NEW ORLEANS, La.- Despite a 19-point second half lead, the VMI basketball team was unable to lock up its first ever win over a Conference USA opponent as Tulane University used pressure defense and hot shooting to rally to victory over VMI, 82-74, in men's basketball action on Friday afternoon at Fogelman Arena.
For the second straight game, VMI unraveled in the final four minutes. The Keydets went scoreless in the final 4:19 of Tuesday night's 62-49 loss to New Orleans, and went cold again late in Friday's game.
Tulane (6-5) trailed 70-59 after VMI's Reggie Williams nailed a jumper with 4:39 to go, but the Green Wave exploded for an 18-0 run as Vincent Camper sparked the rally. The sophomore guard scored five points in the run, while blocking a shot and stealing an in-bounds pass in the Wave press. His foul-line jumper with 1:21 on the clock gave Tulane a 72-70 advantage, its first lead since the mid-point of the first half.
After Camper's jumper, freshman Taylor Rochestie picked off an in-bounds pass and hit one-of-two free throws and then another Keydet turnover was followed by a perfect Marcus Kinzer feed to Quincy Davis for a monster jam, his sixth dunk of the game. A missed three by VMI forced the Keydets to foul Kinzer, who knocked down both free throws and it was 77-70 with 28.7 clicks remaining.
Rochestie added three more points from the line and Camper scored on a fast-break layup to cap the Green Wave scoring in the game.
Rochestie and Kinzer scored 30 of their 39 points in the second half as the Green Wave out-scored the Keydets, 51-30. The Keydets, who committed just three turnovers in the first half, committed six costly turnovers in the final 4:19 to fuel the Tulane run.
Rochestie finished with his second straight career-high, scoring 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting. He had 19 in Tuesday's win over Alabama State. Davis and Kinzer both added double-doubles as Davis scored 19 points with 10 rebounds and Kinzer tallied 17 points with 10 assists.
VMI produced more balanced scoring than the UNO game with Williams returning to form with 18 points follwing Tuesday's season-low two points against UNO. Sophomore guard Matt Coward scored 17 points and dished out nine assists, while sophomore Matt Murrer turned in a season-high 14 points, the forward's first double-figures game of the year.
The Keydets opened the game with perhaps their best 20 minutes of the season, going the first 16:03 without a turnover, shooting 51.4% from the field on and 18 of 35 clip, and hitting five of 13 three-point shots. But VMI also made just three of eight free throw tries in the first half , foreshadowing a dismal nine of 21 outing for the game.
After holding a 13-point lead at the break (44-31), VMI (5-4) continued to cruise in the second half, using a 10-4 run to open the half, building its game-high 19-point lead on a 3-pointer by Fred Robinson at the 16:31 mark. However, the Green Wave chipped away, pulling within 10 on three occasions: at the 12:51 mark on a Davis dunk (59-49), at the 8:20 mark on a Kinzer fast-break layup (64-54), and on a hard-drive by Camper with 6:01 remaining (66-56). But the Wave could not break through until the big 18-0 run which put the game away.
In the first half, Tulane was victimized by 11 turnovers as the Keydets built a 44-31 advantage, scoring 14 points off the Green Wave turnovers.
Tulane connected on 57.6 percent (34-of-59) of its shots, but it was the second half which was the difference. The Wave nailed 60.6 percent (20-of-33) of its shots while holding VMI to 45.8 percent (11-of-24) shooting in the half. Tulane also had just six second-half turnovers (17 overall) while forcing 13 Keydet miscues in the second half, after forcing just three in the first half.
VMI shot 49.2 percent (29-of-59) for the game. Tulane also held a 33-29 advantage on the glass, while out-doing the Keydets, 18-7, on fast-break points. The Wave also had a season-high eight blocks, four each by Davis and David Gomez.
VMI travels to Baltimore, Md. Wednesday to face Loyola, Md. at 7:00 p.m.
HEAD COACH BART BELLAIRS - "We put the nail in the coffin, but we didn't nail it shut. We had a couple of guys playing to win and a couple of guys playing not to lose. We needed that tough mentality . Matt Coward got really tired and we have to have other people stepping to meet the ball during the pressure and having confidence to make plays. Hopefully, it will be a learning experience for us. We've got to knock down fre throws. We went 9 for 21, but the wrong guys are shooting them, but they've got to step up and hit it. That's the game right there. Even with the turnovers, if we hit our free throws, we bury it. We've got to take care of the ball. We were mentally fatigued as much as physical down the stretch. Missing free throws is also a demoralizer."
TULANE HEAD COACH SHAWN FINNEY. - Vincent (Camper) is a guy that plays hard. He got on the court and he laid it on the line. I am happy for him because he needed a good game. We had to play differently to find a way to win the game. We hadn't pressed much this year, but we needed it to change the tempo of the game; we were having trouble guarding in the halfcourt and we were tentative against the zone. There were two points in the game where we buckled down and played the right way. From the 15-minute to the 10-minute mark and then from the four-minute mark to the end. Those two stretches won the game for us. We had to change the flow of the game and take them out of their rhythm."
(Portions of story courtesy Tulane Media Relations)
