cbi-preview vs-uncw

Men's Basketball

VMI Starts CBI Play Sunday against UNC Wilmington

LEXINGTON, Va. – Playing in its first postseason tournament since 2014, the VMI basketball team opens the 2022 Roman College Basketball Invitational Sunday at 12 p.m. against UNC Wilmington at the Daytona Beach Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida.
 
Overall, this will be the fifth time the Keydets have participated in postseason play after also appearing in the 1964, 1976 and 1977 NCAA tournaments. VMI competed in the CIT Tournament following the 2013-14 campaign.
 
VMI enters the field as the No. 8 seed and will serve as the home team against the No. 9 seed Seahawks. The noon matchup will be broadcast on FloHoops.
 
The winner will advance to take on the winner between No. 1 Drake and No. 16 Purdue Fort Wayne on Monday, Mar. 21, at 1 p.m. with a FloHoops broadcast designation.
 
The full 2022 CBI Tournament bracket can be viewed here:
https://www.gazellegroup.com/main/cbi/schedule-2/
 
The CBI tournament runs from March 19-23 at the Daytona Beach Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida.
 
VMI Basketball News and Notes
*  VMI leads the nation in 3-pointers made per game averaging 12.6 makes per contest. VMI has hit 10 of more threes in 28 games this season. The Keydets also finished second in Division I in 3FG made per game in each of the last two years.
*  The nine conference wins this year are the most since 2013-14 when VMI was a member of the Big South Conference (11 years from 2003-2014) after holding SoCon membership for 79 years. VMI returned to the SoCon in 2014-15.
*  VMI is vying for back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2010-11 and 2011-12. The Keydets enter the Roman CBI 16-15 and another win would assure a winning overall mark in 2021-22. 
*  Senior Jake Stephens was recently named SoCon Player of the Month for February after he averaged 21.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game in leading VMI to a 4-2 record in games in which he played – he missed the last two regular seasons games with an ankle injury but returned for the SoCon tournament. Stephens notched four consecutive double-doubles in the month, all with at least 20 points scored.
*  Stephens was voted first team All-SoCon on both the league coaches and media teams. Keydets joining him on postseason honors were junior guard Kamdyn Curfman (2nd team coaches, 3rd team media) and sophomore guard Trey Bonham (3rd team media). Freshman guard Honor Huff earned All-Freshman team honors in the SoCon.
 
LAST TIME OUT - Max Klesmit converted a go-ahead three-point play with seven seconds left to lead No. 4 seed Wofford past No. 5 VMI, 68-66, March 5 in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Ingles Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship at Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville. Wofford led 63-56, but the Keydets were not deterred and embarked on a 10-2 run lasting 3:05 to take a 66-65 lead. With seven ticks left on the clock, Klesmit sank a layup for the Terriers and connected on the subsequent free throw to put Wofford up 68-66. The Terriers stopped a last-second attempt from the Keydets to hold on for the win. Jake Stephens led the Keydets with 23 points, while Trey Bonham added 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
 
LAST MEETING WITH UNCW – November 22, 2014 - VMI's QJ Peterson had 27 points and Tim Marshall added 17, but the UNCW Seahawks scored 84 points in the paint and shot nearly 60 percent from the field en route to a 110-93 win over the Keydets the Cameron Hall.
 
 A WIN OVER UNCW WOULD ...
--- Assure VMI of back-to-back-winning seasons since 2010-11 and 2011-12
--- Be VMI's first victory over UNCW in the series
--- Give the Keydets their first postseason tournament victory since a 92-90 win over Ohio in the CIT on March 26, 2014
 
VMI vs. UNC Wilmington
This will be only the third meeting between the schools with the Seahawks winning the first two meetings – 115-95 in Wilmington on November 24, 2009, and 110-93 in Lexington on November 22, 2014.
 
STEPHENS NAMED FEBRUARY PLAYER OF THE MONTH – VMI senior center Jake Stephens added another accolade to a remarkable senior season when he was named SoCon February Player of the Month for his second such honor this year. Stephens in February averaged 21.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and notched four straight double-doubles. Stephens was also voted first team All-SoCon on both the coaches and media teams. Prior to sustaining an ankle injury February 19, Stephens was putting together one of the most outstanding senior seasons in program history as he tallied a career-high 39 points including 7 three-pointers against Samford February 17. Stephens currently leads the team in scoring average with 19.4 PPG (2nd in SoCon) and has 16 20+ point games this year including 15 of the last 20 contests played. He also paces the squad in rebounding (9.2-2nd in SoCon), field goal percentage (.550-1st in SoCon), 3FG percentage (.486-1st in SoCon) and is 2nd in free throw percentage (79.3%-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. In January, 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. Stephens is vying to become the first SoCon player to lead the league in FG and 3 FG percentage since Brandon Born of Chattanooga in 1993-94.
 
BONHAM EARNS ALL-SOCON HONORS – Sophomore guard Trey Bonham was named All-Southern Conference third team by both the league coaches and media. The honor capped a big month of February for Bonham as he was selected SoCon Player of the Week presented by Geico February 14 after averaging 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 18 of his last 19 games. He is tied for third in the SoCon in assists per game (4.0), tied for fourth in SoCon A/TO ratio (1.9), and fifth in free throw percentage (.824) which is a team best. He grabbed a career-best nine rebounds against The Citadel Feb. 12. 
 
CURFMAN LANDS ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS –Junior guard Kamdyn Curfman was voted second team SoCon All-Conference coaches' team and third team All-Conference media squad in the awards announced March 3. Curfman, who 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, has established himself as one of the top perimeter shooters in the league. He is first in the SoCon in 3FG per game (3.6) and his 113 makes from beyond the arc are tied for most most in the league and ranked are second most in a season in VMI history – five behind current VMI assistant coach Austin Kenon (2007-11). Curfman has scored in double figures in 29 of 31 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 seven games this season and has hit a three in 32 consecutive games – the longest active streak in the SoCon. 
 
HUFF PROVIDES SCORING PUNCH – Freshman guard Honor Huff was voted to the SoCon All-Freshman team announced March 5 and has provided the Keydets a reliable scoring option since moving into the starting lineup in mid-January. Huff immediately responded as a starter and set career scoring highs in three consecutive January games which has sparked a scoring outburst into February. The Brooklyn, NY over his last 14 games is averaging 15.0 points and has scored in double figures 11 times including four 20+ point games.  
 
MORE LONG-RANGE ACCURACY – Through games of March 13, VMI is first in Division I in three-pointers per game averaging 12.6 per contest and have hit 10+ threes in 28 games this season. The 389 made 3FG through 31 games ranks second in Division I is the third highest in a season in program history. The SoCon has five of the top 21 teams in the nation in three-pointers made per game - behind VMI are Furman 2nd (11.8), The Citadel 6th (10.7), Western Carolina 11th (10.0) and Wofford 21st (9.5). 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 – then the third most on the school all-time list.
 
 
 
 
 
 



 
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Players Mentioned

Kamdyn Curfman

#10 Kamdyn Curfman

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6' 1"
Sophomore
Jake Stephens

#34 Jake Stephens

C
6' 10"
Junior
Trey Bonham

#2 Trey Bonham

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6' 0"
Freshman
Honor Huff

#3 Honor Huff

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5' 10"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

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