2009-10 VMI BASKETBALL KEYDET BASKETBALL GAME NOTES KEYDET BASKETBALL GAME NOTES KEYDET BASKETBALL GAME NOTES VMI Heads Down Interstate 81 to Take On Radford Thursday Keydets and Highlanders Square Off in Rematch of Last Year’s Big South Final VMI Last Time Out: A late VMI flurry fell short, as the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs defeated the Keydets 92-84 in a Big South contest at Cameron Hall Saturday evening. Trailing by nine with 1:08 to play, a three-point play by Michael Sparks cut the GWU lead to six, 84-78. After two free throws by the visitors, Ron Burks hit a three-pointer to reduce the margin to five, and an Austin Kenon trey with 31 VMI (5-111, 1-66 Big South) seconds left pulled the Keydets within three. Two C.J. Hailey free throws made it a five-point game again, and Grayson vs. Radford (9-77, 5-22 Big South) Flittner intercepted a cross-court pass with 19 seconds to go to cement the Runnin' Bulldogs win. Thursday, Jan. 21; 7 p.m. In the win, GWU had six players in double figures, led by Jonathan Moore and Hailey, who each scored 18 points as the Bulldogs moved to 5-12 on the year and 2-5 in the conference. The Keydets dropped to 5-11 and 1-6 in the Big Dedmon Center South and were led by Stan Okoye's second consecutive double-double, as the freshman put up 20 points and a career- Radford, Va. high 13 rebounds. RADIO- WREL-AAM 1450 Lexington Despite shooting 40% from beyond the arc over the previous eight games, the Keydets have struggled from distance INTERNET- Live Audio and Stats over the past four games. Thanks to a 21% shooting night at Presbyterian College and a 14% effort against UNC online at www.VMIKeydets.com. Asheville, the Keydets have hit on just 24% (37-152) of their three-point attempts over the past four outings. LIVE VIDEO- Broadcast on the Big The Keydets are led this season by the long-distance trio of Keith Gabriel, Michael Sparks and Austin Kenon, who combine to average 8.9 3’s per outing at a 34.6% clip. South Network at www.BigSouthSports.com With five three-pointers against Seton Hall on Dec. 12, Austin Kenon topped the 200 career made three-pointers threshold to become eligible for Big South and NCAA career rankings. Kenon currently ranks among the top 20 all- Tale Of The Tape time in NCAA Division I history with 3.41 3’s made per game, while also ranking third on the Big South’s all-time list. In VMI RU addition, Kenon passed Ramon Williams ‘90 for second on VMI’s all-time three-pointers list, currently with 218. 89.9 Points Per Game 71.1 99.0 Points Allowed 69.9 Kenon became the 34th member of VMI’s 1,000-point club by scoring 18 points against Gardner-Webb on Jan. 16. He currently has 1,007 points in his 64 career games, averaging 15.7 points per outing. 41.1% Field Goal % 44.0% 52.3% FG % Allowed 40.0% In 2009-10, VMI is shooting to become the first school in NCAA Division I history to lead the nation in scoring for four straight years. Last season, VMI joined Furman (1953-55) and Loyola Marymount (1988-90) as the only teams to 33.0% 3-Point FG % 28.0% lead the country in scoring for three years in a row. This year, the Keydets lead the nation with 89.9 points per game. 12.0 3-Pt. FG Per Game 4.1 A VMI win against Radford would: 68.4% Free Throw % 61.7% Give the Keydets just their third win at the Dedmon Center since joining the Big South. VMI is 4-9 against Radford 15.4 Assists Per Game 14.9 since coming into the league, including a 108-94 loss in last year’s Big South Championship Final, held at the Dedmon 16.7 Turnovers Per Game 15.2 Center. VMI’s only wins at Radford as a member of the Big South came on Feb. 14, 2005 and on Jan. 21, 2009. 