UNCG turns back VMI, advances to SoCon quarters

By Jordan Ferrell (@FerrellonFM983)

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — There are few things more exciting in the world of sports than a mid-major college basketball conference tournament first-round game. 

The hope of making the NCAA Tournament is still there. It is the fight to survive and advance that produces some of the most dramatic finishes and creates legends of school lore.

The Citadel and Chattanooga got the 2026 Southern Conference tournament underway Friday night, following suit with a thrilling back-and-forth over the final 10 minutes as The Citadel pulled off a last-second victory. That finish set the standard high, but the second game was more of a chalk affair. 

In the nightcap, 10th-seeded VMI, led by third-team all-SoCon forward TJ Johnson, fell to No. 7 seed UNC Greensboro, 84-70.

Among the storylines for this contest were that the Keydets were short on numbers. The team has had to run most of the season with just seven players that play pretty much the entire game. That stems from having been hit hard by the injury bug. Twelve of VMI’s scholarship players have combined to miss 137 games this year. That has no doubt been something to consider when comparing their offensive stats against their records, both overall and in SoCon play. 

“We only played seven guys for the last several weeks of the season,” said VMI head coach Andrew Wilson. “Injuries have been really tough with six guys out for the majority of the season. We sat here on this podium last year after two great wins and a semifinal loss to Wofford, and our guys were so committed to each other that we returned 10 scholarship players — second-most in the country — to a military school. They wanted to do something special this season.”

“Sometimes you can’t control everything. We lost Rickey Bradley, Jr., the preseason player of the year. Our frontcourt was decimated by injuries. Our record is not the result of a lack of trying. Our guys have battled all season long. They had every opportunity to give in, and they never did. Thirteen of our 17 losses in SoCon play were single-digit games with under 10 minutes to play. We were right there, but we didn’t get the results to show for the guys’ commitment and resiliency. Sometimes, that is how it goes.” 

That lack of numbers forced the Keydets to also have to adjust how they play offense, which resulted in them becoming one of the top three-point shooting teams in the SoCon, and would ultimately be a factor again in Friday’s game.

“It was born out of necessity,” said Wilson of his team’s propensity from beyond the arc. “With a short lineup, we were forced to shoot a lot of threes. But it played into our strength. TJ and Linus (Holmstrom) are two of the best shooters in the conference. You always felt like we could get back into games because of how we could get hot and shoot from three.” 

As things got underway, the pace of the contest started out much slower than its seesaw-like predecessor, with UNCG getting the scoring started about 40 seconds in with a KJ Younger putback layup. That would translate to a 4-0 start after securing the opening tip thanks to a midrange jumper from Justin Neely, but after the 2-0 start from the field, the Spartans missed on each of the next three attempts, allowing VMI to get going. The Keydets earned their first point of the night on a split pair of free throws from Kaden Stuckey, and Linus Holmstrom drained a three from the right corner to equalize the game at 4. 

Younger hit a wide open triple from the right wing of his own later to break the brief skid for the Spartans, providing the spark for a 9-1 run spanning the next three minutes. Johnson got VMI off the schneid with a much-needed three at the 12:28 mark, making for a 13-8 UNCG lead at the under-12 stoppage. Ahead of the next media timeout, the Keydets went cold for 2 minutes and 15 seconds, a span in which UNCG went on a 6-0 run that helped build a 23-14 advantage. 

VMI broke out of the skid by putting together its best run of the game, a 9-0 burst that pulled the game back to within a single possession. The hopes of keeping the run going were dashed when a layup from Clyde Bailey II stopped the bleeding for the Spartans, the beginnings of an 11-3 run to close out the half, giving UNCG a 39-27 advantage at the intermission. 

The second half began with a three-point shooting contest. VMI cooled off after Holmstrom’s third triple, and the Spartans took advantage with a 6-0 push to force a timeout that would extend to the first media break with UNCG leading, 51-36. That would be as close as the game would get the rest of the way. 

The two sides traded baskets down the stretch, but in the end, UNCG cruised to head coach Mike Jones’ first win in the SoCon tournament since he was hired in 2021, one that earned the Spartans a berth in the quarterfinals against Wofford on Saturday night. 

“I thought we were locked in from the beginning of the game,” Jones said. “KJ went to the glass early and got us our first basket. We believed that we could pull down offensive rebounds against them, and so we gameplanned to attack the glass. KJ’s basket set the tone and I thought Domas (Kauzonas) came off the bench and did a great job as well.”

“Overall, we had a great competitive spirit on the defensive end. In the first half, aside from fouls, we played well defensively. In the second, we lost a little bit of our focus. VMI is a really dangerous team and we allowed them to get back in the game. But, I was really proud of how we finished the game off, and (Younger and Neely) had a lot to do with it. I am proud of them and our team.” 

Younger led the way for the Spartans with 29 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. Neely recorded his 19th double-double of the season and 26th of his career with 14 points and a team-high 10 boards. On VMI’s side, Linus Holmstrom topped the Keydets with 24 points.

“I thought UNCG had a great gameplan,” Wilson said following the loss. “They really hurt us on the offensive glass tonight and that was the difference in the game. They had 15 offensive rebounds for 19 second-chance points. That made it really difficult on us.”

“We were more worried about defending the three tonight. They hurt us the second time we played them at their place from three, and we did a good job defending it tonight. They only made six of 23. We took care of that part of the game, but we struggled to finish possessions. That was another difference in the game.” 

 

With the first round now in the books, UNCG will now turn its focus toward getting ready for No. 2 seed Wofford, who the Spartans will face Saturday at 6:30 p.m.