2018-19 VMI BASKETBALL Game 20 - VMI at Mercer - Feb. 24 - 7:30 pm | Game 21 - VMI at The Citadel - Feb. 26 - 1 pm Keydets Hit Road for Two-Game Swing vs. Mercer, The Citadel Fresh off its first SoCon win of the season last Saturday, VMI Basketball opens a two-game road swing beginning Thursday night at Mercer at 7:30 p.m. before facing military conference rival The Citadel Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. in Charleston, S.C. The Keydets will play all three remaining January games away from Cameron Hall, clos- ing out the month Jan. 31 at UNCG. VMI (7-12, 1-6) Last Time Out: VMI 91, Western Carolina 83 - January 19, 2019 vs. Sophomore guard Bubba Parham scored 33 points Saturday afternoon to lead VMI to a 91-83 victory over visiting Mercer (7-12, 2-5) Western Carolina. The game was tight the entire way - with 18 lead changes. VMI held a 47-44 lead at intermis- Th ursday, Jan. 24 sion, but the Catamounts forged a 75-73 advantage after a three-pointer by Kameron Gibson at the 5:21 mark. 7:30 p.m. The Keydets went on an 8-0 run, fueled by two three-point plays from freshman center Jake Stephens, one from Hawkins Arena beyond the arc and the second on a traditional layup and free throw. Western Carolina trimmed the lead to just Macon, Ga. two (82-80) with under two minutes to play, but a Parham layup made it a four-point game and VMI iced the con- TV: ESPN+ test by sinking seven of eight free throws. Sarju Patel finished with 17 points - 13 in the second half, with four rebounds. Stephens contributed 16 points and two blocked shots, while Myles Lewis netted 13 points. VMI’s 18 assists was the second-highest total this season against a Division I foe, and their six turnovers tied its season-low on the year. Western Carolina had three players reach the 20-point mark: Onno Steger (27), Matt Halvorsen (23) and Gibson (20). Last Meeting with Mercer: Mercer 82, VMI 58- Feb. 15, 2018 Senior guard Demetre Rivers scored 21 points on seven of eight shooting from the floor to help lead Mercer to an VMI 82-58 win over VMI at Hawkins Arena. VMI freshman guard Bubba Parham and led the Keydets with 16 points vs. while junior forward Austin Vereen finished with 14 points and drained four three-point shots and Jordan Ratliffe added 14 points. Sophomore guard Ross Cummings added 14 points and senior guard Jordan Strawberry tallied Th e Citadel 10 points and eight assists for the Bears. Saturday, Jan. 26 1:00 p.m. Last Meeting with The Citadel: The Citadel 78, VMI 70 - March 2, 2018 McAlister Fieldhouse The Citadel’s Zane Najdawi led all scorers with 16 points as the Bulldogs erased an early first-half deficit and Charleston, S.C. downed VMI 78-70 in the first round of the 2018 Southern Conference Basketball Championship. VMI jumped out TV: ESPN+ to an early lead and held a 29-19 advantage with 5:29 remaining in the first half. From there, the Bulldogs used a 23-7 run that spanned the end of the first half and into the second frame to take the lead for good. The Keydets Broadcasting pulled to game to within three (73-30) with 2:45 to play but would not score the remainder of the game as The Citadel knocked down five free throws to secure the win. Keith Smith paced the Keydets with 15 points. Radio - 96.7 FM Lexington and VMIKeydets.com A win over Mercer would ... --End a four-game skid to the Bears and be VMI’s first win in Macon since January 2, 2008 Internet - Live audio and A win over The Citadel would ... stats at VMIKeydets.com --Give VMI its third win in the last four meetings vs. The Citadel Probable Starters____________________________________________________________________ Pos. # Player Yr. Ht. Wt. Pts. Reb. Ast. Stl. Notes G 3 Bubba Parham So. 5-11 155 21.2 3.6 3.5 10 Leads SoCon in scoring (21.2 PPG) ; Five 30+ and ten 20+ point games in 18-19 G 12 Ta’Vonne Bond So. 6-0 163 1.8 1.1 0.8 14 Career-high six points vs. Ky. Christian 11/20/18; fi rst career start vs. Woff ord 1/12 G 2 Garrett Gilkeson Jr. 6-4 200 10.4 6.2 2.5 34 Second on team in scoring (10.4) and rebounding (6.2); Leads