SoCon Men's Basketball Opening Week: VMI Scores 115
VMI hit 18 3-pointers as five SoCon teams opened with wins, while six fell on the road, including Western Carolina in a tight loss at North Carolina.
Schools in this article
Wofford Terriers
UNC Greensboro Spartans
VMI Keydets
Samford Bulldogs
Western Carolina Catamounts
The Citadel Bulldogs
Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles
East Tennessee State Buccaneers
Mercer Bears
Furman Paladins
Chattanooga Mocs
Louisville Cardinals
North Carolina Tar Heels
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Arizona State Sun Devils
Loyola Chicago Ramblers
Tennessee Volunteers
Bethune-Cookman Wildcats
Berry Vikings
The SoCon men's basketball season opened Monday and Tuesday with a split the standings will not show. Five league teams won at home or on neutral floors. Six others lost on the road, five of them to power-conference programs.
VMI made the loudest noise. The Keydets beat Virginia-Lynchburg 115-83 and made 18 3-pointers. UNC Greensboro (UNCG) and Mercer each won by more than 35 points. Furman beat Bethune-Cookman in Rock Hill, South Carolina, behind 45 combined points from two players.
| Date | Result | Site |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 2 | VMI 115, Virginia-Lynchburg 83 | Lexington, Va. |
| Nov. 2 | Mercer 90, Reinhardt 53 | Macon, Ga. |
| Nov. 2 | Samford 87, Berry 58 | Birmingham, Ala. |
| Nov. 2 | Furman 79, Bethune-Cookman 70 | Rock Hill, S.C. |
| Nov. 3 | UNCG 96, Milligan 43 | Greensboro, N.C. |
| Nov. 2 | Louisville 84, Chattanooga 70 | Louisville, Ky. |
| Nov. 2 | North Carolina 80, Western Carolina 72 | Chapel Hill, N.C. |
| Nov. 2 | Mississippi State 106, Tennessee Tech 88 | Starkville, Miss. |
| Nov. 2 | Arizona State 75, ETSU 65 | Tempe, Ariz. |
| Nov. 2 | Loyola Chicago 77, The Citadel 52 | Chicago |
| Nov. 3 | Tennessee 90, Wofford 59 | Knoxville, Tenn. |
VMI's Offense Comes Out Firing
VMI led 60-31 at halftime and never looked back. The Keydets shot 43-for-89 and 18-for-44 from 3-point range. They piled up 27 assists on 43 field goals and won the rebounding battle 56-37.
TJ Johnson led seven double-figure scorers with 17 points on 5-for-10 shooting from deep. Alexander Daushvili added 15 points and seven rebounds on 6-for-7 shooting. Rokas Zilys scored 14 off the bench. Rickey Bradley Jr. had 10 points and seven assists, and AJ Clark and Joao Panzo scored 10 each. Paulius Narvilas grabbed 10 rebounds. Donovan Peterson led Virginia-Lynchburg with 17. Read our VMI season preview for more on the Keydets.
UNCG, Mercer and Samford Roll
UNCG beat Milligan 96-43 on Tuesday in front of 1,891 fans at Bodford Arena. The Spartans shot 56.1% and owned the paint 58-24. Cameron Grant had 19 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. RJ Greer added 15 points and Dionte Neal had 14 points and seven assists. Brock Mishak scored 13 with eight rebounds, and Jon Mani and Zavier Fitch scored 10 each. See our UNCG preview.
Mercer beat Reinhardt 90-53. Shane Cherry scored 21 off the bench on 7-for-11 shooting. Derek Goodman added 18 and K.J. LaMonte had 14. Brady Shoulders pulled down 13 rebounds as the Bears won the glass 48-27. See our Mercer preview.
Samford beat Berry 87-58. The Bulldogs shot 32-for-54 and blocked 13 shots. Will Shaver had 17 points, six rebounds and four blocks. Cade Norris went 4-for-4 from the field and 5-for-5 at the line for 13 points. See our Samford preview.
Furman's Duo Carries the Paladins
Furman beat Bethune-Cookman 79-70 at the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center. Charles Johnston scored 23 points with 11 rebounds and hit six 3-pointers. Tom House added 22 points and made 12 of 16 free throws. Marcus Kell scored 14, and Luka Toews dished seven assists. Mari Jordan led Bethune-Cookman with 22. See our Furman preview.
Six Road Losses
Western Carolina came closest. The Catamounts lost 80-72 at North Carolina in front of 15,735 fans. Jaxon Prunty scored 18 points and Jaeden Roberts added 17 with four 3-pointers. Western Carolina won the rebounding battle 41-32. Matt Able led the Tar Heels with 18. Western Carolina head coach Tim Craft praised North Carolina's attack after the game. "I thought just the pace that they play with and the organization offensively was really impressive," Craft said, according to North Carolina Athletics. See our Western Carolina preview.
Chattanooga trailed Louisville 56-35 at halftime, then played the Cardinals even after the break in an 84-70 loss. Zach Bleshoy and Yonatan Levy scored 14 each, and Lenny Anigbata added 12. See our Chattanooga preview.
ETSU lost 75-65 at Arizona State. BJ Ward scored 25 points and Trevor Hennig added 15 off the bench. See our ETSU preview.
Tennessee Tech's first game as a SoCon member was a 106-88 loss at Mississippi State. Caleb Sanders scored 28 points on 9-for-13 shooting. De'ante Green added 12. See our Tennessee Tech preview.
The Citadel lost 77-52 at Loyola Chicago. Joe Hurlburt scored 11 points with seven rebounds and hit all three of his 3-point tries. Marcos Gonzales and Keynan Davis scored 10 each. See our Citadel preview.
Wofford trailed Tennessee 34-31 at halftime before the Volunteers pulled away in a 90-59 win. Cam Lowe scored 14 points. Chris Arias and Cutter Sisk scored 10 each, and Evan Ramsey had eight points and 10 rebounds. See our Wofford preview.
What's Next
Furman hosts Bob Jones and Tennessee Tech hosts Blue Mountain Christian on Wednesday, Nov. 4. On Thursday, Nov. 5, Chattanooga plays at Penn State at 6 p.m. ET, Mercer plays at Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. ET and VMI plays at SMU at 8 p.m. ET.
On Friday, Nov. 6, The Citadel hosts Erskine, UNCG plays at Elon, ETSU plays at NC State (ACC Network Extra) and Wofford plays at North Carolina. All four tip at 7 p.m. ET.
