The Last Stop on the Sweet Sweet Revenge Tour

Navy's new mascot, perhaps?

WHO: AU Eagles (19-8, 9-3) vs. Navy Midshipmen (10-18, 5-7)

WHAT: The last stop on the Sweet Sweet Revenge Tour

WHEN: February 23rd (TODAY), 7:30 PM

WHERE: Bender Arena, 

WHY: Avenge a 19-point embarrassment in Annapolis

HOW: A balanced scoring attack with a healthy dose of NO MERCY

Many of you might remember January 26th, 2011 - an innocent, albeit ridiculously snowy night in Annapolis. That evening the AU Eagles waltzed into Alumni Hall, expecting an easy victory worth the blizzardy bus ride. Then the unthinkable happened: every Eagle left his A-game back in the locker room in DC, and Navy pasted us 72-53, the Midshipmen's largest margin of victory over us since 1987. Simply put, we overlooked our opponent, and thoughts of larger victories ahead let the game at hand completely, entirely, and utterly slip away from us.

How will round two with the Mids go down? Here's our preview from January 26th. Take everything from that, and add a HUGE chip on our shoulder. This is why I consider this a final addition to our Sweet Sweet Revenge Tour, which had previously concluded with the end of our non-conference schedule. Now, it's on again.

Sure, we've secured a 2-seed in the Patriot League tournament. Win or lose this game, that doesn't change. However, Navy is fighting through a 3-way tie with Holy Cross and Lafayette for 4th place in the conference, and a precious home game in the quarterfinal round is on the line. Will our penchant for merciless revenge trump Navy's burning desire to host a tournament game? Well, you should never underestimate an Eagle with something to prove. Never.

Other stats of note:

- A victory in this game will give us our third 20-win season in four years. This may seem par for the course now, but almost unimaginable only a decade ago.

- AU currently ranks 13th nationally in turnovers, with only just over 10 a game. For a team whose fanbase complains about poor production from the point, this indicates that the ball handling is superb. Moreover, this was unimaginable just last season!

- Vlad is currently 32nd nationally in scoring with just over 19 ppg, and earned a spot at #21 in Bleacher Report's list of the top 25 best pure scorers in the NCAA. Sure, it's Bleacher Report, but Vlad sure as hell deserves the recognition regardless. Although BR notes that he has not scored over 20 points in a month, Vlad broke the slump by pouring in 23 against Holy Cross on Sunday, and hopefully the impaling rage will remain high this evening.

For those who can't make it to Bender this evening, we'll see you back here for the liveblog. For the Blue Crew faithful who will be joining us live, remember: BE LOUD, BE BLUE, BE AU!

Pro Deo Et Patria, 

Josh