Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Holy Cross
Men's Basketball Returns to Christl Arena for Games Against Holy Cross, Bucknell
February 04, 2025 | Men's Basketball
WEST POINT, N.Y. — Army West Point men's basketball (12-10, 6-4) looks to defend Christl Arena this week as they play two straight home games, taking on the Holy Cross Crusaders (11-12. 3-7) and the Bucknell Bison (10-13, 6-4).
To start the week, the Black Knights will take on Holy Cross for the second time this season, after defeating them two weeks ago on January 22 in Worcester, 76-71. Josh Scovens led the way with a season-high 25 points with Ryan Curry adding 24 points of his own.
On Saturday, the Black Knights will face off against Bucknell for the first time in the 2024-25 season. The Black Knights hope to gain their first win against the Bison since 2022, with Bucknell taking the last four games, most recently a 54-41 win over Army on February 25, 2024.
The Wednesday night matchup against Holy Cross is slated for a 6 p.m. start, while Saturday's game against Bucknell is set to tip-off in Christl Arena at 1 p.m., with both games streaming on ESPN+ and The Varsity Sports Network.
ARMY STORYLINES:
LAST GAME: Army saw a second loss in three games on Saturday against the American University Eagles, 68-71. Despite the loss, the Black Knights stayed toe-to-toe with the top team in the Patriot League standings, nearly coming back from a 17-point second-half deficit. Ryan Curry led the way for the Black Knights with 19 points while shooting 46.7 percent from the floor and 36.4 percent from the three-point line. Curry also had a career-best eight rebounds, a team-high four steals, plus added two assists.
PATRIOT LEAGUE STANDINGS: With the Patriot League Tournament starting in less than a month, every league game matters more than ever. Currently, the Black Knights sit in second place in the standings, two games back from the league leader, American. In the tournament, the top six teams will receive a first-round bye and the team with the higher seed gains home-court advantage for each game.
OFFENSIVE MINDED: The Black Knights lead the Patriot League in three critical offensive categories. Army leads the league in scoring offense (75.0 ppg), scoring margin (+1.2 ppg) and assists a game (15.3 apg).
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL: The Black Knights are also one of the best teams in causing and limiting their turnovers. Army has the best turnover margin (+1.41) and best assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.48) in the league. The Black Knights also average 6.68 steals a game.
CURRY COOKING: Sophomore Ryan Curry finished last week averaging a team-best 12.5 points a game. Curry saw a career-high nine assists in Army's win over Colgate on Wednesday, and finished Saturday with 19 points against American, while also having a career-best eight rebounds and a team-high four steals.
FINDING HIS STRIDE: Jalen Rucker finished second on the team in scoring on Saturday with 15 points against American. This was the first time Rucker had scored in double digits since he scored 23 points against Boston U on January 18. He still leads the league averaging 17.8 points a game this season.
DOMINATING THE PAINT: Senior guard AJ Allenspach leads the league shooting 71.6 percent from the floor and is third in the league grabbing 7.5 rebounds a game.
STARTING STRONG: When the Black Knights have gotten off to a quick start this season, they are hard to stop. Army West Point is 11-0 this season when they take a lead into the locker after the first 20 minutes of first-half play.
FOR THE STAR: The Black Knights will have a chance to get revenge on the Navy Midshipmen on February 1 in Annapolis on February 15 in their next matchup, serving as the annual Star Series game. The Black Knights will look to retain the Star Series bragging rights for the second consecutive season. Last year, the Star Game took place inside Christl Arena in West Point, where Army escaped a thriller with a 69-67 overtime win.
History with Holy Cross
- Holy Cross leads the series, 71-34
- Current Streak: Army, 1 win
- Last Army win: Jan. 22, 2025, 76-71
- Last Holy Cross win: March 5, 2024, 84–68
- Last Five Meetings: Army leads, 4-1
- Jan. 22, 2025 (Worcester): ARMY 76, HC 71
- March 5, 2024 (West Point): ARMY 68, HC 84
- Feb. 17, 2024 (Worcester): ARMY 59, HC 53
- Jan. 6, 2024 (West Point): ARMY 70, HC 57
- Feb. 25, 2023 (Worcester): ARMY 80, HC 65
Scouting the Crusaders
- Holy Cross is 11-12 overall and 3-7 in league play this season. Currently, they are tenth in the Patriot League standings.
- The Crusaders have lost six of their last seven games, with their last win coming on January 25 on the road at Loyola Maryland. Their most recent game was a 67-69 loss at home to Lehigh.
- Max Green, a frontrunner for the Patriot League's Rookie of the Year award, leads the Black Knights with 14.2 points a game and 3.8 assists a game. He is also second in rebounding with 5.8 rebounds a game.
- Joe Nugent adds 12.3 points a game and shoots a team-high 43.7 percent from the three-point line. Caleb Kenny rounds out the double-digit scorers with 11.5 points a game. Jaiden Feroah leads the team with 5.8 rebounds a game.
History with Bucknell
- Bucknell leads the series, 63-22
- Current Streak: Bucknell, 4 wins
- Last Army win: Feb. 23, 2022, 73-60
- Last Bucknell win: Feb. 25, 2024, 54–41
- Last Five Meetings: Bucknell leads, 4-1
- Feb. 25, 2024 (Lewisburg): ARMY 41, BUCKNELL 54
- Jan. 27, 2024 (West Point): ARMY 56, BUCKNELL, 66
- Feb. 4, 2023 (Lewisburg): ARMY 67, BUCKNELL 73
- Jan. 18, 2023 (West Point): ARMY 66, BUCKNELL 68
- Feb. 23, 2022 (West Point): ARMY 73, BUCKNELL 60
Scouting the Bison
- Buckell is 10-13 overall and 6-4 in league play this season, currently sitting right behind Army in third place in the Patriot League standings.
- The Bison head into this week on a two-game winning streak, with wins over Loyola Maryland and most recently, an 85-75 win on the road at Navy.
- This week's Patriot League Player of the Week, Noah Williamson, leads the team with 16.4 points a game while shooting 50.2 percent from the floor and boasts a team-best 7.8 rebounds a game.
- Josh Pascoe is right behind Williamson with 15.0 points a game this season, averaging a team-best 3.9 assists a game and 1.5 assists a game. Ian Motta also adds 10.1 points a game.
