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Men's Basketball

VMI Faces Wofford Wednesday on Senior Night

LEADING OFF – VMI (16-12, 9-7 SoCon) wraps up its home season schedule this week when it faces the Wofford Terriers Wednesday night at Cameron Hall. Tipoff will be at 7 pm. It will be Senior Night with center Jake Stephens and guard Connor Arnold recognized in pregame ceremonies. VMI enters the game in sole possession of third place – a half-game ahead of red-hot Samford at 8-7 followed by Wofford, UNCG and Mercer who are knotted in a three-way tie for fifth place at 8-8. The Keydets will be looking for the season sweep of the Terriers after opening up SoCon play with an 80-73 win in Spartanburg on December 29. VMI got back in the win column and snapped a two-game skid Saturday afternoon with an upset win at first place Chattanooga, 80-75. Sophomore guard Trey Bonham, who was named SoCon Player of the Week presented by GEICO Monday, scored 20 points and dished out six assists and combined with freshman guard Honor Huff (22 points) and Kamdyn Curfman (14 points) for VMI first win at Chattanooga since 2017-18. The victory assured VMI of back-to-back non-losing seasons for the first time since 2010-11 and 2011-12. Wofford is 16-8 overall and has won three of its last five after falling on the road Saturday at Furman, 70-69. Through games of February 20, VMI leads the nation in three-pointers made per game (12.6) total 3FGs made (354), and tops the SoCon in scoring (80.0 PPG), free throw percentage (.778-13th in nation), 3FG percentage (.388), field goal percentage defense (.405), and defensive rebounds (28.5). The 16 wins for VMI this season are the most since 2013-14 and surpass the win output for last year's team that posted 13 victories in a shortened 25-game slate.

LAST TIME OUT - VMI basketball team earned an 80-75 upset over Southern Conference leader Chattanooga Saturday afternoon at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tennessee. VMI (16-12, 9-7) played without the services of leading scorer Jake Stephens for much of the game as the senior center came down with an injury midway through the first half and did not return. Undeterred, the Keydets continued to battle and fought their way to a 37-29 halftime lead on 45 percent (14-31) shooting from the field while the Mocs (22-7, 12-4) shot just 36 percent (12-33). The Keydets managed to maintain the lead for most of the second half but Chattanooga gradually cut into the deficit and eventually earned a tie at 62-62 with 7:04 to play. The Mocs picked up a brief 67-65 advantage with 4:55 to play, but Huff responded with a three on the ensuing VMI possession to put VMI back up, 68-67, and the Keydets did not trail again. VMI had just a one-point lead with under a minute to play at 76-75 but managed to close it out on a Trey Bonham layup and two clutch Bonham free throws. Huff led the Keydets with 22 points throughout, just one shy of his career high. Bonham finished with 20 points and Kamdyn Curfman also logged double figures with 14 during the contest. Stephens ended up with six points before his injury in the opening half. Chattanooga sophomore Malachi Smith finished the game with 28 points and David Jean-Baptiste finished with 18. 

LAST MEETING WITH WOFFORD – December 29, 2021 - Senior center Jake Stephens scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and junior guard Kamdyn Curfman added 21 points to lead VMI over Wofford, 80-73, in the Southern Conference opener for both teams at Richardson Indoor Stadium. Stephens logged his fourth consecutive double-double with the effort (10th of his career) and converted 11 of 13 shots from the floor and drained two clutch free throws with 11 seconds left in regulation. He also led VMI with six assists. Curfman delivered five 3-point shots in his fifth 20-point+ game of the year. The Keydets also got double figures scoring from sophomore guard Trey Bonham (11 points) and junior guard Sean Conway (10 points). VMI shot 55.2 % in the second half hitting 30-of -8 from the floor and finishing the contest at 51.7% and also nailed 13 three-pointers for the game. Wofford, playing without leading scorer Max Klesmit, was led by junior forward B.J. Mack with 18 points while junior guard Isaiah Bigelow added 16 points - blistering the nets with four deep threes late in the second half to keep the Terriers within striking distance.

