LEXINGTON, Va. - VMI basketball resumes action for the first time since Dec. 11 when it travels to Blacksburg, Virginia to face longtime state rival Virginia Tech. The Keydets (5-7) enter the contest having won three of their last four games and visit Cassell Coliseum for the seventh time out of the last eight seasons. It will also be VMI's lone game against an ACC opponent this year and one of two remaining non-conference games the Keydets have before resuming Southern Conference action against Furman January 1.
Last Time Out: VMI 78, Ferrum 60 - Dec. 11, 2019
A 13-0 second-half run propelled the VMI men's basketball team to a 78-60 victory Dec. 11 over visiting Ferrum College in non-conference play from Cameron Hall. The win is the Keydets' third in the last four outings and VMI has victories in five of the last seven contests. VMI led 35-24 at intermission, but the Panthers cut the advantage to eight (50-42) with 11 minutes remaining. A 13-0 Keydet run over the next three minutes, fueled by six free throws, put the game out of reach. Freshman
Travis Evee paced VMI with 17 points, nailing three treys.
Kamdyn Curfman posted 16 points and five rebounds, while
Garrett Gilkeson scored nine.
Jake Stephens contributed eight points with six rebounds and
Tyler Creammer tallied six points and a game-best seven caroms.
Myles Lewis and
Louis Tang each scored seven points and
Sean Conway had six points as nine Keydets got in the scoring column. The Keydets shot just 34 percent in the first half and 17 percent from three-point range. Both of those percentages went up in the last 20 minutes, as VMI hit a robust 56 percent of its shots and 36 percent from long distance. Nick Helton and Kajuan Madden-McAfee each had 17 points and five three pointers for Ferrum (4-4).
Last Meeting with Virginia Tech: Virginia Tech 89, VMI 68 - Dec. 5, 2018
Facing a nationally ranked squad in a midweek matchup, the VMI basketball team fell by an 89-68 score to No. 15 Virginia Tech at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Virginia.The Keydets (5-5) struggled to keep pace with the Hokies as Virginia Tech raced to a dominant 42-21 lead by the half. The Keydets battled courageously in the second half to claw back into the game, matching VT's 47 second-half points, but could not find consistent rhythm as the Hokies cruised to the win. Virginia Tech took advantage of 15 VMI turnovers that led to 26 points for the Hokies. VMI was led by junior
Garrett Gilkeson, who scored a career-best 21 points on 7-12 shooting from the field and went 6-7 from the charity stripe for his total. Keydet guard
Sarju Patel had a strong game finishing with a career-high 13 points on the night while
Bubba Parham also scored in double figures with 12. The Hokies were paced by Justin Robinson's 18 points and Nickeil Alexander-Walker poured in 15. Isaiah Wilkins (13) and P.J. Horne (12) also scored in double figures for Virginia Tech.
A win over Virginia Tech would:
---Be VMI's first over the Hokies since the 2004-05 season.
