tatum vs. ucf
Matthew Richards
57
VMI VMI 3-7,0-0 SoCon
82
Winner UCF UCF 7-1,0-0 Big 12
VMI VMI
3-7,0-0 SoCon
57
Final
82
UCF UCF
7-1,0-0 Big 12
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
VMI VMI 32 25 57
UCF UCF 45 37 82

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

VMI falls to UCF to conclude Florida road trip

ORLANDO, Fla. – Despite a strong first half to put a scare into host UCF, the VMI basketball team fell by an 82-57 score to the Knights Saturday afternoon at Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida, to finish up the Keydets' four-game road swing in the Sunshine State.
 
VMI (3-7) was paced by freshman Mario Tatum, Jr., who went off for 19 points in the first half including three treys to keep the Keydets within striking distance at halftime at a 45-32 deficit. UCF – now 7-1 on the year including wins over Texas A&M and Pitt – locked down on Tatum in the second half to not allow any more points from the promising rookie the rest of the way.
 
The Keydets were on attack from the start and built a six-point lead at three different points of the first half, but the Knights battled back to build a 13-point lead by the break. VMI kept the game within 20 points for much of the second half before UCF gradually pulled away and led by as many as 29 points with three minutes left in regulation.
 

 
Key Stats
*Tatum finished as VMI's only player in double figures with 19 points. Linus Holmstrom finished with eight points for the Keydets and Jaylen Pazon and Walker Andrews both ended up with seven
*Jamichael Stillwell led the Knights with 21 points while Jordan Burks (14) and Themus Fulks (11)
*A stiff UCF defense created 13 VMI turnovers leading to 19 points in transition
*The Knights took advantage of their height and logged 54 points in the paint, and 28 UCF offensive rebounds led to 17 second-chance points for the host
 
Up Next
The Keydets return to action Friday night with a home game against Christendom at 7:30 p.m. at Cameron Hall shortly after the Lexington Christmas Parade.





 
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