2010-11 VMI BASKETBALL KEYDET BASKETBALL GAME NOTES KEYDET BASKETBALL GAME NOTES KEYDET BASKETBALL GAME NOTES Keydets Close Out Regular Season With Trip to Palmetto State Two Difficult Venues Face VMI at Close of 2010-11, Including TV Game Saturday VMI basketball closes out its regular season with two road games, taking on Presbyterian College and Winthrop late this week. The Keydets and Blue Hose face off in Clinton, S.C. Thursday night at 7 p.m., with audio, video and live stats available, while VMI and Winthrop will battle on MASN Saturday night at 7 p.m. VMI (15-112, 8-88 Big South) vs. VMI comes off a 67-62 loss to Morgan State in its debut in the Sears ESPNU Bracketbusters event. The Bears Presbyterian Coll. (12-117, 6-110 BSC) defense held VMI to just 27 points in the second half, as VMI shot just 9 for 29 (31%) over the final 20 minutes to Thursday, Feb. 24, 7 p.m. fall to 15-12 on the season.Despite the loss, VMI’s recent strong defensive performances continued, as the Keydets Templeton Center have surrendered an average of just 67 points per game over the last three contests. The last time VMI held three straight Division I opponents to 67 points or less came at the conclusion of the 2004-05 season. Clinton, S.C. RADIO- 96.7 3WZ Lexington Freshman center D.J. Covington turned in another solid week as he averaged 12.0 points and 9.0 rebounds with INTERNET- Live Audio and Stats 4.0 blocks over the two games and was named Big South Freshman of the Week for the second consecutive week and third time this season. Covington shot 68.8% from the floor (11-of-16) and turned in his first career-double- online at www.VMIKeydets.com. double with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Liberty. Covington has scored in double figures in four straight TV/VIDEO STREAMING - games averaging 13.8 points over that span. Available online at www.bigsouthsports.com Last Meeting with Presbyterian College (12/4/10): Sophomore forward Stan Okoye led VMI with a career-high 30 points and chipped in eight rebounds, but it wasn't enough as VMI fell to the Presbyterian College Blue Hose 92-78 in front of 2,989 fans at VMI's Cameron Hall Saturday, Dec. 4. Last Meeting with Winthrop (12/2/10): After VMI's Keith Gabriel sent the game to overtime with two late free throws, the Winthrop Eagles scored the first six points of the extra frame and went on to defeat the VMI Keydets 88-82 in the Big South opener for both VMI teams Thursday night, Dec. 2 at Cameron Hall in Lexington, Va. vs. Winthrop A VMI win against Presbyterian College would: Saturday, Feb. 26, 7 p.m. Give the Keydets their first-ever win in Clinton, S.C. Winthrop Coliseum Rock Hill, S.C. A VMI win against Winthrop would: Mark just VMI’s second win over the Eagles in Rock Hill since joining the Big South. RADIO- 96.7 3WZ Lexington INTERNET- Live Audio and Stats VMI wins over both Presbyterian College and Winthrop would: online at www.VMIKeydets.com. Give VMI just its second over-.500 record since joining the Big South, as the Keydets would finish the regular TV - MASN season at 10-8 in conference play. VIDEO STREAMING - www.bigsouthsports.com KEYDETS AT A GLANCE Probable Starters Pos. # Player Yr. Ht. Wt. Pts. Reb. Ast. Stl. Notes G 1 Rodney Glasgow Fr. 5-10 170 10.1 2.7 4.2 1.2 13 games with 1 TO or less, 16th nationally in assist/TO ratio G 10 Austin Kenon Sr. 5-11 180 18.1 3.4 3.2 0.9 Career-high 39 pts Tuesday vs. Liberty, tied career-best with eight threes F 11 Stan Okoye So. 6-5 205 16.8 8.4 1.7 1.2 Eight double-doubles this eason, third in RPG (8.4) F 15 Ron Burks Jr. 6-4 215 9.4 5.0 3.7 1.8 Missed both of the Presbyterian and Winthrop games earlier this season C 24 D.J. Covington Fr. 6-9 235 9.1 5.3 2.5* 0.6 Current back-to-back Big South Freshman of the Week , leads BSC in BPG Off The Bench Pos. # Player Yr. Ht. Wt. Pts. Reb. Ast. Stl. Notes G 5 Drew Absher Fr. 5-10 170 2.8 0.2 0.1 0.2 10 of 16 from the floor this