LEXINGTON, Va. - VMI basketball wraps up its longest homestand of the year Wednesday night at Cameron Hall when the Keydets face Western Carolina at 7 p.m. The Keydets will be looking to snap a four-game skid after seeing a rally falling short to Samford 78-75 Saturday afternoon. VMI and Western Carolina will meet again in Cullowhee, N.C. on February 19.
 
The game will tip at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN3.
 
Last Time Out: Samford 78, VMI 75 - January 4, 2020
Despite a career-high of 22 points and a season-best 10 rebounds from senior guard Garrett Gilkeson, Samford University defeated the VMI men's basketball team 78-75 Saturday afternoon in Southern Conference play. The Keydets trailed by as many as 14 late in the second half and were down 74-65 with just over two minutes to play. Four free throws from freshman Travis Evee and a three-pointer from Gilkeson cut the edge to 75-72. The Bulldogs made one of two free throws with nine seconds on the game clock, and Evee countered with a trey to cut the lead to 76-75 with five seconds left. Samford's Josh Sharkey was fouled and converted both free throws to extend the Samford lead to three, and VMI couldn't get off a potential game-tying three-pointer as time expired. Freshman Travis Evee finished with a team-best 24 points, hitting 6-of-9 hrees to go with five helpers. Greg Parham had seven points and five assists and Jake Stephens contributed five points, four rebounds and a blocked shot. Tyler Creammer grabbed eight boards. Sharkey paced Samford (8-8/2-0 SoCon) with 25 points, 10 assists and three steals.
 
Last Meeting with Western Carolina: VMI 96, Western Carolina 83 - March 8, 2019
Guards Bubba Parham and Sarju Patel combined for 63 points to lead the Keydets past Western Carolina 96-83 in the first round of the 2019 Southern Conference tournament in Asheville. Parham tallied a career-best 41 points, while Patel added 22, also a career-best. Carlos Dotson led the Catamounts with 27 points and 13 boards. Kameron Gibson also topped 20 with 23. It was a back-and-forth game with three ties and 12 lead changes. The Catamounts led 46-45 on Marc Gosselin's layup early in the second half. Myles Lewis answered for the Keydets, giving his squad the lead for good. It was still a three-point game after two Dotson free throws with just over 15 minutes to go. Parham hit a jumper to jumpstart a 10-0 run that ended with Garrett Gilkeson's and-1 with 12:03 remaining. Six times Western Carolina cut the deficit to seven, but the Cats would get no closer. VMI won its third straight over the Catamounts after having swept WCU in both regular season meetings.
 
A win over Western Carolina would:
--- Extend VMI's win streak in the rivalry to four games.
--- Give VMI its first SoCon win of the year.
 
SERIES HISTORY
VMI vs. Western Carolina
This will be the 61st meeting between the teams that first met in 1953. WCU leads the series, 34-26. VMI took the regular season sweep over the Catamounts last year after dispatching them in Lexington, 91-83,on January19 and 83-78 in Cullowhee, N.C. and
also defeated the Catamounts, 96-83 in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament in Asheville, N.C.
 
NOTING THE KEYDETS
GILKESON POSTS CAREER HIGH
Senior guard Garrett Gilkeson established a new career-high in scoring with 22 points against Samford Saturday which surpassed his previous high of 21 points set two times in games against Virginia Tech last year at UNCG this year. Gilkeson is one of three Keydets averaging in double figures scoring this season with a 10.7 points per game average.
 
THREE-BALL REPORT
VMI continued to drain three-point shots at a high rate by pouring in 16 from beyond the arc in Saturday's game against Samford. VMI has hit 10+ threes in eight of the last 11 games and still ranks first in three-point shooting in the SoCon averaging 11.6 made threes per game.
Opponent Shoots