports Network since its founding as CSTV in 2004-05.
•    Since the 1986-87 season, the series also has been televised by CBS (14), ESPNU (3), Home Team Sports (2) and Direct TV (2).
•    The game also will be Navy's 76th on the network.

Navy 84, Army 56
•    Five players scored in double figures as Navy registered an 84-56 victory over Army Jan. 24 in Annapolis.
•    Navy turned a 19-18 deficit into 26-19, 30-22 and 37-26 leads before taking a 46-34 lead at the break.
•    After a three-point basket by Army to open the second half, Mike Woods scored the next seven points to boost the Navy lead to 53-37.  The lead ballooned to 66-46 and was at least 20 points over the last eight minutes of the game.
•    Army, which entered the game averaging 10.9 three-point field goals made a game in league play, made seven in the first half but only two in the second.
•    The Mids matched the seven first half triples made by Army and added four more in the second half.
•    Navy also held a 38-21 advantage on the glass.
•    Four of the five Mids to score in double figures were seniors: Austin Benigni, 19 points and six assists; Woods, 17 points; Aidan Kehoe, 13 points and 11 rebounds; and Donovan Draper, 11 points and five caroms.

Army-Navy Head Coaches
•    Former Navy head coach Ed DeChellis retired after coaching in his series record-tying 29th Army-Navy game last season (Navy's Don DeVoe).
•    First-year Navy head coach Jon Perry was alongside DeChellis for 25 of those games.  The Mids posted a 15-10 record with Perry on the staff.
•    Perry became the seventh Navy head coach to win his first Army-Navy game. 

A Look Ahead
•    Navy plays its final road game of the regular season Wednesday when the Mids play at Loyola.

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

•    Mike Woods selected the USS Fort Lauderdale for his first ship assignment.  LPD 28 (landing platform dock) is an amphibious transport dock ship based in Norfolk, Va.
•    Aidan Kehoe selected the USS Essex for his first ship.  LHD 2 (landing helicopter dock) is an amphibious assault ship with a home port of San Diego.

Navy Leading in Assist Percentage
•    Navy has been credited with 260 assists on its 407 made field goals during the Patriot League season.  That's an assist percentage of 63.9 percent, which leads the league and is one of the best in Navy history.

11th 20-Win Season
•    Navy's Feb. 9 win at Bucknell was the team's 20th of the season.  It is the 11th 20-win campaign in program history.

Navy Sets School Mark for Most PL Wins
•    With 14 wins, Navy has set the school record for the most Patriot League regular season wins since the league went to an 18-game season starting with the 2013-14 season (not including 2020-21).
•    The 2021-22 Navy team won 12 games.

Navy Second in PL Wins Over Half Decade
•    Navy (55-32) ranks second (to Colgate, 69-18) in the Patriot League for league wins over the last five seasons.

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.

Mids Well Ahead in Points in the Paint
•    Navy has scored more points in the paint in 13 of its 15 Patriot League games this season.  The Mids are averaging nearly 10 more paint points a game than their foes.
•    Navy has posted a 22-1 record this season as a whole when it scores more points in the paint.

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 +1,090 in offensive rebounding margin over the last 12 seasons.
•    Navy has regularly turned those second-chance opportunities into points.  The Mids are +1,025 in second-chance points over the last 12 years.
•    Aidan Kehoe had 15 second-chance points in Navy's double overtime win at Lehigh on Jan. 17 and 12 in Navy's Feb. 9 game at Bucknell.
•    Navy has scored on 34 of the 50 (68.0%) possessions in which Kehoe has grabbed at least one offensive board since the start of the Patriot League season.  The Mids have scored 68 points off of his offensive rebounds in league play.

Three-Point Plays 
•    Austin Benigni (51) and Donovan Draper (31) lead the team for the most career three-point play opportunities.  Aidan Kehoe (16) and Benigni (9) lead the team in such chances this season.

Benigni Named to Lou Henson Award Watch List
•     Austin Benigni was named to the Lou Henson Award Watch List earlier this season.
•    The award, presented by CollegeInsider.com, is given annually to the top mid-major player in the country.

500-Point Seasons
•    Austin Benigni scored 526 points during his 2023-24 sophomore season and 638 points in 2024-25 as a junior to became the fourth Mid to have scored 500 points in multiple seasons.  
•    He enters the game with 498 points scored this year.

Benigni Surpasses 1,800 Points
•    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  (12th fewest games needed to score 1,000 points).
•    He then reached the 1,500-point plateau during Navy's Dec. 19, 2025, game against Coppin State, surpassed 1,600 points Jan 10 against Lafayette, scored his 1,700th point Jan. 24 against Army and posted his 1,800th point Feb. 18 against Lehigh.
•    Benigni ranks among the Navy scoring leaders for both all games (third) and Patriot League games (first).
•    He also stands in 16th place in Patriot League history in career points.
•    Benigni scored his 1,000th point in Patriot League regular season games Feb. 18 against Lehigh.
•    Benigni is in third place at Navy with 88 games of scoring in double figures and fourth place with 38 career games with 20 or more points.  

3-Point Progression
•    One of the reasons behind Benigni's scoring success this season has been his improved three-point shooting.
•    He has made more three-point baskets this games than he made in 34 games last season.

