Virginia Military Institute Athletics issued the following announcement on Feb. 25
LEADING OFF – VMI (16-13, 9-8 SoCon) wraps up its regular season schedule this Saturday night when it faces the Western Carolina Catamounts. Tipoff at the Ramsey Center will be 7 pm. The Keydets enter the game in a three-way tie with Wofford and UNCG for fifth place in the SoCon standings. VMI holds virtually all the tie-breaker scenarios that would deliver a top-six finish in the conference standings and a first-round bye in next week's 2022 Ingles SoCon Basketball Championship tournament in Asheville, N.C. VMI is looking to rebound after falling Wednesday night at home to Wofford, 83-72, at Cameron Hall on Senior Night. The Keydets were without the services of leading scorer and rebounder Jake Stephens who sustained an ankle injury in the Feb. 19 win at Chattanooga and is day-to-day on a return to action. Western Carolina (10-20, 4-13) has dropped 11 of its last 13 but did prevail in its most recent home game with a 69-65 win over Mercer last Saturday. VMI rallied from a 13-point deficit to defeat WCU, 76-69, in the first meeting between the teams at Cameron Hall on February 4. Through games of February 24, VMI leads the nation in three-pointers made per game (12.6) total 3FGs made (365), and tops the SoCon in scoring (79.7 PPG), free throw percentage (.781-13th in nation), 3FG percentage (.386-9th in nation), field goal percentage defense (.410), and is second in defensive rebounds (28.1). The 16 wins for VMI this season are the most since 2013-14 and surpass the win output for last year's team that posted 13 victories in a shortened 25-game slate.
LAST TIME OUT - LEXINGTON, Va. – A big second-half run allowed visiting Wofford College to pull away from VMI Wednesday night for an 83-72 win at Cameron Hall. VMI's two seniors, post players Jake Stephens and Connor Arnold, were honored in a pre-game ceremony. Wofford led 34-29 at the half, holding VMI to just 2-15 shooting (13.3%) from three-point range. Following five straight free throws from freshman Honor Huff, the game was tied at 43-43 with 13 minutes remaining. A run of 19-7 gave the visitors a 62-50 lead with eight minutes left, an advantage they extended to 17 down the stretch. Huff and sophomore Trey Bonham each scored 20 points for VMI and combined for five steals. Arnold nailed three three-pointers and ended with 13 points and Cooper Sisco had eight points. With conference player of the year candidate Stephens out with an injury, the Terriers took advantage in the paint. Wofford shot 56.1 percent for the game (32-57), including a 67.9 percent mark (19-28) in the second half and held a 36-26 advantage in rebounding. Max Klesmit scored 18 of his game-high 22 points for Wofford in the second half and made 8-of-12 shots. B.J. Mack hit 9-of-13 for 21 points with seven rebounds and Ryan Larson had 15 points.
LAST MEETING WITH WESTERN CAROLINA – February 4, 2022 - LEXINGTON, Va. –VMI trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half but rallied for a 76-69 victory over Western Carolina University in a Southern Conference clash from Cameron Hall. The visiting Catamounts led 41-36 at halftime, forcing the Keydets into just 20 percent (4-20) shooting from three-point range and extended the advantage to 54-42 with 11:46 on the game clock. A 16-3 run over the next five minutes, fueled by seven points from freshman guard Honor Huff, put VMI ahead 58-57. WCU again held the lead, 69-65 with 3:23 left, but the Keydet defense shutout the visitors for the remainder of the game. The contest was tied at 69 all with under a minute to play and junior guard Kamdyn Curfman nailed a three-pointer and VMI iced the game from the free-throw line. Senior center Jake Stephens scored a game-high 20 points with 12 rebounds, Trey Bonham had 19 points and Huff had 17 points. Curfman connected on only 2-14 from deep, but both makes came in the final 7:12 of the including one that put VMI up for good. Nick Robinson had a triple-double for Western Carolina (9-15/3-8) with 19 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, only the third in program history. Tyler Harris scored 18 and Joe Petrakis netted 17.
A WIN OVER WESTERN CAROLINA WOULD ...
