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Ray Soldano | UTC Athletics

Men's Basketball

VMI Basketball heads to rival The Citadel

LEXINGTON, Va. – Coming off a big win Wednesday night against Western Carolina, the VMI basketball team looks to continue the momentum this weekend as the Keydets travel to face The Citadel Saturday at 1 p.m. at McAlister Field House in Charleston, South Carolina.
 
Broadcast Information
Watch on ESPN+  |  Live Stats

Quick Hits
* The Keydets are coming off a huge 66-50 at home against Western Carolina a few nights ago to mark their first conference win of the season. Ahead by one at halftime, the Keydets made big plays over the final 10 minutes of the second half to pull away for the league victory
* The Keydets are one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the league and rank second in the SoCon at 75.4 percent
* VMI runs a high-scoring offense that ranks fifth in the SoCon in points per game at 76.4 ppg spurred by 11.7 offensive rebounds a game, fifth-best in the league. On the other end of the court, the Keydets rank third in the league in steals at 8.3 per game
* Tan Yildizoglu directs the offense and averages 4.4 assists per game, third-best in the league
* TJ Johnson ranks fifth in the league in minutes per game at 31.4. One of VMI's top defenders, he is averaging 1.5 steals per game to rank sixth in the league
*  Augustinas Kiudulas ranks fifth in the league in offensive rebounds per game at 2.3 and fifth in overall rebounds per outing at 6.5. He is presently eighth in the conference in scoring with 15.5 ppg
* AJ Clark is fifth in the league in steals per game at 1.5 and seventh in assist/turnover ratio at 2.6
* Rickey Bradley, Jr. ranks fifth in the SoCon in minutes per game at 31.4 and ninth in points per game at 14.8.
 
A win over The Citadel would ...
-- Improve VMI to 8-11 on the season and mark the Keydets' second straight league win, which has not happened since the 2021-22 season
-- Be VMI's first win in Charleston in two years as VMI won, 75-69, on Feb. 2, 2023
-- Be VMI's 61st all-time win against the Bulldogs
 
About The Citadel (5-11, 0-5)
The Bulldogs look to pick up their first conference win of the year when they face VMI Saturday having fallen to many of the top teams in the league including Samford, Chattanooga, Furman, ETSU and UNCG. The Citadel has faced a difficult schedule with P4 losses to Boston College and Vanderbilt this season, but own wins over Erskine, Stetson, North Greenville, St. Andrews and Toccoa Falls.
 
Brody Fox leads the team by a wide margin in scoring at 16.3 points per game while Keynan Davis ranks second with 9.2 ppg. Sola Adebisi is one of the top rebounders in the SoCon averaging 6.4 boards per game, while Paxton Davidson plays a key role in directing the offense with 47 assists on the year. Colby McAllister and Cam Glover are the top three-point shooters on the team with 27 and 28 respective treys to this point of the season.
  
All-Time Series History vs. The Citadel (60-62)
In a series dating back to 1920, the Keydets and Bulldogs are nearly dead even in the all-time series with VMI owning 60 wins to The Citadel's 62. Over the past three seasons, the teams have split the games 3-3, although VMI has won six of the last 10 meetings.  Last season, VMI won on its home court while The Citadel returned the favor in Charleston a month later.
 
Last Time Out: VMI 66, Western Carolina 50 – Wednesday, Jan. 15 – Lexington, Va.
The VMI basketball team held strong to a one-point halftime lead with great execution on both ends of the court to claim a 66-50 win over visiting Western Carolina Wednesday night at Cameron Hall.
 
The Keydets (7-11, 1-4) and Catamounts (5-11, 1-4) battled back and forth in the opening half as VMI would build gradual leads before Western Carolina would quickly catch back up.
 
VMI fell behind early in the second half, 35-31, three minutes in before TJ Johnson hit a big three to give momentum back to the Keydets. VMI trailed just once more in the game at 42-41 midway through the half, but a Rickey Bradley three at the 9:41 mark gave the lead back to the Keydets they would not relinquish again. The Keydets had the lead for 35 minutes throughout the contest.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

AJ Clark

#5 AJ Clark

G
6' 4"
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

AJ Clark

#5 AJ Clark

6' 4"
Sophomore
G
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