Army Black Knights
Date: Friday December 13th, 2024
Time: 7:00 PM ET
Venue: Charles E. Smith Center (Washington, DC)
TV: ESPN+
Ranks: 280th (KenPom), 302nd (Bart Torvik), 287th (Haslametrics), 268th (EvanMiya), 286th (Sports Illustrated)
2023-24 Record: 10-22, 6-12 (T-8th in Patriot)
2024-25 Projected Record: 15-15, 9-9 (7th in Patriot)

Head-to-Head: 9-4. GW has won the last three meetings, although the two teams have only faced each other once since 2000 and twice since 1972. The 1997 matchup was at a neutral site in Fairfax, VA as part of the US Airways Holiday Classic. In the most recent clash back in 2015, GW won 92-81. The Buff and Blue struggled from distance, shooting just 4/16 from 3 compared to Army's blazing 12/28 (43%) mark. The difference came from inside the arc, as GW made 60% of their two point attempts and had a +17 advantage on made free throws, offsetting a 20 assist performance by the Black Knights.

KevLar led the way with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Pato did a little bit of everything - 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Matt Hart had 17 points off the bench (most did not come from three, which was unusual). Tyler Cavanaugh had a near double-double with 11 points and 9 rebounds, and JoeMac had his usual kind of stat line with 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Offensive Efficiency: 185th (KenPom), 237th (Bart Torvik), 221st (Haslametrics), 220th (EvanMiya)
Defensive Efficiency: 341st (KenPom), 332nd (Bart Torvik), 332nd (Haslametrics), 309th (EvanMiya)
Pace: 246th (KenPom), 223rd (Bart Torvik), 243rd (Haslametrics), 246th (EvanMiya)

Strengths (2023-24 Season):
Scoring Defense: 64.3 PPG (15th)
Three Point Attempts Per Game: 24.6 3PA (61st)
Blocks Per Game: 3.9 BPG (89th)
Fouls Per Game: 15.8 PF/G (89th)

Weaknesses (2023-24 Season):
Turnovers Forced Per Game: 10.9 TO/G (264th)
Steals Per Game: 5.8 SPG (271st)
Turnover Margin: -1.3 TO/G (276th)
Three Point Percentage: 32% (279th)
Scoring Margin: -4 PPG (290th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: 47.7% (300th)
Winning Percentage: 31.3% (308th)
Fastbreak Points: 5.9 PPG (327th)
Field Goal Percentage: 40.5% (333rd)
Free Throw Attempts Per Game: 14 FTA (345th)
Scoring Offense: 60.3 PPG (349th)
Free Throw Percentage: 58.8% (351st)
Free Throws Made Per Game: 8.3 FTM (351st)

Projected Starting Lineup:
#1 G Jalen Rucker (Senior; Baltimore, MD) - 16.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.6 apg; 46% FG, 30% 3-PT, 83% FT per 32.8 mpg/33 GP at Army in 2022-23 season
#2 G Ryan Curry (Sophomore; Montgomery, NJ) - 10.2 ppg, 3 rpg, 3.1 apg; 39% FG, 35% 3-PT, 70% FT per 30 mpg/32 GP at Army last season
#31 G Blake Barker (Senior; Columbus, IN) - 5.2 ppg, 2 rpg; 36% FG, 32% 3-PT, 83% FT per 18.5 mpg/25 GP at Army last season
#4 F Josh Scovens (Sophomore; Greensboro, NC) - 12 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.1 bpg; 40% FG, 32% 3-PT, 67% FT per 31 mpg/32 GP at Army last season
#55 F AJ Allenspach (Senior; Simpsonville, SC) - 2.4 ppg, 2.1 rpg; 55% FG, 41% FT per 9.9 mpg/31 GP at Army last season

Key Bench Players:
#0 G Isaiah Caldwell (Senior; Columbia, SC) - 1.9 ppg, 1.1 rpg; 47% FG, 33% 3-PT, 92% FT per 10.9 mpg/22 GP at Army last season
#15 F Jorn Everson (Junior; Williston, ND) - 1.7 ppg; 40% FG, 44% 3-PT, 100% FT per 3.2 mpg/13 GP at Army last season
#13 G Kendall Hailey (Sophomore; Los Angeles, CA) - 0.8 ppg, 1.3 rpg; 24% FG, 83% FT per 10.1 mpg/19 GP at Army last season
#10 F Jacen Holloway (Freshman; Philadelphia, PA)
#22 G Kevin McCarthy (Freshman; West Chester, PA)

