Feb. 9, 2010

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WEDNESDAY'S GAME BASICS
Navy (11-12, 5-3 PL) hits the road on Wednesday night for the first of two games in the Lehigh Valley, as it takes on league-leading Lehigh (15-8, 6-2 PL) at 7:00 pm in Bethlehem, Pa. The game will be played at the 5,600-seat Stabler Arena, where the Mountain Hawks own a stellar 9-1 record. The Mids sit just one game behind the Mountain Hawks in the league standings. Pete Medhurst will handle the call on WNAV (1430 AM) and SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Channel 152), beginning with the Navy basketball pregame show at 6:45 pm (ET). The game will be streamed online as part of the Navy and Patriot League All-Access packages at www.NavySports.com.

NOTEWORTHY
• Navy owns a 44-16 series advantage against Lehigh, and the Mids have won five of the last six meetings with the Mountain Hawks, dating back to Feb. 7, 2007. Included in the win totals is a 94-83 victory over Lehigh on Jan. 14 of this year in Annapolis.
• Navy owns a remarkable 18-5 all-time record in Stabler Arena, and is 4-1 there under Billy Lange. The Mids are 17-4 against Lehigh in Stabler Arena and 1-1 against neutral foes as part of the PL Tournament.
• Just three of the last eight games in the series have been decided by single-digits and none by fewer than five points.
• Patriot League teams are 23-9 at home in league play this year. Navy owns a 4-1 mark in Patriot League home games. Four of Navy's last six games are away from Annapolis, where Navy is just 2-9 (1-2 PL) with wins over Longwood and Bucknell.
• In Navy's 12 home games (9-3), Navy is averaging 75.4 ppg while shooting 42.6 percent from the field, 41.6 percent from three-point range and 75.9 percent from the free throw line. In its 11 games away from Annapolis, the Mids are averaging just 66.2 ppg while shooting 39.0 percent from the field, 31.5 percent from long distance and 67.3 percent from the free throw line.
• With the two-point win over Bucknell, Navy is now 8-0 this year in games decided by six or fewer points. Since the start of last year, Navy is 19-6 in games decided by six or fewer points and is 10-1 in games decided by three or fewer points.
• Navy is averaging a league-best 8.1 three-pointers made per game, ranking 27th nationally in that category, and putting Navy on a pace for 244 three-pointers, which would rank third all-time. Navy's 36.6 three-point percentage ranks tied for fifth all-time at Navy.
• With Romeo Garcia leading the team in scoring against Bucknell, it marked the first time since Nov. 15 vs. Longwood that someone other than Chris Harris or Jordan Sugars led the team in scoring. The duo had led the team in scoring in 20 straight games.
• Navy is one of three schools nationally (Harvard and California) to rank in the nation's top 70 in free throw percentage in each of the last five years (including this year). Navy is currently 65th this year, shooting 72.3 percent.
• Navy had four players in double figures for the fifth time this year against Bucknell (Bucknell twice, Longwood, Elon and Lehigh). In games that Navy has four players in double figures, the Mids are 5-0, but just 6-12 when having three or fewer.
• With O.J. Avworo winning Patriot League Player of the Week honors, a Navy player has won the award five times in 13 weeks this year.
• Chris Harris continues to lead the Patriot League in scoring at 20.6 ppg. Over the last four games, Harris is averaging 23.5 ppg while shooting 48.1 percent (26-of-54) from the field and 57.1 percent (12-of-21) from three-point range.
• Harris shot just 32.2 percent from the field and 29.8 percent from long range in non-conference games, but is at 42.3 and 44.9 percent, respectively, in league games.
• Harris has scored in double-figures in all 23 games this year, and his 23-game streak is the fifth-longest in school history. Harris has scored at least 20 points in five of the last seven games, averaging 22.9 ppg in the last six outings. He has 12 20-point efforts this year.
• Sugars needs just 47 points and 33 rebounds to become the sixth player in school history to record 400 points and 225 rebounds in a single season. He would be just the third sophomore (David Robinson and Vernon Butler) to accomplish the feat.
• O.J. Avworo has recorded back-to-back double-doubles (points and assists) and over the last six games, is averaging 9.8 ppg and 7.3 apg (44 assists) against just 15 turnovers for an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.93. He is the first player in school history with back-to-back double-doubles featuring points and assists.

