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Men's Basketball

Keydets face Samford and Chattanooga on the road

LEXINGTON, Va. – The VMI basketball team hits the road once again to face Southern Conference foes Samford and Chattanooga this weekend.
 
The Keydets face Samford Thursday night at 8 p.m. (EST) in Birmingham, Alabama, before taking on the Mocs of Chattanooga Saturday at 2 p.m. in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
 
Broadcast Information
    VMI at Samford - Thursday, Jan. 9 – 8:00 p.m.            Watch on ESPN+ | Live Stats
VMI at Chattanooga – Saturday, Jan. 11 – 2:00 p.m.       Watch on ESPN+ | Live Stats
 
Quick Hits
* The Keydets are coming off a close 70-67 loss at home to Mercer this past Saturday, a game which the Keydets rallied back from down 17 early in the second half to lead by six with six minutes remaining but could not hold on as the Bears escaped Cameron Hall with the three-point win
* The Keydets are one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the league and rank second in the SoCon at 74.1 percent
* The Keydets run a high-scoring offense that ranks fourth in the SoCon in PPG at 78.3 points per contest. On the other end of the court, the Keydets cause turnovers and rank third in the league in steals at 8.7 per game.
* Tan Yildizoglu directs the offense and averages 4.7 assists per game, third-best in the league
* TJ Johnson ranks third in the league in minutes per game at 31.9. One of VMI's top defenders, he is averaging 1.7 steals per game to rank fourth in the league.
*  Augustinas Kiudulas returned from injury last week and ranks fifth in the league in offensive rebounds per game at 2.2 and sixth in defensive rebounds per outing at 4.2
* AJ Clark is fifth in the league in steals per game at 1.6 and seventh overall in blocks at 0.8 per outing
* Rickey Bradley, Jr. ranks eighth in the SoCon in minutes per game at 30.4
 
A win over Samford would ...
-- Improve VMI to 7-9 on the season and mark the Keydets' first league win of the season 
-- Snap a five-game losing skid versus Samford
-- Be VMI's sixth all-time win against the Bulldogs
-- Be VMI's first win in Birmingham since 2014
 
A win over Chattanooga would ...
-- Snap a five-game losing skid versus Chattanooga
-- Be VMI's 17th all-time win against the Mocs
-- Be VMI's first win at McKenzie Arena since an 80-75 win on Feb. 18, 2022

About Samford (12-3, 2-0)
The Bulldogs own an impressive 12-3 record on the year with their only losses coming to Cornell on a buzzer-beater, at Michigan State, and at Arizona. Samford is presently on a three-game winning streak including a 2-0 mark in conference play with wins over The Citadel and Western Carolina last week.
 
Trey Fort leads the team with 15.2 points per game and Jaden Brownell is second with 14.7 points per game. Rylan Jones directs the offense and leads the Southern Conference with 89 assists for the season.
 
About Chattanooga (9-6, 1-1)
The Mocs have experienced an up-and-down season to this point with nine wins on the year and a 1-1 record in league action. Chattanooga's losses have come to the likes of USC, Saint Mary's, Austin Peay, Lipscomb, Indiana, and most recently to league foe Mercer in overtime. The Mocs are coming off an 81-68 victory over The Citadel this past weekend.
 
Former Keydets Trey Bonham and Honor Huff rank among the team leaders in scoring as Bonham leads the team with 13.3 ppg while Huff is close behind in third at 12.1 ppg.  Bash Wieland is second in the group averaging 12.8 points per contest.
 
All-Time Series History vs. Samford (5-20)
In a series dating back to 1967, the Keydets and Bulldogs have squared off 25 times with Samford claiming victory in 20 of them, including five consecutive wins to date. VMI last tasted victory over the Bulldogs on January 20, 2022, a 99-80 win at Cameron Hall.   The Keydets last defeated Samford in Birmingham on December 4, 2014, an 88-66 win on the road.
 
All-Time Series History vs. Chattanooga (16-52)
In a series dating back to 1977, VMI and Chattanooga have squared off many times as longtime members of the Southern Conference. The Mocs have earned wins in the last five contests between the schools, with VMI's last win coming on February 19, 2022, an 80-75 victory in Chattanooga.
 
Last Time Out: Mercer 70, VMI 67 – Saturday, Jan. 4 – Lexington, Va.
VMI junior guard Rickey Bradley, Jr. logged a new career-high 30 points but VMI fell to Mercer in the closing minutes as the Bears escaped Cameron Hall with a 70-67 win over the Keydets Saturday evening in VMI's SoCon home opener in Lexington.
 
The Keydets trailed by as many as 17 points at the 16:29 mark of the second half but made a furious rally to tie the game at 53-53 with 9:17 left to play. Sophomore AJ Clark made a layup to pull VMI ahead and followed up with a steal and a dunk to put VMI up four, 57-53, to force a Mercer timeout to regroup.
 
VMI led by as many as six with 6:29 to play after a Tan Yildizoglu layup, but the Bears kept pace and tied the game at 63-all with 3:03 left in regulation.  Both teams exchanged buckets and free throws in the closing minutes but Mercer made just enough plays to pull away for the three-point victory.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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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