Key Losses:
TJ Small (Left Team; Kenner, LA) - 9.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.1 apg; 34% FG, 33% 3-PT, 78% FT per 27.6 mpg/30 GP
Abe Johnson (Graduated; Missoula, MT) - 6.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1 apg; 56% FG, 52% FT per 19.5 mpg/31 GP

Preview:
After being an independent for nearly two decades, the Army football team finally found a home in the American conference as a football-only member. Jeff Monken has done a good job leading the team on the gridiron, as the Black Knights have been nationally ranked in the AP poll three times since 2018, including this year. The 2024 Army squad may end up going down as one of, if not the best team in school history. On the 28th, 22nd ranked Army will take on Marshall in the Independence Bowl. Of course, in the short-term, all eyes are on their tilt against Navy scheduled for Saturday in nearby Landover, MD. Perhaps that will boost the attendance for tomorrow's game.

While it's clear the football program is on the rise in West Point, the basketball program has not quite followed suit (yet). Kevin Kuwik, who served 10 years in the US Army (and earned a bronze star from his service in Iraq) took over the program last season following seven middling years under Jimmy Allen (third third straight coach to lead the program for exactly seven years). Honestly, I don't think Allen did a bad job at all. The Black Knights finished .500 or better in the Patriot in each of his last four years which feels like a success to me at a military institution. While Kuwik managed to rise to the rank of captain in the Army, he faces another tough test on the court. This isn't an easy job - Army hasn't hit 20 wins in a season since 1976-77 under some guy named Mike Krzyzewski (you may have heard of him). The Black Knights are one of three teams to have been eligible for every tournament and not qualify even once (William & Mary and The Citadel are the others, now that St. Francis Brooklyn shut down their program). If I remember correctly, Zak Boisvert was a candidate for the job while still an assistant at GW but I think he made the right decision to hold out longer for a job with a slightly higher ceiling.

Kuwik has been around the block as a coach. At the D1 level, he's served as an assistant at Ohio, Dayton, Davidson, and Butler. Kuwik has also been the director of operations at the latter two institutions and was the video coordinator at Ohio State as well. It's worthwhile to mention this to point out that he is plenty familiar with the A10 having been in the league for 11 seasons. Whether that translates to better game planning against GW remains to be seen but he will certainly be unfazed by playing at the Smith Center.

Last season was always going to be a tough one. It wasn't just Kuwik's first go-around as head coach, but he inherited practically nothing. All four double figure scorers from the 2022-23 squad departed (three via transfer portal, one graduated) meaning that a number of players had to step into unfamiliar roles. As you'd expect from a military institution, the Black Knights battled. They won just two OOC D1 games, but six of their nine losses were decided by single digits, including a road game against Indiana. Army ran out of steam at the end of the year, dropping their final five games but it was a respectable showing in year #1 for Kuwik.

Regardless of who is leading the charge, you can always bank on Army being a squad that is tough and disciplined. Even in a rebuilding season like last year, teams did not have an easy time scoring on the Black Knights and Army rarely fouled, preventing foes from earning free points at the line. Perhaps the most Army stat is despite being 346th in height, Kuwik's squad was 89th nationally in blocks per game. The bottom line is that everything was contested on that side of the ball. Army is somehow even shorter this year - only D1 newcomer/fellow GW opponent Mercyhurst and the other Patriot League military school in Navy are shorter. While the block rate was likely an anomaly last season, expect the toughness factor to remain intact. The Black Knights will not shoot themselves in the foot on offense, as they are third nationally (after Toledo and Valparaiso) in non-steal turnover percentage, unsurprising for a team that will not be sped up. Don't expect them to throw careless passes that fly out of bounds.

Montana native Abe Johnson and rising sophomore Josh Scovens led the charge in the shot swatting and rebounding departments last year. While Johnson has graduated, Scovens is back. He was named to the all-rookie team last season after leading the team in scoring as a freshman (12 ppg) while also crashing the glass hard. Scovens hit a bit of a freshman wall late (which coincided with Army's skid) but he is a great building block for the program moving forward, even showing some passing chops and the ability to stretch the floor a bit. Scovens has upped his scoring to nearly 18 ppg this year, which ranks 82nd nationally.

Expect AJ Allenspach to team up with Scovens in the frontcourt to give Army some modicum of size down low. After not being a major factor in his first three years, Allenspach has become a critical player this year for Army, averaging 11 ppg and nearly 9 rpg as well. He has three double doubles on the year already and has a nice touch near the rim, where he's made a very impressive 78% of his attempts on the year.

