arnold vs. keystone
Chuck Steenburgh/SportsPhotoGuy.com

Men's Basketball

VMI Hosts First Place Chattanooga on Educator’s Day

LEADING OFF – VMI (11-8, 4-3) concludes its two-game homestand Saturday at Cameron Hall when SoCon leading Chattanooga comes to town for a 1 pm tipoff. It will be Educator's Day with all educators that presents a valid ID receiving a free admission to the game. VMI enters the weekend off a torrid shooting performance Thursday night as the Keydets powered past Samford 99-80 to move over the .500 mark in conference play. Against the Bulldogs, VMI posted season shooting highs against a Division I foe in FG % (57.6%), 3FG (52.8%), and three-pointers made (19). With three consecutive games of 90+ points, VMI has moved to the top of the SoCon in scoring averaging 80.2 points a game and the Keydets continue to excel in several other statistical categories and pace the circuit in free throw percentage (.803), field goal percentage defense (.386), assist/turnover ratio (T-1st-1.5), defensive rebounds (30.6) and 3-point field goals per game (12.7). Chattanooga, picked to finish first in the SoCon preseason poll, enters the game off a 72-64 road win at UNCG Thursday night to move to 15-4, 5-1 and has won six of its last seven games. Saturday's game boasts the top two scorer in the league in Chattanooga's Malachi Smith (21.5 PPG) and VMI's Jake Stephens, currently the SoCon POTW, with an 18.7 PPG mark. The Keydets will have the opportunity to knock off another residing SoCon first-place team after doing it three times in the 2020-21 season (Furman, Wofford, UNCG). 
 
LAST TIME OUT - Freshman guard Honor Huff netted a career-high 21 points Thursday evening as VMI defeated visiting Samford University 99-80 in Southern Conference action. Huff nailed a career best 5-of-7 shots from three-point range and 8-of-11 overall to go along with four assists to snap his previous best of 15 points against The Citadel Saturday. Junior Kamdyn Curfman finished with a game-high 23 points, tying his season-high of six treys in the contest, and his sixth 20-point game of the season. Trey Bonham had a full stat line with 16 points, a career-high eight assists, and five rebounds while Tanner Mans made 4-of-5 from deep and finished with 14 points. VMI shot 52.7 percent (19-36) from three-point distance for the game, the most three-pointers made against a Division I opponent this season. The Keydets shot 57.6% percent (34-59) from the floor for the game, while holding the Bulldogs to 40 percent (28-70) overall. VMI distributed 25 assists, the most against a D1 foe this year. Logan Dye had 19 points and eight rebounds to pace Samford.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE CHATTANOOGA – January 2, 2021 – In what turned out to be the only meeting of the season due to COVID 19 issues, Junior Jake Stephens and senior Greg Parham each scored 25 points to lead VMI over Chattanooga 84-79 in Southern Conference play. The Keydets hit 10 threes (10 of 17) during the afternoon. Chattanooga held just one lead the entire game, 17-16 at the 10-minute mark of the first half. VMI was ahead 37-35 at intermission and led 13 with three minutes to play before UTC started to chip away. The Mocs cut into the deficit and trailed just 78-74 with 35 seconds left, but VMI sealed the game at the free-throw line (18-23 for the game). David Jean-Baptist scored a career-high 29 for Chattanooga (9-2/0-2 SoCon), including 19 in the second half. Malachi Smith had 17 points and 10 rebounds. 
 
A WIN OVER CHATTANOOGA WOULD -   
--- Move VMI to 5-3 in conference play
--- Be VMI's second straight home win over Chattanooga
--- Move VMI to 7-1 at home and be the 18th victory over the last 20 games at Cameron Hall
 
VMI vs. CHATTANOOGA
This will be the 62nd meeting between the teams that first met in 1978. Chattanooga leads the overall series, 46-15. VMI claimed an 84-79 decision at Cameron Hall in January 2, 2021 in the only meeting between the teams in 2020-21.
 
STEPHENS TAKES POTW HAT TRICK – Senior center Jake Stephens Monday was named the Southern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week presented by GEICO for all contests from Jan. 10-16 after posting career highs in points and rebounds and averaging 27 points, 14 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 blocks in a pair of league contests. Stephens opened his week with a career-high 34 points in a 97-91 setback at Mercer on Thursday, going 13-for-20 from the floor (.650). The 6-11 center was 6-for-7 (.857) from 3-point range on the day and hit both of his free-throw attempts. Stephens added seven rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot in 37 minutes of action. The Bunker Hill, West Virginia, native had another career effort at archrival The Citadel on Saturday, scoring 20 points and pulling down a career-best 21 rebounds, the most by a SoCon player this season and tied for seventh on the NCAA Division I game-high list this season. Stephens, who played all but two minutes, added five assists and four blocked shots in VMI's 90-85 road win. For the week, Stephens shot 55.9 percent from the floor (19-for-34), 70 percent from 3-point range (7-for-10) and 75 percent from the free-throw line (9-for-12).

A DECEMBER TO REMEMBER AND HOLIDAY CHEER – Senior center Jake Stephens rang in the New Year with a shower of accolades after being named the Lou Henson College Insider National Player of the Week and both SoCon GEICO Player of the Week and December Player of the month. In December, Stephens averaged 21.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.8 blocked shots per game and shot 57.6 percent from the floor in helping VMI to a 4-1 record during the month. As the calendar turned to 2022, Stephens posted 29 points and 15 rebounds against ETSU January 5, his fifth double-double of the season and 11th for his career. Stephens also scored 28 points against Gardner-Webb December 11 to become the 43rd player in VMI history to reach that mark. Stephens equaled his then career bests in rebounds (16) and blocked shots (6) against the Gardner-Webb. Stephens currently leads the team in scoring average with 18.7 PPG (2nd best in SoCon) and has nine 20+ point games this year six of the last 7 contests. He also paces the squad in rebounding (9.0-1st in SoCon) and free throw percentage (85.4%-3rd in SoCon). His 2.2 blocks per game rank second in the SoCon.
 
CURFMAN A THREAT FROM PERIMETER –Senior guard Kamdyn Curfman is tied for first in the SoCon in 3FG per game (3.8) and his 72 makes from beyond the arc top the league. Curfman has scored in double figures in all 19 games this season with six 20+ games including a career-high 27 points at Marist November 20. Curfman matched his career-high in 3-pointers in a game when he nailed six 3's vs. Samford Thursday after doing so at Wake Forest December and Central Arkansas November 25. Curfman and has hit 5+ 3FG in eight games this season. 
 
MORE LONG-RANGE ACCURACY – Through games of January 19, VMI is ranked 2nd in the nation in three-pointers per game averaging 12.4 per contest and have hit 10+ threes in 16 games this season. The SoCon had three of the top five teams in the nation in three-pointers made per game with Furman 4th, and The Citadel 5th. 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. In 2019-20, VMI also ranked second in Division I in three-pointers made averaging 10.9 per game, second only to North Florida. VMI converted on 359 threes that season - the third most on the school all-time list.






 
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

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
Tanner Mans

#24 Tanner Mans

G
6' 6"
Freshman
Honor Huff

#3 Honor Huff

G
5' 10"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

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
Tanner Mans

#24 Tanner Mans

6' 6"
Freshman
G
Honor Huff

#3 Honor Huff

5' 10"
Freshman
G