FRIDAY'S BUCKNELL RECAP
• Romeo Garcia led a balanced Navy attack with a career-high 20 points and Jordan Sugars and O.J. Avworo both had double-doubles to lead Navy to an 81-79 victory over Bucknell on Friday. The game was moved to Friday due to the blizzard that hit the Mid-Atlantic.
• Navy trailed by one at halftime, 35-34, and the game was still tied at 59 all with 9:02 to play, when Navy went on a quick 8-0 run to take control of the game. Bucknell would get no closer than the two points, which came at the final buzzer, the rest of the way.
• Besides Garcia's career-high 20 points, Avworo added a career-best 17 points with 10 assists, while Sugars had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Chris Harris scored 18 points for his 23rd straight double-figure game (every game this year). The four Navy backcourt starters combined for 70 of Navy's 81 points. It marked the first time since Dec. 5, 1995, that four players scored 15 or more points in a game.
• Navy shot 55.6 percent in the second half, the highest percentage in a half this year.
} Navy had two players record double-doubles (Avworo and Sugars) for the first time •ince Jan. 19, 2008, when Greg Sprink (33 p, 12 r) and Kaleo Kina (18 p, 10 a) had double-doubles against Lafayette.

MIDS HOARD PATRIOT LEAGUE HONORS
• O.J. Avworo became the third Navy player this year to earn Patriot League Player of the Week honors, when the league's release came out on Monday. He joins two-time winners Chris Harris and Jordan Sugars as Midshipmen to win the award this year.
• It's the first time since the 2003-04 season (Lafayette) that three different teammates won the Patriot League Player of the Week award. It's the second time a Navy team has accomplished it, the other coming in the 1998-99 season (Chris Williams, Skip Victor and Sitapha Savane).
• It's the fifth time in 13 weeks that a Navy player has won the award this year. The next closest is American and Lafayette with three each.
• It also marks the 10th time (in 29 weeks) since the start of last year that a Navy player has earned the award. American is next on the list with eight weekly honorees.
• Navy players have now earned 36 Player of the Week honors and is behind just Holy Cross (45) and Bucknell (44) on the all-time list.

PREVIEWING LEHIGH
Lehigh enters Wednesday's contest as the hottest team in the Patriot League having won its last two games and five of its last six after falling to Navy on Jan. 14. The Mountains Hawks started the year 3-5, but have since gone 12-3 in their last 15 games, winning eight of the 12 games by double-figures. All six of Lehigh's league wins have come in double-figures and the Mountain Hawks are 9-1 at home, outscoring foes by 7.6 points per game. Lehigh's lone loss at Stabler Arena came to Stony Brook, 71-52, way back on November 30, and the Mountain Hawks have since won seven games in a row in their home facility.

A balanced attack awaits the Navy defense as four players average double-figures, led by freshman sensation C.J. McCollum at 16.4 ppg. He ranks third in the league in scoring and in league games only, is averaging 20.3 ppg. After scoring 31 points against Navy in the first meeting, Navy head coach Billy Lange had this to say about the likely Rookie of the Year in the league: "He is easily the best freshman I have seen in this league and could potentially be the best player this league has ever seen, in my opinion. He is a tough player to stop." Seniors Zahir Carrington and Marquis Hall, the preseason Player of the Year, average 10.9 and 10.7 ppg, respectively, while Hall paces the league in assists at 5.7 per game. Freshman Gabe Knutson, who scored 31 points against Holy Cross, averages 10.3 ppg. The Mountain Hawks lead the league in scoring offense (73.2), scoring margin (+3.2), three-point percentage (.386) and assists (14.7). In league games only, Lehigh averages 76.8 ppg and is shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from three-point range.

Lehigh is coached by Brett Reed, who is one of three coaches nationally to have a doctorate degree. In his third year as a collegiate head coach, Reed is 44-37, all coming at Lehigh.