Joining Scovens on the all-rookie team last year was Ryan Curry, who deserves a lot of credit when it comes to Army being sound with the rock. Despite being a freshman, Curry only had four games in which he finished with more turnovers than assists in a game. Kuwik's first squad wasn't shy about gunning from deep (25th in 3-PT attempt percentage nationally) and much like Steph (Curry), Ryan showcased parking lot range on his jumper. Curry drilled a team best 60 triples at a 35% clip last year, and he is up to a scorching 48% this season. TJ Small wasn't too far behind in his marksmanship but he is no longer listed on Army's roster, which may force the team to diversify their point distribution. Generating and making more shots at the charity stripe could certainly help (Army was bad at both those things last year).

Perhaps Small's replacement is Blake Barker, who took 65% of his shots from deep on just okay efficiency. Barker had some scoring outbursts in OOC play last year, including a 20 point performance in just 24 minutes against Le Moyne but wasn't a big factor come conference play. Improving his efficiency and contributing in other areas may help him to stay on the court longer. So far, it appears that Kuwik is trusting him to play a bigger role this season and Barker has answered the bell, nailing 36% of his three point tries thus far.

While Scovens, Allenspach, Curry, and Barker will all play key roles, they will all be secondary options to Jalen Rucker, who returns to the team after sitting out last year (potentially due to some academic reasons). Rucker entered the portal back in 2022-23 but resurfaced on the roster this offseason. He will provide something Army sorely needed last season: a go-to guy that can handle a high usage role. From the minute he stepped on campus back in 2020, Rucker has been that guy. His three point shot has been inconsistent over his career, but he's shooting nearly 40% so far this year and will assist Curry in playmaking duties. While Rucker is only 5'10", he's Baltimore tough, as evidenced by his incredible 4.8 rpg (impressive given his height) to go with two steals a game (tied with Jacoi for 80th nationally). Against Le Moyne in triple overtime, he put up a double double, but not in the way you'd expect (34 points, 13 rebounds). His 19.2 ppg, on the year is 32nd best in the country. Making sure Rucker (a former first-team all-Patriot honoree) is covered at all times will be crucial.

Since military institutions/Ivy League schools don't offer athletic scholarships, they don't have the same roster size limits placed on most D1 schools. Thus, projecting Army's rotation is a little bit of a crapshoot. In the backcourt, Isaiah Caldwell had appeared in every game prior to Army's last game against Cornell. Unlike most of his teammates, he was money from the FT line (11/12) but again, Army didn't get there too often to make that useful. Caldwell has good size, but he hasn't been a high usage guy across three years at West Point so it's hard to see that suddenly changing. Kendall Hailey pretty much fits the same mold. The Californian has appeared in every game this year after only suiting up for 19 total games in 2023-24. His minutes have remained exactly the same as has his usage. Jackson Mayo is a native of Hawaii who likely remains a deeper option. This also applies to Blane St. Clair and Luke Benson. St. Clair has appeared in ten games across three years for the Black Knights, while Benson has had cameos in four games the past couple of years.

Projecting who plays behind Scovens and Allenspach in the frontcourt is equally as challenging. Jorn Everson, a North Dakota native, has appeared in every game so far this year after being a depth option last season. His three-level scoring ability at the forward position sticks out and he is one of the bigger players on the team. Tate Laczkowski got some significant run earlier in the season, crashing the glass hard in his minutes, but he hasn't played recently. While we may not see Tate in tomorrow's game, we may see his brother Luke next year as the younger Laczkowski is a SLU commit. JT Dougherty is the tallest player on the roster at 6'9", but he sat out last year and hasn't played meaningful minutes in college so far. That also holds true for Chanse Perkins, an undersized junior forward, and Griff Lamb, yet another 6'8" forward from Arizona who has yet to play this year.

Finally, there's the nine-man freshman class. Generally, at these schools with large rosters the underclassmen serve as understudies unless they are a really special talent like Rucker. However, Kuwik has seemed to be more open to playing freshmen big minutes, as was seen with Scovens and Curry last year (although that was partly out of necessity). This could be a product of the transfer portal, or just coaching preference. Jacen Holloway has played limited minutes in every game this year, although he has unsurprisingly struggled to shoot the ball in his first games of CBB. Kevin McCarthy (no ties to the former speaker) has also seen some run as the potential point guard of the future. He scored over 1,500 points in HS and earned many accolades in the Philadelphia area. Brendon O'Keefe has multiple connections to Army athletics in his family, as his mom played women's soccer and his dad was on the basketball team in the early 2000s. Dayon Polk, Jaxson Bell, and Alex Engro round out the guard rotation, while Nnaemeka Ikechi, Joshua Eli, and Dylan Murans will add depth at forward. Polk won a state championship in Delaware and Eli scored 1,200 points at his HS in NJ.