--- Move VMI to 10-8 in conference play
--- Be VMI's seventh win out of the last nine games with WCU
--- Make VMI 7-8 on the road
--- Assure VMI of back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2010-11 and 2011-12
VMI vs. Western Carolina
This will be the 66th meeting between the schools that began the series in 1978. Western Carolina leads the rivalry 36-29 but the Keydets have won six of the last eight games between the teams including a 76-69 win at Cameron Hall on February 4. Each school prevailed on its home floor in 2020-21 with VMI winning 87-61 in Lexington and Western Carolina edging VMI, 74-72 in Cullowhee. WCU leads 20-11 in series games played in Cullowhee.
BONHAM NAMED POTW – Sophomore guard Trey Bonham on Monday became the second Keydet in as many weeks to be named SoCon Player of the Week presented by Geico. Bonham averaged 25.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game on the week and scored a career-high 31 points against Samford Feb. 17 and followed with 20 points and six assists in the win at Chattanooga February 19. Bonham has tallied in double figures scoring in 16 of his last 17 games. He is third in the SoCon in assists per game (4.1), fourth in SoCon A/TO ratio (2.0), and seventh in free throw percentage (.810). He grabbed a career-best nine rebounds against The Citadel Feb. 12.
STEPHENS ROLLS ALONG – With a career-high 39 points including 7 three-pointers against Samford February 17, senior center Jake Stephens is putting together one of the most remarkable campaigns in VMI basketball history. Stephens currently leads the team in scoring average with 19.3 PPG (3rd in SoCon) and has 15 20+ point games this year including 14 of the last 19 contests played. He also paces the squad in rebounding (9.2-1st in SoCon), field goal percentage (.559-1st in SoCon), 3FG percentage (.489-1st in SoCon) and is 2nd in free throw percentage (78.6%-8th in SoCon). His 2.0 blocks per game rank second in the SoCon. Stephens has also been named Southern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week four times this season – most recently February 14 after a week where he after averaging 24.0 points, 13.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 blocks per game on the week. Last month, Stephens posted a then career-high 34 points at Mercer Jan. 13 and two days later pulled down a career-best 21 rebounds at The Citadel –the most by a SoCon player this season and then tied for seventh on the NCAA Division I game-high list this season. Stephens rang in the New Year with a shower of accolades after being named the Lou Henson College Insider National Player of the Week and both SoCon GEICO Player of the Week and December Player of the month. In December, Stephens averaged 21.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.8 blocked shots per game and shot 57.6 percent from the floor in helping VMI to a 4-1 record during the month. Stephens scored 28 points against Gardner-Webb December 11 to become the 43rd player in VMI history to reach that mark.
CURFMAN ECLIPSES 1,000 POINTS –Junior guard Kamdyn Curfman became the 44th player in VMI history to score 1,000 points in his VMI basketball career after a 16-point effort at Furman January 26. He is second in the SoCon in 3FG per game (3.7) and his 107 makes from beyond the arc are most in the league. Curfman has scored in double figures in 27 of 29 games this season with six 20+ games including a career-high 27 points at Marist November 20. Curfman matched his career-high in 3-pointers in a game when he nailed six 3's vs. Samford January 20 after doing so at Wake Forest December and Central Arkansas November 25. Curfman and has hit 5+ 3FG in eight games this season and has hit a three in 30 consecutive games – the longest active streak in the SoCon.
HUFF PROVIDES SCORING PUNCH – Freshman guard Honor Huff set career scoring highs in three consecutive January games which has sparked a scoring outburst into February. The Brooklyn, NY native had 15 points at The Citadel Jan. 15, 21 points vs. Samford Jan. 20, and added 23 points against Chattanooga January 22. Over his last 12 games, Huff is averaging 16.0 points and has scored in double figures ten times including four 20+ point games.
MORE LONG-RANGE ACCURACY – Through games of February 24, VMI is first in Division I in three-pointers per game averaging 12.6 per contest and have hit 10+ threes in 26 games this season. The 365 made 3FG through 29 games leads Division I is the third highest in a season in program history. The SoCon has five of the top 20 teams in the nation in three-pointers made per game with Furman 2nd (11.9), The Citadel 5th (11.1) and Western Carolina 12th (10.1). VMI in 2020-21 ranked second in the nation in 3-pointers made per game for the second straight year and averaged 10.8 per game ranking only behind Oral Roberts with 11.1 per contest. The Keydets drained 10 or more threes in 17 games last season. In 2019-20, VMI also ranked second in Division I in three-pointers made averaging 10.9 per game, second only to North Florida. VMI converted on 359 threes that season – then the third most on the school all-time list.
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