Men's Basketball to Play Navy at Home
12/1/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Game 6
Air Force vs. Navy
Date: Saturday, Dec. 2, 7:05 p.m. Mtn time
Site: Clune Arena (6,002), USAFA, CO
Television: None
Radio: KVOR AM 740 in Colorado Springs
Notes: This is the third of a four-game home stand for Air Force. The Falcons are 0-2 so far during the four games.
Records: Air Force is 1-4 this season. The Falcons fell to Northern Arizona, 63-58, earlier this week. Navy is 3-2 this season. The team defeated Coast Guard, 71-56, at home earlier this week. The Midshipmen won at Denver, 92-78, Nov. 30.
Coaches: Air Force is coached by Joe Scott (Princeton, 1987), who is in his first season. This season marks Scott's first as a head coach. He is currently 1-4. Scott was an assistant at Princeton from 1993-2000. He helped the Tigers to a 163-61 record. Navy is coached by Don DeVoe (Ohio State, 1964), who is in his ninth season. He has led the school to a 145-88 mark. DeVoe has a 473-316 career record in his 28th season.
Series: Air Force leads the series, 10-9. For more information on the series, please turn to page two of this release.
Statistical comparison
A statistical comparison between the two schools follows:
| Category | Air Force | Navy |
| Games: | 5 | 5 |
| Points: | 58.8 | 73.2 |
| Points Allowed: | 69.8 | 69.6 |
| FG Pct.: | 45.7 | 40.1 |
| FG Pct. Def: | 48.9 | 40.3 |
| 3FG Pct.: | 37.4 | 26.4 |
| 3FG Pct. Def: | 41.2 | 25.7 |
| FT Pct.: | 67.2 | 55.1 |
| Rebounds: | 22.4 | 46.8 |
| Reb. Margin: | -9.4 | +5.0 |
| Assists: | 14.8 | 13.8 |
| Turnovers: | 15.8 | 19.2 |
| TOs Forced: | 13.2 | 21.8 |
| Blocks: | 1.8 | 5.4 |
| Steals: | 7.2 | 11.6 |
Scouting Navy
Navy is a member of the Patriot League where they tied for first last season with an 11-1 mark. Navy was 23-6 overall last season.
The team is coached by Don DeVoe (Ohio State, 1964), who is in his ninth season. He has led the Midshipmen to a 144-88 record. DeVoe has a 472-316 career record in his 28th season.
The Midshipmen are 1-1 away from home this season. The team lost at Texas, 79-65, in the season opener. Navy rebounded to beat Denver, 92-78, earlier this week.
Chris Williams leads the team in scoring with a 18.2 average. He scored 31 against Northeastern earlier this season. Williams also leads the team in rebounding with a 7.4 norm.
| Navy's probable starters | ||||||
| # | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | Ppg | Rpg. |
| 5 | Reggie Skipworth-g | 6-1 | 190 | Sr. | 3.4 | 2.4 |
| 24 | John Williams-g | 6-5 | 213 | Sr. | 7.4 | 4.4 |
| 33 | Chris Williams-f | 6-5 | 205 | Sr. | 18.2 | 7.4 |
| 42 | Robert Reeder-f | 6-8 | 225 | Sr. | 6.6 | 5.8 |
| 34 | M. Cunningham-c | 6-11 | 250 | Sr. | 6.5 | 6.4 |
The Navy series
Air Force and Navy meet for the 20th time overall and 11th time since renewing the series in 1993. Air Force leads the overall series, 10-9. The teams are even at 5-5 since 1993. Navy defeated Air Force, 93-78, in Annapolis last season to snap a two-game AFA winning streak. Despite the loss, Air Force has won three of the last five games in the series. Air Force is 7-2 at home and 3-7 on the road. Navy's last win at Air Force came in 1996, 78-59. The Falcons won the last meeting at Air Force, 97-88, in 1988. A closer look at the series follows:
| Date | Score/Site |
| 1/13/68 | W 98-88 A |
| 1/11/69 | W 73-47 H |
| 1/15/72 | L 53-55 A |
| 1/13/73 | W 66-55 H |
| 1/12/74 | W 54-47 A |
| 1/11/75 | L 48-51 H |
| 1/10/76 | L 58-69 A |
| 1/8/77 | W 81-79 ot H |
| 12/21/85 | L 53-70 A |
| 11/27/93 | L 63-77 A |
| 12/6/93 | W 82-70 H |
| 11/26/94 | W 86-76 H |
| 12/10/94 | L 50-60 A |
| 11/25/95 | L 87-89 ot A |
| 12/9/95 | W 75-69 ot H |
| 11/20/96 | L 59-78 H |
| 11/30/97 | W 64-63 A |
| 11/28/98 | W 97-88 H |
| 11/28/99 | L 78-93 A |
Site is for AFA
Last year vs. Navy
Sitapha Savane scored 25 points to lead four Midshipmen in double figures as Navy defeated Air Force, 93-78, at Alumni Hall in Annapolis, Md.