0.9 Assist/Turnover Ratio 1.0 Mark VMI’s first road win of the season. The Keydets are currently 0-7 away from Cameron Hall this year. 11.4 Steals Per Game 6.1 Snap a five-game Big South losing streak. 5.1 Blocks Per Game 3.8 KEYDETS AT A GLANCE Probable Starters Pos. # Player Yr. Ht. Wt. Pts. Reb. Ast. Stl. Notes G 1 Adam Lonon Sr. 5-11 175 4.0 2.1 3.6 1.8 Had 10 pts., 4 reb., 4 ast. and 3 stl. vs. Liberty (1/2) G 10 Austin Kenon Jr. 5-11 180 18.1 3.1 3.8 1.8 Season-high 31 pts., 5 3’s vs. Coastal (12/3); Game-high 26 pts. at VT (12/9) G 21 Keith Gabriel So. 6-3 180 17.7 4.0 1.5 1.7 24 pts., 4 stls. and 6 3’s at George Mason (12/22); Led VMI in scoring 7 times F 30 Nick Gore Fr. 6-6 205 5.9 2.4 0.9 0.9 Career-best 20 pts., 8 reb. and 3 stls. vs. WVWC (11/18) C 50 Stephen Sargent R-So. 7-0 245 3.0 3.2 0.1 1.6* Season-best 8 pts., 7 reb. in 18 mins. vs. Seton Hall (12/12) Off The Bench Pos. # Player Yr. Ht. Wt. Pts. Reb. Ast. Stl. Notes F 11 Stan Okoye Fr. 6-5 195 10.6 5.2 0.4 1.3* Career-high 21 pts., 10 reb., 4 blk. in 23 mins. vs. UNCA (1/14) G 14 Joe Carr Fr. 6-3 195 2.6 1.8 1.2 0.7 8 pts., 8 ast., 3 stl., 3 reb. in 15 mins. vs. Randolph (1/11) G 15 Ron Burks So. 6-4 215 11.6 6.1 2.9 2.1 Career-high 19 pts. at VT (12/9); Double-Double at PC (19 pts., 11 reb.) G 20 Carl Josey Sr. 6-5 195 0.4 1.9 0.1 0.4 Season-best 6 reb. at PC (1/9); Made only shot in five mins. vs. Army (11/13) F 22 Hunter Houston Jr. 6-6 195 3.1 1.7 0.5 0.3 Season-high 13 pts. on 6-of-11 FG shooting vs. Charleston Southern (12/5) F 31 Michael Sparks So. 6-4 195 13.8 3.8 0.9 1.1 47% 3-Pt. this season; Career-high 25 pts., 7 3’s vs. Lynchburg (11/30) C 32 Wayne Whiting So. 6-7 240 1.7 1.6 0.0 0.6* Will not play Spring Semester; 5 pts., 5 reb. and 3 blk. at Virginia Tech (12/9) *- Blocks Per Game Media Schedule/Results (5-111 Overall, 1-66 Big South) Information Date Opponent (Television) Time/Result Record Key Stats Nov. 13 Army W, 93-86 1-0 VMI 38 pts. off 34 Army TO’s; VMI 95% FT in first 33 mins. X VMI Basketball Contacts Nov. 16 at Richmond L, 59-103 1-1 UR 63% FG%; Pts. in Paint: UR 60, VMI 14 Wade Branner, Associate A.D./Athletic Nov. 18 West Virginia Wesleyan W, 111-92 2-1 VMI 37-2 advantage in Pts. off TO’s; VMI 40 more FG Atts. Communications (Basketball Contact) Nov. 24 at UNC Wilmington L, 95-115 2-2 UNCW 64% FG%; Pts. in Paint: UNCW 70, VMI 46 Office (540) 464-7515 Nov. 30 Lynchburg W, 108-93 3-2 VMI season-high 18 3’s; Lynchburg +9 FG Attempts Dec. 3 Coastal Carolina* (MASN) L, 97-111 3-3, 0-1 CCU 82-32 lead in Pts. in Paint; VMI season-low 6 stls. Cell (540) 319-1271 Dec. 5 Charleston Southern* W, 103-91 4-3, 1-1 VMI 16-31 (52%) 3-Pt.; Gabriel & Sparks combined 11-17 3’s Fax (540) 464-7583 Dec. 9 at Virginia Tech L, 73-98 4-4 VT 59-36 rebounds; VMI season-low 8 3’s, 5 stls. Email [email protected] Dec. 12 at Seton Hall L, 107-134 4-5 SHU 20-35 (57%) 3’s; J. Jackson 12-15 3’s, game-high 40 pts. Web www.VMIKeydets.com Dec. 22 at George Mason L, 86-89 4-6 11 ties and 12 lead changes; VMI 25 Pts. off 20 GMU TO’s Press Row Phone(s) (540) 463-7834 Jan. 2 Liberty* L, 102-110 4-7, 1-2 LU 65% FG, 64% 3-Pt. in 2nd Half; LU 50-22 rebounds (540) 463-6725 Jan. 7 at Winthrop* L, 63-96 4-8, 1-3 WU 11 blocks, 13 steals; VMI 21 TO’s, 9 3’s Jan. 9 at Presbyterian* L, 75-89 (OT) 4-9, 1-4 VMI 21% 3-PT, 22 TO; PC 83% FG & 100% (9-9) FT in OT Christian Hoffman, Assistant A.D./ Jan. 11 Randolph W, 99-88 5-9 VMI 51% FG, 25 asts., 34 pts. off TO’s; RC 24 TO’s Jan. 14 UNC Asheville* L, 84-97 5-10, 1-5 UNCA 33-10 run to close 1st half; VMI 14.3%(5-35) 3’s Media Relations (Secondary Contact) Jan. 16 Gardner-Webb* L, 84-92 5-11, 1-6 VMI 2-27 (7%) 3’s over 31-minute span; GWU 49% FG% Office (540) 464-7514 Jan.