honor huff
SportsPhotoGuy.com for VMI

Men's Basketball

Keydets Return Home to Face Gardner-Webb Saturday

LEADING OFF – After a seven-game stretch that had all but one contest on the road, VMI returns home to face Gardner-Webb Saturday at Cameron Hall. Tipoff will be 1 pm. The Keydets (6-4) are fresh off a two-game road swing through the Pacific Northwest netting victories over Portland State, 90-82, and Seattle University, 89-82. The road wins were the first of the season and VMI has already surpassed its road victory total of last season when won just one game away from Lexington. Over last week's West Coast trip, VMI averaged 89.5 points, shot 42.9% (27-of-63) in 3FG and 86.2% (44 of 51) in FT% and outrebounded Portland and Seattle by a combined average rebound margin of +13.5. The Keydets currently rank second in the nation in 3FG made per game (13.2) and eighth in FT% (80.4%). VMI will take its two-game win streak to the test against Gardner-Webb, which stands 4-5 following a 78-70 loss to Wofford at home Wednesday night. Saturday's game will also feature a halftime ceremony commemorating the 40th anniversary of Cameron Hall, which opened on December 5, 1981. Several basketball alumni and coaches from that inaugural game against the University of Virginia will be on hand as well as others who contributed to the facility's history over the last four decades.
 
LAST TIME OUT – With a combined 45 points between senior Jake Stephens and junior Kamdyn Curfman, VMI completed a successful 2-0 trip to the West coast by defeating Seattle University, 89-82, Sunday afternoon at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Stephens finished with a game-high and season-tying best 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting while Curfman poured in 22 points, including four treys, to help VMI build a 19-point lead in the second half and eventually hold on for the road victory. VMI (6-4, 0-0) started the contest slow and faced a nine-point deficit midway through the opening half but turned it around to gain a 39-35 advantage at the break. The Keydets kept the momentum in the second half and gradually earned a 19-point lead with 8:08 to play in regulation. The Redhawks kept the game interesting in the final minutes to cut the deficit to single digits but the VMI advantage proved insurmountable. The Keydets also finished the contest going 23-of-27 from the charity stripe to help close out the game. Three other Keydets scored in double figures including 12 points from Sean Conway and Honor Huff in addition to 10 points from guard Trey Bonham. Seattle's Riley Grigsby led the Redhawks with 21 points during the game while Cameron Tyson contributed 20.
 
LAST MEETING WITH GARDNER-WEBB – December 18, 2020 - Despite a furious second-half rally to overcome an early 18-point deficit, the VMI basketball team fell by an 88-77 score to host Gardner-Webb at Paul Porter Arena in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. Junior Jake Stephens found his rhythm en route to a then career-high 26 points in the contest while teammate Kamdyn Curfman scored five three-pointers. The Keydets (5-3, 0-0) started the game off cold, missing their first seven three-point attempts and shooting 37 percent overall (10-27) in the first half. VMI finished the opening stanza shooting 4-15 (26.7%) from beyond the arc as the Bulldogs opened with a commanding lead. VMI battled back and trimmed the disadvantage to 11 going into the half down, 40-29. The Keydets rallied and twice pulled ahead of Gardner-Webb in the second half but could not sustain the momentum. Curfman finished with 16 points with all of his five buckets coming from three-point range. Senior Greg Parham also finished in double figures with 12 points on 4-8 shooting to go with six assists. The Bulldogs (1-3, 0-0) were led by Jaheam Cornwall, who finished with 21 points while Jacob Falko scored 16.
 
A WIN OVER GARDNER-WEBB WOULD:
--- Be VMI's third straight win this season
--- Move the Keydets to 4-0 at home
--- Be VMI's 15th win over the last 16 home games
 
VMI vs. Gardner-Webb
This will be the 16th meeting between the two schools with VMI holding a 9-6 lead in the series. The teams first met in 1970-71 and were joint basketball members of the Big South Conference from 2008-09 through 2013-14. Gardner-Webb claimed the last meeting between the teams, 88-77 last season in Boiling Springs, NC, but the Keydets have won six of the last eight matchups. In games played in Lexington, Gardner-Webb leads 4-3.
 
STEPHENS 20 POINTS AWAY FROM 1,000 POINTS – With 151 points in the 2021-22 season, VMI senior center Jake Stephens now stands 20 points away from the 1,000 point career mark to become the 43rd player in VMI history to reach that mark. Stephens is currently second on the team in average with a 15.1 average.
 
CURFMAN SETS CAREER HIGH –After matching his career-high of five 3-pointers in a game 12 times, VMI junior guard Kamydn Curfman set new career-best with six 3-pointers in VMI's 73-67 win over Central Arkansas November 25. Curfman currently leads the Keydets in scoring with 18.4 points per game and has scored in double figures in all ten games with three 20+ games including a career-high 27 points at Marist November 20. 

MORE LONG-RANGE ACCURACY – VMI currently ranks second in the nation in three-pointers per game averaging 13.2 per contest and have hit 10+ threes in nine games this season. VMI hit 22 three-pointers in the 111-55 win season opening win over Carlow November 9 continuing the prolific perimeter shooting of the past two seasons. The 22 makes from beyond the arc were two away from the school record of 24 set against Southern Virginia in 2008-09. VMI in 2020-21 ranked second in the nation in 3-pointers made per game for the second straight year and averaged 10.8 per game ranking only behind Oral Roberts with 11.1 per contest. The Keydets drained 10 or more threes in 17 games last season. VMI hit a season-best 58.8% in 3-point shooting when they dropped in 10 of 17 shots from beyond the arc against Chattanooga January 2. In 2019-20, VMI also ranked second in Division I in three-pointers made in 2019-20 averaging 10.9 per game, second only to North Florida. VMI hit 18 three-pointers against Samford in the opening round of the 2020 SoCon tournament March 6 and for the season connected on 359 threes – third most on the school all-time list.
 




 
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Sean Conway

#30 Sean Conway

G
6' 5"
Sophomore
Kamdyn Curfman

#10 Kamdyn Curfman

G
6' 1"
Sophomore
Greg Parham

#5 Greg Parham

G
6' 4"
Senior
Jake Stephens

#34 Jake Stephens

C
6' 10"
Junior
Trey Bonham

#2 Trey Bonham

G
6' 0"
Freshman
Honor Huff

#3 Honor Huff

G
5' 10"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Sean Conway

#30 Sean Conway

6' 5"
Sophomore
G
Kamdyn Curfman

#10 Kamdyn Curfman

6' 1"
Sophomore
G
Greg Parham

#5 Greg Parham

6' 4"
Senior
G
Jake Stephens

#34 Jake Stephens

6' 10"
Junior
C
Trey Bonham

#2 Trey Bonham

6' 0"
Freshman
G
Honor Huff

#3 Honor Huff

5' 10"
Freshman
G