The USI Men’s Basketball team hosted the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Keydets Friday, Nov. 7, for their home opener at Liberty Arena. 1,669 were in attendance for the game, which was played directly after the women’s basketball game, where the Screaming Eagles lost by one point to a tough Murray State University team on a buzzer-beating layup. The fans were in desperate need of a win after that heartbreaking loss.
The men’s basketball team entered this game off an 88-58 loss against Butler University in Indianapolis. In that game, Southern Indiana was no match in the first half, as the Bulldogs doubled them up 52-26. However, the Screaming Eagles were only outscored by four in the second half, a much better performance. Despite that, the game was not an expected win, rather an opportunity for the coaching staff and players to play against a superior opponent and build experience from that.
For this game, Southern Indiana’s Head Coach, Stan Gouard, started the game with a four guard and one forward lineup. At the one and two guard positions stood Ismail Habib, senior guard, and Kaden Brown, junior guard. At the other two guard positions are Trey Thomas, senior guard, and Cardell Bailey, senior guard. At the lone forward position, Ola Ajiboye, senior forward, who is a versatile forward at 6’8”, would need to be the anchor in the paint, as Bailey and Ajiboye were the only players in the lineup that stood above 6’6″. The Keydets opted for a similar lineup, which featured three guards and two forwards. This game was a potential shooting barrage from both teams.
To open the first half, VMI won the tip, but missed two opportunities in the first possession, and Ajiboye grabbed the rebound. The Screaming Eagles couldn’t capitalize on the opening stop, as Thomas missed a mid-range jumper off the wing. VMI attempted another three-pointer, missing again, and Southern Indiana did the same, this time by Habib. After the Keydets missed another three-pointer on the following possession, Bailey grabbed the rebound and threw a touchdown pass down the court to Thomas, who scored the opening basket for the Screaming Eagles on a fastbreak layup. The Eagles built off this layup with a three-pointer from Brown, extending the lead to five.
The Keydets soon got on the board with a layup with 16:20 to go in the half. They nearly scored again from a slam dunk, but the rim denied them. Ajiboye grabbed the board and Thomas scored off of VMI’s mistake.
Despite a slow start, both teams began to get going, with around 15 minutes left. For Southern Indiana, Ajiboye hit a two-point jumpshot and Habib hit a corner three. On the other end, VMI countered with two three-pointers of their own, showing that they go toe to toe, and then some. At 13:15, the Keydets tied the game up on a fastbreak layup, but that tie was short-lived, as Thomas scored another bucket, this time, a jumpshot.
VMI continued to showcase their shooting display, hitting another three-pointer at 12:20, which Braxton Jones, senior guard, who had just entered the game, attempted to match on the other end, but missed. Jones had been inserted with Devin Curtis, junior forward, who committed a foul thirty seconds into the game, which prompted a media timeout.
Out of the media timeout, Coach Gouard made more substitutes. He brought in Steven Clay, senior guard, Sheridan Sharp, junior guard, and also Habib back in after a short rest. Habib made an immediate impact, hitting a deep buzzer-beating three-pointer. To say he was making a great impact on the game was an understatement. However, a scoring drought was about to ensue, as both teams missed a combined eight shot attempts in the next two minutes, one of which Curtis blocked.
The drought ended with 9:02 left, with a layup from the Keydets, but Brown quickly responded with a jumper from beyond the arc, giving the Screaming Eagles a 20-17 lead. Until the 5:16 mark in the first half, the scoring went back and forth, as Southern Indiana and VMI traded baskets. But with just under five minutes left, Bailey hit a three-pointer, Southern Indiana’s fifth of the half, on 14 attempts. On the next possession, Habib committed a foul, which gave the Keydets two free throws, but they missed both of them. On the next possession, Thomas scored a layup off an assist from Habib. Then Habib scored a layup of his own, this time on the fastbreak. It seemed as if Southern Indiana was starting to get some rhythm, as Thomas and Habib scored two more baskets with under two minutes left, increasing the lead to eight. Following a missed three-pointer on the other end, Brown scored another jumper, giving the Screaming Eagles a double-digit lead with 1:24 left. The Keydets eventually cut into the lead just before half, scoring two baskets and four of the last five points in the half.
Halftime: Southern Indiana 37, VMI 30
At halftime, Southern Indiana looked strong against VMI, playing solid defense and scoring with efficiency. They held the Keydets to 31.7% shooting from the field and 16.7% from beyond the arc. Ajiboye and Curtis blocked two shots respectively and grabbed a combined nine rebounds in the first half. Offensively, the team shot 38.5% from the field and 29.4% from deep. Thomas led the Screaming Eagles with 12 points and five rebounds. Habib was also in double figures, with 10 points. Alongside them, Brown scored eight points and hit ⅔ of his three-point shots. However, the rest of the team scored a combined seven points, which was a bit concerning. If VMI could contain those three, they could very much be in contention for the game.
