LEXINGTON, Va. - After finishing up a two-game January road swing, VMI Basketball returns home Saturday to take on its Southern Conference traditional military school rival The Citadel. Tipoff at Cameron Hall will be 1 p.m. and the game will be the first of two regular season meetings between the teams as VMI returns the trip to Charleston, South Carolina on February 8. The Keydets and Bulldogs are both looking for their first conference wins of the season after falling to league foes Mercer and UNCG, respectively, Wednesday night.
The game tips at 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+ (ESPN app / espn.com).
Last Time Out: Mercer 73, VMI 62 - January 15, 2020 - Macon, Ga.
The Mercer Bears shot 60.7% in the second half to overcome a double-digit halftime deficit and defeat VMI, 73-62, in Wednesday night Southern Conference basketball action at Hawkins Arena. Mercer senior guard Djordje Dimitrijevic scored 26 points and sank six 3-pointers on the night as the Bears secured their first SoCon win of the year and moved to 7-11. VMI (5-14, 0-6) was led in scoring by freshman guard
Travis Evee with 17 points and senior guard
Greg Parham added 13 points for his third straight double figures scoring game. Keydet sophomore center
Jake Stephens got VMI off to a quick start hitting two early threes in helping the Keydets build as much as a 16-point lead at the 8:51 mark of the opening half. Stephens finished with 10 first half points as VMI took a 38-27 lead into the locker room at halftime after converting 11 Mercer turnovers into 16 points and receiving 16 points scoring from Keydet reserves. After VMI's Camdyn Curfman broke a 52-52 tie with a three-ball, the Bears commenced a crucial 13-0 run second half run while the Keydets went into a scoring drought of over four minutes. Dimitrijevic nailed a three-pointer with eight minutes remaining to put Mercer up for good, 57-55, and the spurt grew to a 21-2 run to place the game out of reach for the visitors. The Keydets, who turned the ball just five times in the first half, committed nine in the second half that led to 14 Mercer points. VMI was 6-of-13 from beyond the arc for 46.7 percent in the opening half, but cooled down to 3-of-13 in the second half.
Last Meeting with the Bulldogs: VMI 81, The Citadel 78 - March 2, 2019 - Lexington, Va.
Sophomore
Greg Parham hit two huge three-pointers in the closing minute to lift the VMI men's basketball team to an 81-78 win over The Citadel in both teams' final Southern Conference regular season games of the year. VMI took a 73-70 lead with 2:06 left in the game on a corner three-pointer from freshman
Jake Stephens. The Bulldogs' Lew Stallworth answered on the other end to tie the game.
Greg Parham hit a trey at the 1:01 mark on a feed from Stephens, and The Citadel cut the advantage to one on a Zane Najdawi layup.
Greg Parham hit his second late three-pointer with 15 seconds left to make it a four-point game, but Stallworth again nailed a three-point basket with nine seconds left to cut the lead to 79-78. Junior guard
Garrett Gilkeson converted a pair of free throws and The Citadel could not convert a 30-foot shot to try to force overtime. Gilkeson finished with 19 points and a team-high eight rebounds while
Sarju Patel tied his career-high with 19 points, fueled by a career- best five three-pointers.
Bubba Parham dealt out a career-high nine assists and added 15 points while
Greg Parham finished with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from behind the three-point arc. Najdawi netted a game-high 25 points for The Citadel (12-17/4-14 SoCon) and grabbed seven rebounds. Stallworth scored 21 points along with a game-high 10 rebounds and five assists, and Conner Kern tallied 12 points and nine caroms. The Citadel led 46-34 at the half and maintained the advantage until a pair of Gilkeson free throws at the 3:06 mark.
A win over The Citadel would:
--- Give the Keydets their seventh straight home win over the Bulldogs dating back to the 2013-14 season.
--- Give VMI its first win in January.
SERIES HISTORY
VMI vs. The Citadel
This will be the 113th meeting between the teams that first met in 1921. The Citadel leads the series, 58-54, with the teams splitting the regular season meetings last year and each victorious on its home floor. VMI has won six straight over the Bulldogs at Cameron Hall dating back to the 2013-14 season.
PARHAM DOUBLES UP
Junior guard
Greg Parham delivered his third straight double figures scoring game when he scored 13 points Wednesday night at Mercer. Parham delivered a 12-points game in his previous outing at ETSU Saturday and one game earlier against WCU Jan. 8, Parham made his first start since December 7 and scored 10 points. Parham has six double figures scoring games on the season.
KEYDETS IN THE LEAGUE STATS
Through 19 games, VMI continues to lead or co-lead the SoCon in 3-pointers made per game (11.1), assists per game (16.7) and assist/turnover ratio (1.3). The Keydets also rank second in the SoCon in free throw pct (.733) and 3-point percentage (.374).
FEW TRIPS TO THE STRIPE
The Keydets have experienced an uphill battle getting to the free throw over the last four games with opponents attempting a total of 103 charity tosses to just 44 for VMI. In conference play, the numbers are similar as conference foes have shot 148 free throw attempts to 75 for the Keydets.
KEYDETS STINGY ON POINTS ALLOWED
The January 11 game at ETSU produced one of the better defensive efforts of the year as VMI allowed the Bucs just 61 points for their fewest allowed against a SoCon opponent this year and third lowest surrendered to a Division I opponent in 2019-20.