There are two primary keys for tomorrow. Since Army is more offensively minded than defensively this year, how GW guards the starters will be something to watch. Rucker, Curry, and Barker can all make you pay if you leave them open, so running them off the line will be crucial. Specifically, Curry and Barker have not taken or made too many FTs so you'd prefer to have them attacking the basket. It may result in made baskets inside for Scovens and Allenspach but I think that may be a worthy tradeoff.

When GW is on offense, can they make enough jumpers to keep Army from playing zone for long periods of time? Again Army is small, especially along the perimeter. Rucker is 5'10", Curry is exactly 6 feet tall, and Barker is just 6'2" but will play the 3. That plays a big role in their brutal defensive rating, but the same was said about American and we all know how GW performed against a fellow Patriot League opponent (and Navy the year before). The Black Knights are 18th nationally in defensive free throw rate. Whether that will matter against GW is unknown, but it wouldn't be a shock to see GW attempt fewer FTs than average. Army isn't going to turn you over (they are sixth worst in defensive turnover rate) but GW can't be wasting possessions by not being in sync. It would be great to see GW dominate the rebounding battle after the ODU game.

Projected Score: GW 80, Army 70. 82% chance to win (KenPom). Bart Torvik predicts an 86% GW victory. ESPN gives the Revs an 84.3% chance at a W.
 

I believe this game is the first game of a home and home, so we'll be traveling to West Point next year

dmvpiranha wrote:

gwstudent2024 wrote:

I believe this game is the first game of a home and home, so we'll be traveling to West Point next year

It's stuff like this where I agree with others about the scheduling. Even JC's decision to do a home and home with Radford is better than this (and that says a lot).

Hofstra? They've been decent so I get it. ODU? They were expected to be bad this year, but maybe there's some upside for next year when they return to the Smith Center. American? Even before we lost at their place I'll admit that I didn't love that we were playing them home and home because the reward for winning at their place was low and risk for losing was high. However, at least they are a local opponent which makes it somewhat okay.

A home and home against Army though? Why do another Patriot League team where again the risk of playing them at their place is high and the reward is low (even if Rucker is gone after this season). Unlike American, there isn't even a local factor. I don't believe that CC couldn't find a team (even a bottom feeder at this point) in a comparable conference to the A10 to play a home and home with. For someone who likes to avoid landmines at home, CC is certainly risking it with these home and homes this year. You might as well go for it for the 2 or so home and homes in the OOC schedule.
 

It's a lot more palatable if it works both ways.  Arrange another home and home with UVA, South Carolina, Seton Hall, Penn State or Rutgers  (or even DePaul right now), and I'd feel a whole lot better about agreeing to a similar arrangement with Army.  Otherwise, I'd be all for discontinuing these one and ones if we're not going to reach similar deals with P5 schools.  

This is better than scheduling an in-season home-and-home with Appy St., so it could be worse. I assume Army will sell more tickets at the Smith Center than bringing in say LA-Monroe or SUNY-SB and maybe a trip to West Point is the price of scheduling the game. As has been repeated ad nauseum, GW is unlikely to get the pick of the ltter to make a trip to the Smith Center on a regular basis.

Now, if you want to get in to the moral ramifications of scheduling service acadamies (except Navy, they are local), hippie bastions, "alt-right" mouthpieces, or whack-a-doodle religious schools, then that is a whole other discussion.

Being outrebounded 30-20 by smaller Army.

Very good assist to turnover ratio. (15 to 6)

In the end, this was how things went for the Black Knight(s)...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmInkxbvlCs

Helluva 2nd half

9-2

Alum1 wrote:

Can’t wait to hear the analysis from the glass-half-full crowd tonight Should be interesting.

We shot almost 40% from 3, covered the spread, and most importantly defended our 3rd Amendment Rights

Last edited by GW0509 (12/13/2024 9:31 pm)

Good to see Trey have a breakout game - we needed it from him tonight.  Still some concerns about our aggressiveness rebounding.   We most always seem to get bested on hustle plays and tough, contested rebounds.   Clearly something to work on.   While our overall defense was solid, we did benefit quite a bit from what I believe was an unusually poor shooting night by the Black Knights.   I'm with Poog in that I enthusiastically support OOC home and homes with ANY of the Military Academies, whom I feel are unusually good draws here at the Smitty - a stone's throw from the Pentagon and in a town with lots of Military presence.   I also think we should more aggressively pursue some of the top Ivies for OOC home and homes.