team in steals (34) F 15 Myles Lewis So. 6-5 181 9.5 5.0 1.1 20 Career-high 18 points vs. North Alabama 12/21; 11 double-fi gures scoring games C 34 Jake Stephens Fr. 6-8 230 7.5 3.6 1.2 10 First start vs. Woff ord 1/12; Career-high 20 pts vs. USC Update 11/14; Leads team in blocks (14) Off the Bench________________________________________________________________________ Pos. # Player Yr. Ht. Wt. Pts. Reb. Ast. Stl. Notes G 5 Greg Parham So. 6-4 160 8.1 2.7 2.8 23 Career-high 10 assists vs. Wash. Coll. 11/6; 10 double fi gures scoring games G 31 Sarju Patel So. 6-3 170 9.8 3.1 1.0 10 Career-high 19 points vs. N. Alabama 12/21; 9 double fi gures scoring games F 24 Will Miller Jr. 6-8 210 2.2 1.4 0.6 2 Returned to action at ETSU 1/17 aft er missing 14 games (knee) C 25 Tyler Creammer Jr. 6-10 245 6.2 6.5 0.8 3 Season-high 13 points at Kentucky 11/18; Leads team in rebounding (6.5) F 21 Connor Arnold Fr. 6-7 205 2.7 0.9 0.3 3 Four three-pointers made in both WC 11/6 and Goucher 11/11 games F 1 Tragen Fahl So. 6-8 180 1.0 0.7 0.0 1 Career-high four rebounds vs. Ky. Christian 11/20/18 G 4 Rafael Jenkins Fr. 6-0 160 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 Sidelined with preseason ankle injury; Has not seen action in 2018-19 G 0 Austin Vereen Sr. 6-4 190 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 Second leading scorer (10.4) and rebounder (4.7) in 17-18; sidelined by injury (wrist) G 11 Jordan Ratliff e So. 6-0 188 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 Th ird leading scorer in 17-18 (7.3 PPG); sidelined by injury (knee) ; out for season Media Information Schedule/Results (7-12, 1-6 SoCon) VMI Basketball Date Opponent Time/Result Record Key Stats Contacts Nov. 6 Washington College (SDN) W, 89-56 1-0 B. Parham 23 points Nov. 9 at Pitt (ACC Network) L, 94-55 1-1 B. Parham 16 points Wade Branner, Associate A.D./ Nov. 11 Goucher (SDN) W, 98-34 2-1 Keydets w/ 15 3-pointers Athletic Communications (Basketball Nov. 14 USC Upstate (ESPN+) W, 78-72 3-1 J. Stephens 20 points Contact) Nov. 18 at #10 Kentucky (SEC Network) L, 92-82 3-2 Within 6 w/ 1:30 to play Office (540) 464-7515 Nov. 20 Kentucky Christian (ESPN3) W, 106-80 4-2 1st 100-pt. game this season Cell (540) 319-1271 Nov. 23 at Stetson (ESPN+) W, 87-79 (OT) 5-2 1st OT win of the season Fax (540) 464-7583 Nov. 27 American (ESPN3) L, 74-64 5-3 1st home loss of the season Dec.1 at Longwood (ESPN+) L, 65-45 5-4 Season-low 18.2% 3PT FG Email [email protected] Dec. 5 at Virginia Tech (ACC Network) L, 89-68 5-5 VT 26 points off turnovers Web www.VMIKeydets.com Dec. 9 at Chattanooga* (ESPN+) L, 83-65 5-6 UTC w/ 13 three-pointers Press Row Phone (540) 463-6725 Dec. 12 at Presbyterian (ESPN+) L, 103-70 5-7 PC w/ 18 three-pointers Dec. 21 North Alabama (ESPN+) W, 89-68 6-7 Patel, Lewis career high points Daniel Whitehead, Associate Dec. 29 at Samford* (ESPN3) L, 96-68 6-8 Keydets outrebounded 46-28 Athletic Communications Director Jan. 5 UNCG* (ESPN+) L, 71-68 6-9 12.5%(1-8) 2nd half 3FG% (Secondary) Jan. 10 Furman* (ESPN3) L, 89-57 6-10 Furman w/ 20 points off TOs Office (540) 464-7014 Jan. 12 Woff ord* (ESPN+) L, 90-76 6-11 Woff ord w/ 48 pts. in paint Jan. 17 at ETSU* (ESPN+) L, 85-82 6-12 Keydets outscore 2nd hf., 49-38 Cell (540) 460-9112 Jan. 19 Western Carolina* (ESPN+) W, 91-83 7-12 VMI season-best 56.1 FG% Email [email protected] Jan. 24 at Mercer* (ESPN+) 7:30 p.m. Jan. 26 at Th e Citadel* (ESPN+) 1 p.m. Mike Carpenter, Assistant Jan. 31 at UNCG* (ESPN3) 7 p.m. Athletic Communications Director Feb. 7 Chattanooga* (ESPN3) 7 p.m. Office (540) 464-7515 Feb. 9 Samford* (ESPN+) 1 p.m. Email [email protected] Feb. 14 at Woff ord* (ESPN+) 7 p.m. Feb. 16 at Furman* (ESPN3) 4:30 p.m. Feb. 21 ETSU* (ESPN+) 7 p.m. VMIKeydets.com Feb. 23 at Western Carolina* (ESPN3)7:30 p.m. The official website of VMI athletics, Feb. 28 Mercer* (ESPN3) 7 p.m. VMIKeydets.com, includes pregame Mar. 2 Th e Citadel* (ESPN+/NextStar ) 1 p.m._____________________________________ notes, game and season statistics, postgame notes and quotes and Mar.