In one of their poorest shooting performances in recent years, the VMI Keydets were held to just 16 made field goals and dropped a 85-56 decision to the UNCG Spartans in Southern Conference action Tuesday night at Cameron Hall in Lexington, Va.
The story of the night was VMI’s (8-15, 4-8 SoCon) shooting, as the Keydets had their lowest field goal total since also making 16 against Radford on Feb. 27, 2012, and the 56 points were the Keydets’ fewest since scoring 57 against Winthrop on Jan. 25 of last season.
In addition, the Keydets forced 20 turnovers for the third straight game and fourth time in the last five contests, but scored only five points off those miscues. UNCG (7-17, 3-8) had a 15-5 edge in that statistic and a 38-12 edge in points in the paint, helped by scoring leaders Nicholas Paulos (20 points) and Marvin Smith (14 pts.).
In defeat, the Keydets were led by Brian Brown’s 16 points, but two of VMI’s top three scorers – Julian Eleby and Tim Marshall – combined to shoot just 2 of 24 from the field.
For the game, the Keydets shot just 8 of 38 from three-point range (21.1%) and 16 of 26 from the foul line (61.5%), while UNCG snapped a four-game losing streak by going 31 of 65 (47.7%) overall and 9 of 19 from long range (47.4%). The Spartans made 14 of 24 from the charity stripe, a 58.3% effort.
The visitors jumped ahead early, as UNCG started the game on a 13-5 run. The Keydets scored the game’s next seven points to draw within one, 13-12, but could get no closer the rest of the way. VMI was still within two, however, when the Spartans closed the half on a 20-7 run to take a 36-23 lead into the locker room. The first half had seen UNCG notch 13 second-chance points to none for the Keydets, thanks to the visitors’ 27-17 edge on the glass.
The second half was more of the same, as the Keydets could get no closer than 15 throughout. UNCG edged out to a game-high 33-point lead on two occasions before VMI scored the game’s last five points to account for the final margin.
VMI basketball will return to action Saturday, as the Keydets play host to the Wofford Terriers at Cameron Hall. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
Quotes – VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom
“I don’t know if we’re ever going to win a game when we shoot 22 percent from the field and 21 percent from 3-point. You can play as hard as you want to play but if you can’t score…23 points…I can’t remember the last time in 10 years I’ve been here that we had 23 points at halftime. When you’re shooting 22 percent, it’s difficult.”
“It’s tough to win when you don’t shoot it better. I just hate it because we had a great crowd.”
“We held a team to 38 first half points and we’ve done a pretty good job as many possessions as there are in the game. You just scratch your head when you miss shot after shot after shot.”
“Coming off a game like this and we have the best team coming in this Saturday in Wofford. We haven’t taken advantage of this home stand. We’ll face a good team and our goal is to be prepared for the challenge.”
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