bench vs. queens
Brian McWalters | RoadWin Photos

Men's Basketball

VMI to battle Regent in final non-conference home game

LEXINGTON, Va. - The VMI basketball team will face in-state foe Regent University Thursday night as the final non-conference home game of the season.
 
Tip-off with the Royals is set for a 6 p.m. start at Cameron Hall.
 
Broadcast Information
Watch on ESPN+  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets
 
Game Promotion
Fans are encouraged to wear a holiday-themed ugly sweater to Thursday night's game! One lucky winner with the best-looking sweater will be chosen from the crowd to receive free tickets for another home game.
 
Quick Hits
* VMI is coming off a close 78-81 loss to Queens last Saturday in the inaugural ASUN-SoCon Challenge
* The Keydets are one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the league and rank second in the SoCon at 74.6 percent
* VMI has proven to minimize turnovers and presently rank third in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.37. The Keydets run a high-scoring offense that ranks third in the SoCon in PPG at 78.9 per contest. On the other end of the court, the Keydets cause many turnovers and rank third in the league in steals at 9.1 per game
* Tan Yildizoglu is the key distributor and averages 5.6 assists per game, third-best in the league
* TJ Johnson is a stealthy force and ranks third in the league in minutes per game at 30.8. One of VMI's top defenders, he is averaging 1.8 steals per game to rank third in the league. One of the top offensive threats on the other end of the court, he is seventh in the league in points per game at 15.7
* Augustinas Kiudulas ranks seventh in the SoCon in rebounds at 6.6 per outing and eighth in PPG at 15.1
* Walker Andrews entered the individual league standings last week and ranks fifth in the SoCon in A/T ratio at 3.5
 
A win over Regent would ...
-- Improve VMI to 6-6 on the season 
-- Give VMI a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series
-- Lift VMI to a 4-1 mark at Cameron Hall for the year
 
About Regent (1-7)
A member of the NCCAA (National Christian Colleges Athletic Association), the Royals picked up a win over Greensboro College back on November 13 in the second game of the season but have come up on the short end seven times this season.  The Royals are moving to the NCAA Division III level and are currently in an exploratory year set to be provisional members on September 1, 2025, on which date they will join the Coast-to-Coast Conference.
 
Regent played an exhibition against Longwood on December 1, and Thursday's game with VMI will also count as an exhibition for the Royals, but not for VMI.
The Royals have a partnership with the Orlando Magic's Jonathan Issacs and wear his Unitus Shoes.
 
Regent Players to Watch
- Junior Darrin Clark is currently the program's All-Time Leading Scorer
- Sophomore Antoine Brown is #3 Nationally in Rebounds in the NCCAA
- Sophomore Brendan Goods is #5 Nationally in Steals in the NCCAA
- Freshman Christian Brown (Antoine's brother) leads the team in scoring and three pointers.
 
All-Time Series vs. Regent (1-0)
The Keydets and Royals have met only once in the all-time series, a dominant 108-58 VMI victory two years ago on November 26, 2022, at Cameron Hall.
 
Last Time Out: VMI 78, Queens 81 – Saturday, Dec. 7 – Lexington, Va.
Down 46-33 at halftime, the VMI basketball team made a furious comeback but fell just short in the end as visiting Queens University (N.C.) prevailed by an 81-78 score last Saturday afternoon at Cameron Hall.
 
Augustinas Kiudulas kept VMI in the fight in the opening half by logging 15 points on three treys and a pair of field goals to account for nearly half of VMI's 33 first-half points. VMI won the second half by tallying 45 points while holding Queens to 35 in its comeback attempt.
 




 
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Players Mentioned

Walker Andrews

#14 Walker Andrews

G
6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
Augustinas Kiudulas

#11 Augustinas Kiudulas

F
6' 8"
Sophomore
Tan Yildizoglu

#30 Tan Yildizoglu

G
6' 4"
Sophomore
TJ Johnson

#44 TJ Johnson

F
6' 6"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Walker Andrews

#14 Walker Andrews

6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
G
Augustinas Kiudulas

#11 Augustinas Kiudulas

6' 8"
Sophomore
F
Tan Yildizoglu

#30 Tan Yildizoglu

6' 4"
Sophomore
G
TJ Johnson

#44 TJ Johnson

6' 6"
Sophomore
F