Army Topped by No. 10 Villanova in Season Opener

VILLANOVA, Pa. – A hot-shooting start for No. 10 Villanova put the Army West Point men's basketball team into a deficit that it ultimately was unable to get out of as the Black Knights fell, 97-54, on Tuesday night at Finneran Pavilion.Tucker Blackwell and Tommy Funk provided majority of the scoring for the Black Knights (0-1), combining for 30 points with 15 apiece. Funk added five rebounds and five assists to his stat line for the night opposite the nationally-ranked Wildcats (1-0).Chris Mann chipped in with nine in the scoring column in his collegiate debut off the bench, while Lonnie Grayson provided seven points in his first career start to pair with four helpers.

- Funk moved into eighth in the Patriot League for all-time assists with 521.

- The senior passed Dylan Cox '16 and Doug Clevenger '71 for 33rd in career points at Army with 1,033.

- Funk made his 95th consecutive start for the Black Knights.

- Blackwell and Grayson made their first collegiate starts.

- Blackwell matched his career-high scoring output with 15 points.

- The Bloomington, Ind., native also tied his career-high in field goals made with five.

- Army assisted on 55 percent of its makes from the field.

- The Cadets scored 44 percent of their points from inside the paint.

- Mann and Jordan Colemanmade their collegiate debuts.

- It was the 12th all-time meeting between Army and Villanova.

- The Black Knights found themselves trailing early as the Wildcats opened the contest on a 21-7 run after shooting over 60 percent from the field with a four 3-pointers. Villanova continued to add on to their lead with an efficient scoring effort and the Wildcats used a 14-2 run to jump ahead 35-9 with 7:17 remaining in the half.

- Army got into a rhythm late in the opening stanza as a Grayson make from beyond-the-arc with 2:39 on the clock sparked a 10-2 Army run that brought the deficit to 23, 49-26, before the halftime horn sounded.

- The Cadets continued to try and trim into the Wildcats' lead and a 7-2 run capped by a Blackwell 3-pointer made it a 21-point game, 58-37, with 14:52 left to play. After a little back-and-forth, It remained a 21-point game, 63-42, before Villanova outscored Army, 34-14, over the final 13 minutes of action en route to securing the win.

Army returns to the banks of the Hudson for its 2019-20 home opener against USMAA this Friday with tipoff slated for 6 p.m. at Christl Arena.