NAVY-LEHIGH SERIES HISTORY
Navy owns a 44-16 series lead against Lehigh, having won five of the last six meetings, including a 94-83 victory on Jan. 14, 2010, in Annapolis. The Mountain Hawks are one of three league schools (Lafayette, Army) that Navy's Billy Lange has a winning record against, as he owns a 7-4 record against Lehigh. Just six of Lange's 11 games against Lehigh have been determined by single-digits and over the last six games, not one of them has been determined by fewer than five points. Navy is 18-5 at Stabler Arena, since its first game there in 1980, and is 17-4 against Lehigh. Navy has won three straight games in Stabler Arena, all of them coming by five points.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE MOUNTAIN HAWKS (Box score found later in packet)
In an offensive slugfest, Chris Harris led four Navy players in double figures with 29 points to lead Navy to a 94-83 triumph in front of 2,608 fans at Alumni Hall. Navy led 36-33 at halftime, then outscored Lehigh, 58-50, in the second half for the 11-point victory. The Mids would lead by as many as 13 late in the second half and Navy was aided by shooting 18-of-22 from the free throw line in the final 20 minutes. The Midshipmen would hold Lehigh to just seven assists and 37.7 percent shooting from the field. Jeremy Wilson and Greg Brown each had career highs of 14 points and O.J. Avworo had 12 points and five assists, while holding Marquis Hall to 10 points and two assists in a matchup of the league's top two point guards. Freshmen C.J. McCollum and Gabe Knutson had 31 and 16 points, respectively, for Lehigh.

FIRST PLACE ON THE LINE
• First place in the Patriot League will be on the line on Wednesday night as Navy (5-3) travels to Lehigh (6-2), just one game behind the Mountain Hawks in the league standings.
• A Navy win would give the Mids the tiebreaker via a season sweep over Lehigh. Already owning a season sweep of Bucknell, a win would help the Mids to a pair of key tiebreakers via season sweeps against two of the top teams in the league (Bucknell and Lehigh).

HARRIS ON A ROLL
• Senior guard Chris Harris is the Patriot League's leading scorer at 20.6 ppg and ranks ninth on the school's career scoring chart with 1,477 points, needing 23 points to become the eighth player in school history with 1,500 points.
• Harris needs 23 points and three assists to become the second Mid (Kaleo Kina) in Navy history with 1,500 pts., 250 asts. and 150 stls.
• Over the last seven games, Harris is shooting 47.6 percent (20-of-42) from three-point range, 42.9 percent (42-of-98) from the field and 91.8 percent (56-of-61) from the free throw line, while averaging 22.9 ppg. In Navy's five league wins, Harris is averaging 23.4 ppg.
• Harris ranks first in scoring (20.6), free throw percentage (.883) and three-pointers made (64) and steals (1.8) in the PL.
• His 88.3 percent free throw percentage this year is currently second at Navy, just behind Scott Long's 88.9 percent in 2002.
• He has the two longest consecutive free throws made streaks in school history (37 and 35), both set this year.
• He is one of 21 players nationally to have scored in double figures every game this year.
• His 64 three-pointers this year rank tied for the seventh most in a season in school history, two behind Greg Sprink's 66 (2007) for sixth.
• Ranks 23rd on Patriot League scoring list (1,477), 21st on steals list (156) and eighth on career three-pointers list (264).
• Already ranks 18th on single-season scoring list (474 points) and his 20.6 ppg average is the 11th-best total in school history.
• Is one of seven players in school history with four 30-point games and he has scored 29.03 percent of Navy's points, ninth most in the NCAA.

THREE-POINT SNIPING
• Navy has made a three-pointer in 207 straight games and at least three three-pointers in 167-of-169 games during the Lange era.
• The Mids are shooting 28-of-50 (.560) from three-point range in the last two games, both wins.
• In league play only, Navy's 42.4 three-point percentage ranks seventh nationally.
• The Mids' 15 three-pointers against Colgate tied for the second most in school history, while the 13 made against Coppin State, Lafayette and Bucknell tied for the 10th most in school history. Of the 25 times in school history that Navy has made 13 or more three-pointers in a game, 20 of the occurrences have come under Billy Lange.
• Chris Harris' 64 three-pointers are the seventh most in a single-season, while Jordan Sugars' 59 are the 11th most.
• In addition, Sugars' 42.1 percent ranks seventh on the single-season list, while Romeo Garcia's 43.1 percent is tied for fourth.
• Lastly, Navy is shooting 36.6 percent from long range, tied for the fifth-best percentage in school history. Navy's 187 three-pointers are already the seventh most in school history.

