The Army Black Knights (12-7) and Navy Midshipmen (15-5) will face off at Madison Square Garden for this game. Action begins at 2:00 pm ET on Saturday, Jan. 23 and can be seen on CCS.
The Black Knights are hoping to rebound after their 69-65 loss to Holy Cross on Wednesday. Dylan Cox had a solid performance, recording 10 points, nine rebounds, and four assists for Army. The Midshipmen, meanwhile, are coming off a 69-64 win against Lehigh on Wednesday. Tom Lacey was the game’s top scorer, registering 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting.
It will be a showdown of conflicting tempos, as the fast-paced Black Knights (ranked 20th in the nation in possessions per game) will look to push the slow-paced Midshipmen (342nd in possessions per game).
Army is a five-point favorite against Navy and the Over/Under (O/U) for this game is sitting at 135 points. The Black Knights come into this game 12-7 Straight Up (SU) and 1-1 Against The Spread (ATS). They have outperformed expectations over their last 10 games, going undefeated ATS (1-0) and 5-5 SU. The Black Knights are one of the best in Division I in terms of three-point field goals, making 9.0 shots per game from beyond the arc. The rebounding edge goes to the Black Knights in this matchup, who are one of the top rebounding teams in the nation with an average of 41.0 boards per game. Army’s three-point defense can be considered one of the best in the nation, allowing just 5.0 three-pointers per game.
Over on the other bench, it’s hard to argue with the ATS failures of Navy. The Midshipmen are clearly doing something wrong with a 0-2 record ATS to go along with a 15-5 record SU.
These conference foes will be squaring off for the first time this season. In their most recent meeting a season ago, Navy came out on top, bumping its SU record over their most recent meetings to 6-4. With a 1-0 record, the Midshipmen also have the advantage ATS. In these last five matchups, each team was able to hold the edge in field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers one time.
Predictions: SU Winner – Army, ATS Winner – Army, O/U – Under
Notes
Army averages 81.0 points per game this season. Navy is one of the best teams in points allowed, giving up just 61.7 points per game (ranked 10th).
The Army Black Knights rank 98th for their offensive rating of 109.3. The Navy Midshipmen have a defensive rating of 96.2 (ranked 50th).
Army has an average field goal percentage of 45.2%. Navy is a losing 1-4 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Army Black Knights rank lower for their field goal percentage (115th) than they do for their effective field goal percentage (68th), but the Navy Midshipmen have a better FG% ranking (126th) than eFG% ranking (238th).
Ranked 21st in the nation, Army has an average of 17.2 assists per game. Navy ranks lower at 186th with 13.3.
Navy, the 88th-ranked team in blocked shots, registers an average of 4.3 per game. Army does worse, ranked 194th with 3.3.
Army ranks 89th in offensive rebounding. Navy ranks 251st in defensive rebounding.
On average, Army makes 5.7 steals per game. Navy has a solid 11-5 record when it gives up at least 5 steals.