In the second half, the Keydets opened the scoring this time around. Brown attempted to keep up his solid shooting performance, but missed. Ajiboye made a strong defensive play, stealing the ball, and Habib made a run for the fastbreak, and Brown found him for a fastbreak layup.
Ajiboye continued to be aggressive, as he continued to grab rebounds and was fouled on two occasions, hitting three out of four attempts from the foul line. At 15:31, Abjiboye added another bucket to his scoring total, from a fastbreak layup, which marked five points for him, early into the second half.
Despite Ajiboye’s strong start to the half, the Keydets got hot from deep, with under 15 to go, hitting three straight three-pointers, which were countered by two baskets from Curtis. The lead had diminished to just two points by 13:29, and the game entered a media timeout.
Out of the media timeout, VMI missed a layup, and Southern Indiana went to work. On the next possession, Clay missed a three, then Brown missed one, and then Clay grabbed a rebound, putting the third scoring attempt into the basket at 12:26. VMI responded with a two of their own, but the Screaming Eagles started to get hot from deep, hitting back-to-back threes, from Brown and Habib. The shooting was contagious, as VMI also hit a three with 10 minutes to go, but Southern Indiana still held a five-point lead.
As the game got closer to crunch time, Southern Indiana made some errors. Curtis fouled a VMI player on a three-point attempt, which cut the lead to two, after VMI hit all three attempts from the line. Habib scored another fast-break bucket in response, once again showcasing his speed and athleticism.
After the layup, Bailey and Ajiboye committed two fouls within a minute and 44 seconds, which brought Southern Indiana closer and closer to the foul limit. Then Thomas committed a foul, bringing USI within two fouls of giving VMI one-and-one opportunities for the rest of the half. However, this uptick in fouls was mutual. VMI began to commit fouls at an increased rate as well. By 5:37, VMI had breached the foul limit, which awarded USI one-and-one free throws for the last five minutes.
Bailey hit both free throws, but VMI responded with a layup. On the next possession, Brown had the ball ripped away, and the Keydets scored a fastbreak layup, taking the lead. However, Brown redeemed himself quickly, hitting a second-chance layup while being fouled, and converted the three-point play.
The last three minutes were crunch time for both teams, as the game could truly go either way. At 3:00, Bailey hit a free-throw line jumper, off an assist from Jones. Then Habib was fouled, converting both free throw attempts, giving the Screaming Eagles a three-point lead. The Keydets responded quickly, scoring on the next possession, and then stole the ball from Brown and drew a foul on a fastbreak layup attempt.
VMI split the free throws, which left the game knotted up, with 1:43 left. Unfortunately for Southern Indiana, the team went cold from the field in crunch time, as Brown missed two three-point attempts. The Keydets scored on a three-point jumper and stole the ball from Habib with 47 seconds left. Bailey committed a foul nine seconds later, which saw VMI score two more free throws. However, the Screaming Eagles weren’t out of the game, as with 11 seconds to go, VMI made an error, fouling Habib on a three-point jumper. Habib hit all three free throws, cutting the deficit to two.
By this point, Southern Indiana was out of timeouts, so they couldn’t stop the clock, but a comeback was still possible.
Jones made a foul immediately, only taking two seconds off the clock, but VMI’s free-throw shooter converted both shots, all but sealing the game.
Final: USI 74 VMI 78
Despite the loss, Southern Indiana showed strong resolve and didn’t give up down the stretch. The team is still working on on-court chemistry, which showed in this game. Should they have won the game? Probably, but VMI deserves credit for their performance in the second half, especially from beyond the arc. They shot 6/14 from deep, which was a considerable improvement from the first half. There is a lot to learn from this game, but there were some definite bright spots for the Screaming Eagles.
Ismail Habib led the team in scoring, with 26, on 9/20 shooting. He also had five rebounds, three assists, but also had four turnovers, which can be cleaned up. He brought great pace and energy to the game. Brown scored 14 points, assisted on six baskets, grabbed seven rebounds, and added a block and a steal. Thomas also scored in double figures and grabbed five rebounds. Ajiboye scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and three stocks (steals and rebounds). Bailey scored seven points, grabbed ten boards, and stole the ball twice.
Off the bench, Curtis scored five points and blocked three shots. Clay scored two points, blocked a shot, and grabbed three boards. Jones and Sharp played 17 combined minutes, but didn’t score. Jones played down the stretch in crunch time, which is notable.
The Men’s Basketball team travels to South Dakota Wednesday, where they play the University of South Dakota at 7 p.m. The game can be listened to on ESPN 97.7FM.
