Halftime Report

VMI is on the road but looking no worse for wear. After one quarter, neither squad has the contest in the bag, but VMI leads 37-34 over Western Carolina.

If VMI keeps playing like this, they'll bump their record up to 11-12 in no time. On the other hand, Western Carolina will have to make due with a 6-15 record unless they turn things around (and fast).

Who's Playing

VMI Keydets @ Western Carolina Catamounts

Current Records: VMI 10-12, Western Carolina 6-14

How To Watch

What to Know

We've got another exciting Southern matchup on schedule as the VMI Keydets and the Western Carolina Catamounts are set to tip at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at Ramsey Center. Coming in fresh off a win as the underdog, the Keydets will stroll into this one as the favorite.

VMI can't be too worried about heading out to take on Western Carolina: they just beat Wofford at home, who had been dominant on their own court up to that point. VMI walked away with a 74-67 victory over Wofford on Wednesday.

VMI's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was TJ Johnson, who went 6 for 9 en route to 20 points. The dominant performance also gave Johnson a new career-high in threes (five). Rickey Bradley Jr. was another key player, posting 16 points along with five steals.

Meanwhile, Western Carolina found themselves the reluctant recipients of an 84-60 punch to the gut against Chattanooga on Wednesday. The Catamounts were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 44-25.

Marcus Kell put forth a good effort for the losing side as he scored 15 points along with two blocks. He had some trouble finding his footing against UNCG two weeks ago, so this was a step in the right direction.

Western Carolina struggled to work together and finished the game with only seven assists. They were destroyed by their opponents in that department as Chattanooga racked up 19.

VMI is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 10-12 record this season. As for Western Carolina, they have been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-14 record this season.

Keep an eye on the arc in Saturday's game: VMI has made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having averaged 9.5 threes per game. However, it's not like Western Carolina struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.6. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.

VMI strolled past Western Carolina in their previous matchup back in January by a score of 66-50. The rematch might be a little tougher for VMI since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.

Odds

VMI is a slight 2.5-point favorite against Western Carolina, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Keydets as a 2-point favorite.


The over/under is 146 points.

See college basketball picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine's advanced computer model. Get picks now.

Series History

Western Carolina has won 6 out of their last 10 games against VMI.

  • Jan 15, 2025 - VMI 66 vs. Western Carolina 50
  • Feb 24, 2024 - Western Carolina 84 vs. VMI 51
  • Jan 27, 2024 - Western Carolina 102 vs. VMI 77
  • Feb 25, 2023 - Western Carolina 85 vs. VMI 66
  • Jan 28, 2023 - Western Carolina 71 vs. VMI 65
  • Feb 26, 2022 - Western Carolina 82 vs. VMI 73
  • Feb 04, 2022 - VMI 76 vs. Western Carolina 69
  • Feb 10, 2021 - Western Carolina 74 vs. VMI 72
  • Jan 27, 2021 - VMI 87 vs. Western Carolina 61
  • Feb 19, 2020 - VMI 74 vs. Western Carolina 71