As Army men’s basketball rides a five-game winning streak into its rivalry game against Navy at Christl Arena Sunday, there’s still a bit of unknown with the rising Black Knights.
Second-year head coach Kevin Kuwik is quite pleased with his team’s performance, particularly on offense, where the Black Knights are averaging about 76 points per game. With that offense, the Black Knights have an 11-8 overall record and a 5-2 mark in the Patriot League as they essentially enter the second half of the year.
But with that pride comes some anxiety. The fact is the Black Knights have won each of those last five games by just six points or less and needed some last-minute heroics just about every time.
The bottom line is that Army is outperforming expectations thus far this season. And, while no one is talking about winning the Patriot League tournament quite yet, there are some murmurs that this team is quickly maturing at the right time. After Navy, the Black Knights host league-leader Colgate Wednesday and then travel to Washington, D.C. to face American, tied with Army for second place in league standings Saturday.
“We are more experienced, older and have more firepower offensively than we did last year,” Kuwik said. “While we miss some of the guys from last year defensively, we have grown a lot offensively, playing smarter, faster and more aggressively. It has made a big difference.
“We are still a work in progress. We lost our first two conference games (Colgate and Boston University), but we have been playing well since then. I just think the guys are figuring it out. This is the second year with this system and I think we are moving in the right direction.”
Also making a difference is the return of Jalen Rucker, who missed all of last season, after a stellar career earlier in his first three years with the Black Knights. The senior guard is averaging 19.1 points per game and is shooting a respectable .395 from three-point range.
“Jalen has done a tremendous job for us on and off the court,” Kuwik said. “As the season has progressed, he has become acclimated with some of our newer players who were not here two years ago. When we need him to step up, he has done the job. He won the game against Lafayette (a 70-68 victory on Jan. 15) and in these other close games, he just keeps making buckets.”
Other Army players needed to step up in the Black Knights’ last win, 76-71 over Holy Cross Wednesday. With Rucker, who is sixth on Army’s all-time scoring list (1,634 points), sitting with a sprained ankle, sophomore Josh Scovens, who is averaged 16 points per game, scored a season-high 25 points. Sophomore Ryan Curry connected on a career-high seven 3-pointers and tied a season-high with 24 points.
Kuwik also pointed out that senior forward AJ Allenspach has improved his game, leading the Black Knights with 8.3 rebounds per game and scoring 10.5 points per game.
“AJ patiently waited his turn at West Point,” Kuwik noted. “Now he is playing the five for us and I think he is the most improved player in the Patriot League this season. He has been tremendous.”
Though Navy is just 6-14 overall and 3-4 in Patriot League play, Kuwik expects an extremely physical game with the Midshipmen trying to dominate the inside game.
“Whenever we play Navy, we have to throw out the record book,” he said. “It will be no different this year. Navy is a very physical team and, with some young guards, they have been in just about every game this season. That team is headed in the right direction and for us to win we will have to play fast, push the ball up the court and attack the paint. We are going to have to keep the floor tight and take them out of their game in order to win.”
