UNCG 85, VMI 56
LEXINGTON, Va. – The UNCG men’s basketball team secured their largest Southern Conference victory since 2012 Tuesday night as the Spartans travelled to Lexington, Va., and ran away from VMI 85-56 at Cameron Hall. The Spartans’ 29-point victory is their largest against an NCAA Division I team since winning by 30 points against The Citadel December 1, 2012. UNCG also held the league’s highest scoring team to a season-low 56 points and secured the regular season sweep of the Keydets.
Sophomore forward Jordy Kuiper scored a career-high 12 points in the first 14 minutes of the game to stake the Spartans to the lead from the very beginning of the game. Kuiper connected on all five of his shots from the field and grabbed four rebounds before suffering an injury on a fast break dunk attempt as he was fouled, which ended his night.
Senior guard Nicholas Paulos led seven Spartans with at least eight points in the victory as he scored a game-high 20 points in 32 minutes. Paulos connected on 7-of-10 from the field, 3-of-5 from 3-point land and 3-of-3 from the free throw line.
Freshman guard Marvin Smith also turned in a career-high night as he scored 14 points off the bench in 27 minutes of action while grabbing six rebounds. Smith connected on 4-of-10 from the field, including two 3-pointers, while hitting all four free throws.
Junior forward Kayel Locke added nine points and nine rebounds in 25 minutes of action. Redshirt sophomore center R.J. White came off the bench and also added nine points and nine rebounds while blocking four shots. Sophomore guard Diante Baldwin added eight points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the victory.
The Spartans finished the game shooting 47.7 percent (31-of-65) from the field and hit 9-of-19 from 3-point land in the victory. UNCG dominated play in the paint as it out-scored the Keydets 38-12 down low and out-rebounded VMI by a 56-43 margin.
The Spartans defensively held the league’s top scoring team to just 56 points as the Keydets shot just 22.2 percent (16-of-72) from the field and only 8-of-38 from long range. Brian Brown led VMI with 16 points but was the only Keydet player in double figures scoring.
The Spartans came out of the gate quickly against the Keydets, opening to a 13-5 lead by the first media timeout. Kuiper was the catalyst in the early going, scoring six points while Paulos added five points in the first four minutes of action. The Spartans connected on 6-of-8 from the field in the opening stretch while holding VMI to 2-of-12 shooting from the field.
VMI started to settle in and used its full court pressure defense to generate turnovers to slow the Spartans. The Keydets scored seven straight points to narrow the UNCG lead to 13-12 as the Spartans went 5:27 without a field goal. Brian Brown pulled VMI within one with a 3-pointer and had a chance to give the Keydets the lead but missed an ensuing 3-pointer.
The teams traded baskets before the Spartans held a 27-22 lead after Kuiper again scored in the paint. The Spartans closed out the first half on an 11-1 run to take a 38-23 lead into the locker room. Kuiper started the run with a pair of free throws before Smith scored five straight, including a 3-pointer. Baldwin gave the Spartans a 15-point halftime lead as he hit a pull up jumper with 38 seconds left in the half. The Spartans held the Keydets scoreless over the last 4:36 of the half and without a field goal over the last 5:48 of the half.
UNCG finished the first half shooting 47.1 percent (16-of-34) from the field and 50 percent (4-of-8) from 3-point land in the opening 20 minutes. The Spartans also held a 27-17 edge on the glass in the first half and limited their turnovers to eight miscues. Kuiper led all scorers with 12 points as he was 5-of-5 from the field while Paulos and Smith each turned in eight points.
VMI was held to 23.5 percent (8-of-34) shooting from the field and 27.8 percent (5-of-18) shooting from long range. Brown led the Keydets with nine points as he hit three 3-pointers.
The Spartans opened the second half by scoring the first five points to take a 43-23 lead. Paulos led the way as he hit an early 3-pointer and got out in transition off a steal by Tevon Saddler scoring on a dunk for the 20-point lead.
VMI was able to chip away at the UNCG lead and narrow the gap to 15 at 51-36 with 13:24 left. The Spartans answered back with seven straight points as Paulos was fouled on a 3-pointer and hit all three at the line. Baldwin capped the run as he nailed a wide open 3-pointer in the corner to force VMI into a timeout.
The Spartans ended any doubt in the contest with a 15-3 run to take a 76-46 lead with 3:53 left in the game. White started the run by converting an old-fashioned 3-point play while sophomore Clay Byrd and Smith each hit 3-pointers to put the game out of reach.
Byrd finished the game with eight points in 11 minutes off the bench as he hit a pair of 3-pointers. Saddler added six assists, six rebounds and three steals in 19 minutes of play as he was limited due to foul trouble.