holmstrom, bradley, peters at richmond
Brian McWalters | RoadWin Photos

Men's Basketball

Keydets begin Southern Conference play at ETSU

LEXINGTON, Va. – After playing a competitive schedule to prepare for conference play, the VMI basketball team tips off Southern Conference action Wednesday afternoon at ETSU.
 
The game is set to tip at 12 p.m. at Freedom Hall in Johnson City, Tennessee.
 
Broadcast Information
VMI at ETSU - Wednesday, Jan. 1 - 12 p.m.         Watch on ESPN+  |  Live Stats  
 
Quick Hits
* The Keydets are coming off a hard-fought 78-71 loss on the road at Richmond back on December 21, a game which junior Rickey Bradley, Jr. broke a career high with 26 points on the night as VMI nearly came back from a 12-point halftime deficit
* The Keydets are one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the league and rank second in the SoCon at 74.7 percent
* The Keydets run a high-scoring offense that ranks third in the SoCon in PPG at 79.9 points per contest and fourth in assists per game at 15.9. On the other end of the court, the Keydets cause turnovers and rank third in the league in steals at 8.7 per game. VMI also ranks fourth in the league in rebounds per game at 38.4.
* Tan Yildizoglu is the key distributor and averages 5.4 assists per game, second-best in the league
* TJ Johnson ranks third in the league in minutes per game at 31.2. One of VMI's top defenders, he is averaging 1.8 steals per game to rank fourth in the league. Also one of the top offensive threats on the other end of the court, he ranks ninth in the league in points per game at 14.8
* Hoping to return from injury, Augustinas Kiudulas ranks sixth in the SoCon in rebounds at 6.6 per outing and eighth in PPG at 15.1. He averages 2.2 offensive rebounds per game, good for fifth most per game in the league
* Bradley ranks eighth in the SoCon in minutes per game at 29.4
 
A win over ETSU would ...
-- Improve VMI to 7-7 on the season 
-- Snap a five-game losing skid versus ETSU
-- Be VMI's 16th all-time victory against the Bucs dating back to 1952
 
About ETSU (7-6, 0-0)
Much like VMI, the Bucs have an up-and-down season to this point with a 7-6 overall record. ETSU has wins over Newberry, Tusculum, USC Upstate, Queens, Charlotte, Austin Peay and Elon while falling to Eastern Kentucky, Davidson, JMU, Wichita State, Jacksonville and most recently at Kansas City on December 21.
 
Quimari Peterson ranks among the league's top scorers at 18.7 ppg and is followed closely by Jaden Seymour's 16.6 ppg. John Buggs III also averages double digits per game scoring at 11.5. One of the best rim defenders in the league, Seymour owns 15 blocks on the year to this point to go with 11 steals.

All-Time Series History vs. ETSU (15-59)
In a series dating back to 1952, Wednesday's game marks the 75th all-time matchup between the schools with the Bucs owning 59 wins to VMI's 15. VMI looks to snap ETSU's current five-game winning streak in the series.
ETSU's most recent win over the Keydets came at the 2024 SoCon Tournament in which the Bucs defeated VMI by a 98-66 score in the opening round of the tourney.
 
Last Time Out: Richmond 78, VMI 71 – Saturday, Dec. 21 – Richmond, Va.
Despite a new career-high 26 points by junior guard Rickey Bradley, Jr., the VMI basketball team's second-half comeback bid came up just short as host University of Richmond earned a 78-71 win over the Keydets back on December 21 at the Robins Center in Richmond, Virginia.
 
VMI jumped ahead of the Spiders early and gained a 20-12 advantage by the second media timeout. The Keydets led by as many as 10 points in the sequence, pulling ahead by a 20-10 margin at the 12:07 mark. Richmond went on an 18-0 run from that point to make the score 32-22 in the Spiders' favor until the 2:08 mark when a Robert Peters layup ended VMI's eight-minute scoring drought

The Keydets fought back in the second half and twice pulled within four points to attempt a comeback bid. VMI was within striking distance until the very end, coming within five points to make the score 76-71 with seven seconds remaining on the clock







 
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Players Mentioned

Robert Peters

#32 Robert Peters

F
6' 8"
Sophomore
Rickey Bradley, Jr.

#1 Rickey Bradley, Jr.

G
6' 2"
Junior
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

Robert Peters

#32 Robert Peters

6' 8"
Sophomore
F
Rickey Bradley, Jr.

#1 Rickey Bradley, Jr.

6' 2"
Junior
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