season, including 6 of 11 from three-point range G 14 Joe Carr So. 6-3 195 1.3 1.1 0.6 0.3 Had four points and three boards in win over Gardner-Webb (1/2) G 21 Keith Gabriel Jr. 6-4 185 14.6 3.1 1.5 1.7 14 points vs. Presbyterian (12/4), 20 points vs. High Point (1/15) F 30 Nick Gore So. 6-6 220 6.1 3.7 1.2 0.7 Eight straight points sparked game-turning run vs. Radford (2/12) G 31 Michael Sparks Jr. 6-4 195 7.0 2.4 0.6 0.8 Averaging 8.1 PPG at home, just 5.3 on the road C 32 Wayne Whiting Jr. 6-7 240 1.7 1.8 0.3 0.2 Tied career-high with five rebounds against Coastal Carolina (2/5) C 50 Stephen Sargent R-Jr. 7-0 275 1.9 3.6 1.3* 0.6 Career-high 15 points versus Randolph, will not play second semester (eligibility) *- Blocks Per Game Media Schedule/Results (15-112) Information Date Opponent (Television) Time/Result Record Key Stats Nov. 12 Randolph W, 106-65 1-0 Keydets score 67 second-half points, Glasgow 17 pts., 8 assists X VMI Basketball Contacts Nov. 14 at UMBC W, 94-77 2-0 17-6 2nd half run breaks game open, Gabriel 30 pts., Okoye 21-14 Wade Branner, Associate A.D./Athletic Nov. 16 UVA-Wise W, 120-88 3-0 VMI holds rebounding edge for 3rd straight game, Okoye 28-10 Communications (Basketball Contact) Nov. 18 Jacksonville State W, 65-55 4-0 Late 9-1 run breaks open close game, VMI hits 13 of final 14 FT’s Office (540) 464-7515 Nov. 23 Southern Virginia W, 94-78 5-0 First 5-0 start since 21-22, Covington 9 blocked shots Nov. 27 vs. West Virginia (MASN) L, 66-82 5-1 WVU closes with 18-6 run after Keydets cut lead to 64-60 late Cell (540) 319-1271 Nov. 29 Central Penn College W, 151-92 6-1 Seven in double figures for first time since 11/20/08 Fax (540) 464-7583 Dec. 2 Winthrop* L, 82-88 (OT) 6-2 WU scores first six points in OT Email [email protected] Dec. 4 Presbyterian College* L, 78-92 6-3 All five of PC’s starters score double-figures, Okoye 30 pts. Web www.VMIKeydets.com Dec. 8 at VCU L, 80-86 6-4 VCU opens up one-point game with 6-0 run with 4:30 left Press Row Phone (540) 463-6725 Dec. 11 Longwood W, 114-82 7-4 Okoye double-double in first half, Covington career-high 16 pts. Dec. 19 at Marshall L, 70-98 7-5 Okoye 24 pts, 15 reb., but Marshall puts five in double figures Brad Salois, Associate Athletic Dec. 31 at UNC Asheville* W, 83-72 8-5 VMI ends UNCA’s 13-game home winning streak, Kenon 26 pts. Communications Director (Secondary) Jan. 2 at Gardner-Webb* W, 97-76 9-5 Okoye 27 pts., 19-1 first half run breaks game open Jan. 6 Coastal Carolina* L, 87-109 9-6 Coastal places six in double figures, remains unbeaten in BSC Office (540) 464-7015 Jan. 8 Charleston Southern* L, 80-88 9-7 CSU holds 56-33 rebounding edge, Mitchell 19 pts., 17 reb. Cell (940) 642-9865 Jan. 13 at Radford* W, 105-71 10-7 Keydets score 60 in first half, place six in double figures Email [email protected] Jan. 15 at High Point* W, 97-91 11-7 Late 13-0 run puts game away, VMI moves to 4-0 in BSC on road Jan. 20 at Liberty* W, 100-82 11-8 Liberty shoots 56.3% from the floor, 9 of 11 from three Scott Kemps, Assistant Athletic Jan. 27 Gardner-Webb* W, 85-66 12-8 Kenon becomes VMI’s all-time leading 3-point shooter Communications Director Jan. 29 UNC Asheville* L, 87-100 12-9 UNCA uses 10-1 second-half run to break open close game Office (540) 464-7514 Feb. 3 at Charleston Southern* L, 90-101 12-10 CSU puts six in double figures, overcomes 30 from Kenon Cell (201) 248-0816 Feb. 5 at Coastal Carolina* L, 86-99 12-11 Coastal wins Big South record 20th-straight game Feb. 10 High Point* W, 87-74 13-11 Covington career-high 20, 18-5 second half run leads Keydets Email [email protected] Feb. 12 Radford* W, 71-58 14-11 27-5 second half run boosts VMIto win Feb. 15 Liberty* (Flames Network) W, 79-69 15-11 Kenon career-high 39 points, 35 of 39 in final 24:40 X VMIKeydets.com Feb. 19 at Morgan State - BracketBusters L, 62-67 15-12 MSU defense holds Keydets to 27 second-half points The official website of VMI athletics, Feb.