A WIN OVER WOFFORD WOULD ...  
--- Move VMI to 10-7 in conference play
--- Be VMI's third straight win over the Terriers
--- Make VMI 10-3 at home and be the 21st home win over the last 25 at Cameron Hall
--- Assure VMI of back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2010-11 and 2011-12

VMI vs. Wofford
This will be the 28th meeting in the series with Wofford holding a 19-8 advantage. VMI has won the last two matchups to reverse what had been a one-sided series prior to last year. The Keydets prevailed in the first meeting this year, 80-73. The teams spilt the regular season series in 2020-21 with the Terriers handing VMI its only home defeat in 2020-21 by edging the Keydets 80-78 in Lexington and VMI prevailing in OT, 84-80 in Spartanburg. The win was VMI's first win over Wofford since February 10, 2001 when the Keydets won 69-60 at Cameron Hall and it was the first VMI victory in Spartanburg since February 2, 1998 (92-80) ending an eight-game drought. The Terriers had claimed the previous 16 overall meetings in the series. 

BONHAM NAMED POTW – Sophomore guard Trey Bonham on Monday became the second Keydet in as many weeks to be named SoCon Player of the Week presented by Geico. Bonham averaged 25.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game on the week and scored a career-high 31 points against Samford Feb. 17 and followed with 20 points and six assists in the win at Chattanooga February 19. Bonham has tallied in double figures scoring in 15 of his last 16 games. He is third in the SoCon in assists per game (4.2), tied for fourth in SoCon A/TO ratio (2.0), and seventh in free throw percentage (.804). He grabbed a career-best nine rebounds against The Citadel Feb. 12.  

STEPHENS ROLLS ALONG – With a career-high 39 points including 7 three-pointers against Samford February 17, senior center Jake Stephens is putting together one of the most remarkable campaigns in VMI basketball history. Stephens currently leads the team in scoring average with 19.3 PPG (2nd in SoCon) and has 15 20+ point games this year including 14 of the last 19 contests. He also paces the squad in rebounding (9.2-1st in SoCon), field goal percentage (.559-1st in SoCon), 3FG percentage (.489-1st in SoCon) and is 2nd in free throw percentage (78.6%-8th in SoCon). His 2.0 blocks per game rank second in the SoCon. Stephens has also been named Southern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week four times this season – most recently February 14 after a week where he after averaging 24.0 points, 13.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 blocks per game on the week. Last month, Stephens posted a then career-high 34 points at Mercer Jan. 13 and two days later pulled down a career-best 21 rebounds at The Citadel –the most by a SoCon player this season and then tied for seventh on the NCAA Division I game-high list this season.  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. Stephens scored 28 points against Gardner-Webb December 11 to become the 43rd player in VMI history to reach that mark. 

CURFMAN ECLIPSES 1,000 POINTS –Junior guard Kamdyn Curfman became the 44th player in VMI history to score 1,000 points in his VMI basketball career after a 16-point effort at Furman January 26. He is second in the SoCon in 3FG per game (3.7) and his 105 makes from beyond the arc are most in the league. Curfman has scored in double figures in 27 of 28 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 January 20 after doing so at Wake Forest December and Central Arkansas November 25. Curfman and has hit 5+ 3FG in eight games this season and has hit a three in 29 consecutive games – the longest active streak in the SoCon.  

HUFF PROVIDES SCORING PUNCH – Freshman guard Honor Huff set career scoring highs in three consecutive January games which has sparked a scoring outburst into February. The Brooklyn, NY native had 15 points at The Citadel Jan. 15, 21 points vs. Samford Jan. 20, and 23 points against Chattanooga January 22. Over his last 11 games, Huff is averaging 15.6 points and has scored in double figures nine times including three 20+ point games.   

MORE LONG-RANGE ACCURACY – Through games of February 20, VMI is first in Division I in three-pointers per game averaging 12.6 per contest and have hit 10+ threes in 25 games this season. The 354 made 3FG through 28 games is the fourth highest in a season in program history. The SoCon has four of the top 12 teams in the nation in three-pointers made per game with Furman 2nd (11.9), The Citadel 5th (11.1) and Western Carolina 12th (10.1). 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.






 
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Players Mentioned

Connor Arnold

#21 Connor Arnold

F
6' 7"
Junior
Sean Conway

#30 Sean Conway

G
6' 5"
Sophomore
Kamdyn Curfman

#10 Kamdyn Curfman

G
6' 1"
Sophomore
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

Connor Arnold

#21 Connor Arnold

6' 7"
Junior
F
Sean Conway

#30 Sean Conway

6' 5"
Sophomore
G
Kamdyn Curfman

#10 Kamdyn Curfman

6' 1"
Sophomore
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