The Midshipmen hammered the Falcons in the first half, racing to a 45-25 lead behind 48.5 percent shooting while out-rebounding AFA, 28-16. In the second half, Navy continued to build its lead. The Midshipmen took their biggest lead of the game, 73-48, with 9:25 remaining. Air Force responded with a 14-2 run to cut the lead to 13 points, 75-62, with 6:24 remaining. Jarvis Croff keyed the run with eight points, including two three-pointers.
Navy answered with a 9-2 run to put the lead back to 20 points, 84-64, with 2:35 remaining. The Falcons were never able to get closer than 14 points the rest of the way. The Midshipmen finished the game with a 49-35 rebounding edge and hit 57.7 percent from the field, including a 73.7 clip in the second half. Chris Williams added 17 points and eight rebounds for Navy. Jehiel Lewis and Robert Reeder chipped in with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
The Falcons were led by Croff and Tyron Wright, who each scored 26 points. Croff scored 24 of his in the second half. AFA finished the game hitting 38.2 percent from the field while committing 15 turnovers. Billy Humphrey added seven points and seven rebounds while Byron Nicholson came off the bench to added a career-best seven rebounds.
| Air Force (1-3) | |||||||||
| Name | FG | 3P | FT | R | F | Pts | A-T | B-S | M |
| Garcia-f | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 9 |
| Wright-f | 9-20 | 0-2 | 8-9 | 5 | 5 | 26 | 1-2 | 0-5 | 32 |
| Humphrey-f | 3-7 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 24 |
| Jenkins-g | 0-6 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 25 |
| Croff-g | 10-21 | 5-10 | 1-2 | 5 | 4 | 26 | 1-3 | 0-3 | 32 |
| Lam Yazzie | 1-6 | 0-4 | 2-3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3-0 | 0-1 | 14 |
| Roux | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 |
| Law Yazzie | 2-8 | 2-5 | 1-2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 20 |
| Nicholson | 3-5 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 17 |
| Bellaris | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 16 |
| Christensen | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 10 |
| Totals | 29-76 | 7-23 | 13-20 | 35 | 32 | 78 | 9-15 | 0-14 | 200 |
| Pcts | 38.2 | 30.4 | 65.0 | 4 tm | |||||
| Navy (1-3) | |||||||||
| Name | FG | 3P | FT | R | F | Pts | A-T | B-S | M |
| CWilliams-f | 5-10 | 1-1 | 6-10 | 8 | 2 | 17 | 3-1 | 2-1 | 36 |
| Reeder-f | 4-7 | 0-0 | 3-5 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 0-1 | 1-0 | 28 |
| Savane-c | 9-13 | 0-0 | 7-10 | 8 | 4 | 25 | 0-1 | 5-1 | 32 |
| Skipworth-g | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4-3 | 1-0 | 20 |
| JWilliams-g | 1-6 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 10 |
| Windlan | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 205 | 901 | 20 |
| Worthing | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 |
| Lewis | 4-5 | 1-1 | 4-7 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 2-3 | 0-3 | 14 |
| Toton | 1-1 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 12 |
| Cunninghm | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0-1 | 2-0 | 7 |
| Long | 4-5 | 1-1 | 5-7 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 18 |
| Totals | 30-52 | 3-6 | 30-45 | 49 | 20 | 93 | 14-21 | 11-8 | 200 |
| Pcts | 57.7 | 50.0 | 66.7 | 6 tm | |||||
Halftime: Navy 45, Air Force 25
Officials: Ron Tyburski, Thomas Defelice, Jeffrey Plunkett
Technicals: none; Attendance: 1,298
Different strokes
Air Force and Navy are very different. The Falcons started three freshmen, a sophomore and a senior in their last game against Northern Arizona. First-year head coach Joe Scott has gone to a youth movement early in the season and has a very inexperienced squad.
Navy started five seniors in its last game. The experienced Navy squad used just two freshmen in the game. The rookies combined for 11 total minutes.
Earlier this week vs. UNA
Corey Schwab scored 18 points and Casey Grundman 17 as Northern Arizona defeated Air Force, 63-58, Tuesday night at the Academy.
Schwab and Grundman led a second half serge that saw them take advantage of a long Air Force drought and overcome a seven-point halftime deficit. Air Force played near perfect basketball for the first 15 minutes of the first half and built a 29-18 advantage with 4:52 remaining. The Lumberjacks closed the lead to seven points, 29-22, at halftime and opened the second half with eight consecutive points to take their first lead of the game, 30-29, with 18:17 left. Schwab led the charge with a pair of three-pointers.
