Coming into last night's game against Davidson, Navy knew it needed to do a better job of guarding Wildcats guard Peter Anderer, who burned them for 28 points last season.
The Mids also figured they had to find a way to slow Wayne Bernard and Ian Johnson, who combined for 57 points in a 15-point loss to No. 6 Duke on Monday.
With all that to worry about, Navy (2-1) didn't give much thought to Davidson forward Conor Grace, and the 6-foot-9 sophomore forward made them pay, scoring a career-high 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds to lead the Wildcats to a 69-61 win at Alumni Hall.
Grace, a native of Dublin, Ireland, went 8-for-9 from the field and scored 14 points in the second half to help the Wildcats (1-1) build a 13-point lead with five minutes left.
"In the second half they started to overplay a bit on the passes, and we got some easy scores off back cuts," Grace said.
"We hadn't really seen much of him," said Navy coach Don DeVoe. "He hasn't scored much, but he had some big points tonight."
Grace, one of only three Irish players playing Division I basketball, caught the eye of Davidson coach Bob McKillop while he was attending Bridgton Academy prep school in Maine.
"He gets a lot of tough baskets that our other guys don't," McKillop said. "He picks up the scraps and turns them into points."
Navy hung around early thanks to three first-half three-pointers from Jason Jeanpierre, and grabbed a 43-41 lead on a three-point play by Francis Ebong five minutes into the second half. But from there, everything seemed to fall apart for Navy.
The Mids committed eight turnovers in their next nine possessions, and Davidson responded by going on a 12-1 run that put the Wildcats in control the rest of the way.
Jeanpierre led Navy with 15 points, but he went just 4-for-15 from the field on a night where Navy shot just 37 percent. Johnson added 14 points for Davidson and Bernard chipped in 13.
DAVIDSON-Eho 5-12 0-0 11, Grace 8-9 1-2 18, Lusakueno 3-3 0-1 6, Anderer 0-6 0-0 0, Bernard 5-13 2-2 13, McKillop 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 5-11 4-4 14, Ivory 1-2 0-0 3, Winters 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 29-60 7-9 69. NAVY-McCreary 3-6 2-4 8, Long 1-4 2-2 5, Moore 4-10 2-2 11, Jeanpierre 4-15 4-4 15, Cummings 4-10 0-0 9, Ofori 2-2 0-0 5, Ebong 1-5 3-7 5, Charles 1-1 0-0 2, Fannin 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 20-53 14-21 61. Halftime-Davidson, 33-31. 3-point goals- D 4-13 (Eho 1-3, Grace 1-1, Anderer 0-4, Bernard 1-3, Johnson 0-1, Ivory 1-1), N 7-20 (Long 1-1, Moore 1-2, Jeanpierre 3-10, Cummings 1-5, Ofori 1-1, Ebong 0-1). Rebounds- D 43 (Grace 11), N 25 (McCreary 8). Assists- D (Bernard 13), N 10 (Ofori 3). A-1,184.