THE DIFFERENCE IN WINNING AND LOSING
• In Navy's 11 wins, the Midshipmen are holding opponents to .424 field goal percentage while being outrebounded by just 1.7 boards per game. The Mids are shooting 45.5 percent from the field, 43.5 percent from three-point range and 74.4 percent from the free throw line in wins.
• However, in Navy's 12 losses, the Mids are shooting just 37.0 percent from the field, 30.8 percent from long distance and 69.2 percent from the free throw line, while getting outrebounded by 9.3 rebounds per game. Opponents are shooting 46.4 percent in the 12 losses.
• Chris Harris and Jordan Sugars are a combined 133-of-301 (.442) from the field in wins, including 64-of-150 (.427) from long distance while averaging 40.2 (Harris - 23.3; Sugars - 16.9) ppg in Navy's wins. Harris averages just 14.7 field goal attempts and 8.7 free throw attempts in Navy wins.
• In Navy's losses, the pair is just 126-of-360 (.350) from the field and 59-of-180 (.328) from three-point range, while averaging 32.1 (Harris - 18.2; Sugars - 13.9) ppg in 12 games. Harris is averaging 18.0 field goal attempts and 5.8 free throw attempts per game in Navy losses.

NAVY DUO PROVIDING FIREPOWER
The Navy duo of Chris Harris and Jordan Sugars are averaging a combined 36.0 points per game between them, having scored 827 combined points this year. The pair has scored 50.6 percent of Navy's points this year and are on pace for 1,079 points, which would make them the seventh duo in school history to combine for 1,000 points. Harris is already part of two of the pairs that have reached 1,000 combined points as he and Greg Sprink combined for 1,087 points in 2008 and Harris and Kaleo Kina scored 1,004 points in 2009. As it stands right now, the 1,079 points would be the sixth most in school history and if they both keep their current averages over 15.0 ppg, the duo would be just one of seven Navy pairs to each average 15.0 ppg.
• In addition, the 123 three-pointers (Harris - 64; Sugars - 59) between them are the fifth most nationally through Wednesday's games behind pairs from Sacred Heart (155), VMI (131), Hartford (130) and Baylor (124).

STAR IN WAITING?
• There is no secret that Chris Harris has waited for his opportunity to become Navy's primary offensive threat, playing behind Greg Sprink in 2008 and Kaleo Kina in 2009.
• Now that Harris has taken the offensive reigns, a new offensive star appears to have emerged as a go-to-guy down the road. Jordan Sugars' 15.3 ppg average currently ranks as the fifth-best scoring average in school history by a Navy sophomore behind David Robinson (23.6), Kevin Sinnett (16.0), John Clune (21.2) and John Tolmie (17.5). In addition, his 8.3 rebound per game average is the fifth-best average for a sophomore.
• Sugars is on pace this year for 460 points and 250 rebounds (30-game schedule), which would make him just the fifth player in school history (Eddie Reddick, David Robinson, Vernon Butler and Don Lange) with 400 points and 225 rebounds in a season and just the third sophomore (Butler and Robinson) to reach those marks. Just three players (Lange, Robinson and Butler) have had at least 250 rebounds in a season.
• Sugars' 12.1 point per game improvement from last year is the second-best improvement by a player in the NCAA this year. Pittsburgh's Ashton Gibbs leads the way at a 12.2 points per game improvement from last year.

MAY I ASSIST YOU?
• Since O.J. Avworo's insertion into the starting lineup at the start of last year, the junior transfer has accustomed himself nicely to Billy Lange's style of play. He is now playing the best basketball of his career, averaging 11.8 ppg and 8.0 apg over the last four games, against 9 turnovers.
• Avworo already has 231 assists in just 52 career games, moving into 14th place on the school's career assists list. His per game average of 4.44 ranks fifth all-time behind Doug Wojcik (7.21), Mickey Hampton (5.93), Brian Walker (4.78) and Rob Romaine (4.71).
• His 122 assists are the 17th most in a season, and he owns a 1.94 assist-to-turnover ratio this year. In league play, the ratio is 2.36 (52:22).
• He has recorded back-to-back double-doubles, becoming the first Navy player with two straight double-doubles featuring points and assists.
• Including his time at Idaho, Avworo now has 326 career assists (231 at Navy) in 83 games.

WHAT'S NEXT
• Navy returns to the Lehigh Valley for a Saturday (1:00 pm) tilt with Lafayette in Easton, Pa. The Leopards topped Navy, 90-77, on Jan. 16.

# GO NAVY #