Air Force finally broke the scoreless streak after seven minutes when Jarvis Croff hit a layup with 17:52 remaining to give Air Force back the lead, 31-30. The Lumberjacks then used a 9-3 run to take a 39-34 advantage with 12:43 remaining. Grundman scored six points to key the run. Northern Arizona never trailed again, but had to withstand a late Air Force rally to post the win.
Trailing 59-49 with 49 seconds left, the Falcons hit consecutive three-pointers to cut the lead to four points, 61-55, with 26 second remaining. The Lumberjacks then sealed the game with four straight free throws in the final 25 seconds.
"We're going to be in every game we play," Air Force head coach Joe Scott said. "It's the intangibles that we need to improve on. Making shots when the game's on the line, that's an intangible. It's the intangibles that enable you to go into the locker room at halftime ahead by 13, not seven.
"It's discouraging and disheartening, be we played better than we did against Denver, but playing better doesn't make you win games," Scott said.
Ryan McDade added 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for Northern Arizona, who out-rebounded Air Force 36-20. The Lumberjacks hit 47.6 percent from the field and 81 percent from the free throw line on 17 of 21 shooting.
Air Force was led by Croff, who scored a season-high 19 points. Robert Todd added 11 points and six rebounds. The Falcons, who shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, were plagued by 34.6 percent shooting in the second half. The Falcons also hit just 63.6 percent from the free throw line.
Last week
Air Force dropped a pair of games last week. The Falcons lost at Long Beach State, 84-77, Nov. 21 in the final game of three on the road to open the season. The Falcons then lost 65-56 against Denver in the home opener Nov. 24.
Joe Scott era begins
The Joe Scott era officially began at the Black Coaches Association Classic at Wake Forest.
Scott is Air Force's fourth head coach and was hired on April 7, 2000. He comes to the Academy from his alma mater Princeton, where he helped the Tigers become one of college basketball's most impressive success stories.
Scott's first win as a collegiate head coach was impressive, as the Falcons defeated Houston, 59-53, in the opening round. The win is just the third ever and first on the road to open a season since 1983 when the Falcons beat U.S. International, 72-71. AFA's only other road opening win came in 1976 against Merchant Marine, 68-56.
The victory is also the first non-conference win on the road against a team from a major conference since Air Force beat Auburn, 48-46, in the opening round of the Blade Grass Classic in Toledo, Ohio, on Dec. 29, 1980.
Air Force lost to Wake Forest in the final of the tournament to finish second for just the sixth time in 36 tournaments.
This is Air Force basketball
It's a whole new ballgame at Air Force. There are several categories that key Air Force's style. A closer look at some of the trends to keep an eye on follow:
- The Falcons average 7.8 layups per game and 38.6 percent of their field goals on the year are layups. A game-by-game breakdown follows:
| Houston | 6 |
| Wake Forest | 8 |
| Long Beach State | 9 |
| Denver | 8 |
| No. Arizona | 8 |
| Total | 39 (7.8) |
- Air Force has hit 49 three-pointers this season and 48.5 percent of the teams field goals have come from beyond the arc. A game-by-game breakdown follows:
| Game | Total | 3's | Pct. |
| Houston | 17 | 11 | 64.7 |
| Wake Forest | 14 | 5 | 35.7 |
| Long Beach St. | 29 | 15 | 51.7 |
| Denver | 20 | 9 | 45.0 |
| No. Arizona | 21 | 9 | 42.9 |
| Totals | 101 | 49 | 48.5 |
- The team is assisting on an amazing 73.3 percent of its field goals on the seaon. Air Force assisted on 15 of 17 field goals vs. Houston and 25 of 29 at Long Beach State. Against Northern Arizona earlier this week, the team had 13 assists on 21 field goals.
- Air Force has had at least one player play the entire 40 minutes in three of five games. Two played 40 minutes in the Houston game -- senior Jarvis Croff and sophomore Vernard Jenkins. Jenkins did it against vs. Wake Forest. Jenkins and freshman Robert Todd each played 40 minutes versus Denver. Long Beach State and Northern Arizona are the only games this season no player went 40 minutes.
Air Force leads the MWC in 3's
The Falcons average 9.8 made three-pointers per game to lead the Mountain West Conference. The team has hit nine or more in four of five games. Air Force has hit 10 or more twice this season, including a season-high 15 vs. Long Beach State which is a school record vs. a Division I opponent. The team's season low is five vs. Wake Forest. Air Force is hitting at a 37.4 clip to rank fourth in the league.