At the FT Line – Austin Benigni 
•    This is the third season in a row in which Austin Benigni ranks among the NCAA leaders in all three free throw shooting statistics.
•    He ranks among the NCAA's active career leaders in both free throws made (second) and attempted (fifth).
•    He also ranks among the Navy and service academy leaders for the most foul shots made and attempted in a season and career.
•    Benigni ranks among the Navy (first) and Patriot League (third) leaders for career free throw percentage.

Benigni Leading in Points and Assists
•     Austin Benigni typically has led the Mids in either points or assists –– and occasionally both –– in a game, especially since the start of his 2023-24 season (40).
•     Benigni has totaled both 10 or more points and 5 or more assists in 35 career games.
•     Benigni became 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.
•    He leads the team in both statistics this year.
•     Benigni is the second Mid with 1,500 points and 300 assists in a career and the first 1,600 / 400 Mid.
•     He ranks among the Navy leaders for career assists with 457 (fifth).
•    He is the first Mid to have three seasons with both 400 points and 100 assists.
•     Benigni is one of five active players who have only played on the NCAA Division I level with both 1,800 points and 400 assists.
•     He is the second Patriot League player -- during each team's Patriot League era -- with 1,800 points and 400 assists. 
•     Benigni is one of four players to rank in the Patriot League's top-25 lists in both points and assists.
•     Benigni is one of three Mids to rank among Navy's top-10 statistical leaders in both career points and assists.

Benigni Among Minutes Played Leaders 
•     Austin Benigni enters the game ranked second in the Patriot League and ranked 36th nationally with an average of 35:40 of playing time a game this season.
•    He has played all 40 minutes this season against Southeastern Louisiana, Air Force, both games against Boston and all 50 minutes at Lehigh.
•    He ranks among the Navy leaders for the most minutes played in a career (third).

Benigni Among Games Played / Started Leaders 
•     Austin Benigni ranks among the Navy leaders for career games played (T-sixth) and started (T-eighth).

Kehoe's Shooting Among the NCAA Leaders
•    Aidan Kehoe ranks first among all NCAA Division I players in field goal percentage this season.
•    Kehoe has dished out the most assists this year among the nation's top-five players in field goal percentage.

Highest Field Goal Pct. / 2025-26
Rnk.    FG%.    Player, School  / Assists
1.    .735    Aidan Kehoe, Navy (186-253) / 59
2.    .689    Ven-Allen Lubin, NC St. (146-212) / 27
3.    .680    Ben Defty, Boston U. (151-222) / 53
4.    .670    Morez Johnson Jr., Mich. (134-200) / 31
5.    .662    Collin Kuhl, Stetson (139-210) / 18

•    Kehoe ranked second at Navy for the highest field goal percentage in a single season in 2024-25, and he has thus far bettered that in 2025-26.
•     Kehoe currently holds the top mark for the highest field goal percentage in a season by a Patriot League player.

Kehoe and Draper -- Double-Doubles
•    Aidan Kehoe and Donovan Draper each rank among the Navy leaders in career double-doubles, with Kehoe also ranking among the leaders for the most in a year. 

Most Double-Doubles - Career at Navy
Rnk.    No.    Player, Years
1.    74    David Robinson, 1984-87
--------------------------------------------------
5.    24    Eddie Reddick, 1988-91
6.    23    Hank Kuzma, 1975-78
    23    Aidan Kehoe, 2023-pres.
8.    22    Chris Reddington, 1964-66
9.    21    Hassan Booker, 1995-98
10.    19    Jay Metzler, 1958-60
11.    16    Donovan Draper, 2024-pres.

Most Double-Doubles - Season at Navy
Rnk.    No.    Player, Years
1.    31    David Robinson, 1986
2.    21    David Robinson, 1987
3.    20    David Robinson, 1985
4.    18    Don Lange, 1954
5.    17    Don Lange, 1953
6.    15    Aidan Kehoe, 2026

Kehoe's 20-Point Double-Doubles
•    Aidan Kehoe has posted 15 double-doubles this season, eight of which saw him score at least 20 points.
•    He is in seventh place at Navy for the most 20-point double-doubles in a season.

Draper and Kehoe -- Rebounds
•    Aidan Kehoe set a Navy record in 2024-25 for the most offensive boards by a Mid in a season.
•    Both he and Donovan Draper rank among the Navy leaders in Navy season and career leaders in multiple rebounding categories.
•    Draper now ranks seventh at Navy and Kehoe ninth for the most career caroms.
•    Draper and Kehoe are two of the 11 Mids to have totaled both 800 points and 600 rebounds in a career.
•    This is the second year in a row in which Kehoe ranks among NCAA leaders in all three rebounding statistics.
•    He also ranks fifth nationally in total rebounds.

Draper's Steals
•    Donovan Draper spent the 2021-22 academic year as a football player at the Naval Academy Prep School.  He then was wide receiver at Navy on the 2022-23 team.
•    Draper, who was an all-county basketball player in high school, joined the Navy basketball team in the spring of 2023.
•    After going 994 days between his last high school basketball game and first as a Mid, he made an immediate impact as he ranked among the Patriot League and NCAA leaders in multiple statistical categories (steals, offensive rebounds, total rebounds).
•    He ranks among the Navy career leaders in steals and steals per game.
•    Draper is the third Mid to rank among Navy's top-10 players in both career rebounds and steals.