Freshman Robert Todd leads the conference in three-ponters per game with a 3.0 average. He's seventh in three-point field goal percentage with a 44.1 mark.
Youth served
Air Force has started two freshman in every game this season -- forward Robert Todd and center Josh Wallace. Add rookie guard A.J. Kuhle to the list this week. Kuhle make his first career start against Northern Arizona.
For the season, freshmen are averaging 39.8 percent of the team's total minutes. When you throw in sophomore guard Vernard Jenkins, 58.7 percent of the team's total minutes are from freshmen and sophomores.
No one position has been dominated by freshmen more than center. All 200 minutes logged at the position have come from the rookies. Wallace has played 150, Tysen Pina 45 and Joel Gerlach five.
Falcons picked eighth
Air Force was picked to finish eighth in the conference at the Mountain West Conference Media Day in October by the league's media. Utah was picked first, followed by Wyoming, UNLV, BYU, New Mexico, Colorado State and San Diego State.
Bellairs expected back soon
Sophomore forward Tom Bellairs is expected to make it back to the lineup this week. The 6-foot-7 co-freshman of the year in the Mountain West Conference a year ago has yet to play due to a stress fracture in his right foot. Bellairs was injured Oct. 28.
Two other Falcons have been slowed by injuries so far this season. Junior forward Jacob Leonard had off-season shoulder surgery and was just cleared to play last week. Freshman A.J. Kuhle had foot surgery in August and is just coming back. He saw his first action last week against Denver.
Croff chasing 1,000-point club
Senior Jarvis Croff is closing in on the 1,000-point club at Air Force this season. The Beaumont, Texas, native is currently 23rd in AFA history in scoring with 907 points. The Beaumont, Texas, native needs 93 points to become the 15th Falcon to score 1,000 career points.
| Career Scoring Leaders at Air Force | |||
| # | Name | Years | Points |
| 1. | Raymond Dudley | 1987-90 | 2,178 |
| 15. | Dale French | 1988-90, 92 | 993 |
| 16. | Don Wolfswinkel | 1956-60 | 974 |
| 17. | Mike Lockwood | 1985-89 | 957 |
| 18. | John Judd | 1961-64 | 955 |
| 19. | Fred Budinger | 1964-67 | 948 |
| 20 | George Irvin | 1990-92 | 944 |
| 21 | Chris Lowry | 1988-91 | 933 |
| 22 | Chris Loll | 1993-95 | 919 |
| 23 | Jarvis Croff | 1999-Pres. | 907 |
| 24 | Erwin Washington | 1979-83 | 904 |
| 25 | Jim Ulm | 1957-61 | 889 |
Croff sixth in career scoring average
Senior Jarvis Croff is tied for sixth in Air Force history in career scoring average with a 15.7 mark. Croff's average is the best since Otis Jones finished with an 18.2 mark from 1992-95.
Bob Beckel is Air Force's career leader with a 22.8 mark. A closer look at the career leaders follows:
| # | Name | Years | Gms | Avg |
| 1. | Bob Beckel | 1956-59 | 67 | 22.8 |
| 2. | Raymond Dudley | 1987-90 | 109 | 20.0 |
| 3. | Cliff Parsons | 1966-69 | 71 | 19.4 |
| 4. | Otis Jones | 1992-95 | 110 | 18.2 |
| 5. | Tyron Wright | 1999-00 | 54 | 15.9 |
| 6. | Tim Harris | 1977-81 | 99 | 15.7 |
| Jarvis Croff | 1999-01 | 57 | 15.7 |
2000-01 Schedule Notes
Air Force plays the first all-Division I schedule in school history this season. The schedule features 10 teams that played in the post-season last year, including six NCAA teams and four NIT teams.
The schedule also features 18th-ranked Utah from the MWC and 12th-ranked Wake Forest from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Wyoming, Brigham Young and UNLV of the MWC have also received mention in national polls.
Air Force is one of just three teams in the MWC that has not played a non-Division I team. Brigham Young and New Mexico are the others. According to this week's Sagarin National Rankings, the Falcons have the conference's third toughest schedule. Air Force has the nation's 94th toughest slate. Only New Mexico and UNLV have tougher schedules in the conference.
Todd could join elite company
Freshman Robert Todd scored a career-high 25 points at Long Beach State earlier this season. Todd's 25 points are the most by a Falcon this season and the most by an Air Force freshman since Raymond Dudley scored 28 vs. New Mexico in 1987.
Todd is second on the team in scoring with a 13.4 average. He and senior Jarvis Croff have exchanged the lead all year. Todd could become the first freshman since Raymond Dudley in 1987 to lead the team in scoring for the season. Dudley averaged 13.6 in 1987 and is the only freshman ever to lead the team in scoring.
