Johnson leads VMI against Samford after 21-point outing

Samford Bulldogs (7-6) at VMI Keydets (5-8)

Lexington, Virginia; Thursday, 1 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: VMI hosts Samford after TJ Johnson scored 21 points in VMI’s 97-90 loss to the Radford Highlanders.

The Keydets have gone 4-1 in home games. VMI is seventh in the SoCon with 13.7 assists per game led by Tan Yildizoglu averaging 4.0.

The Bulldogs are 2-4 on the road. Samford averages 77.2 points while outscoring opponents by 1.4 points per game.

VMI averages 78.1 points per game, 2.3 more points than the 75.8 Samford gives up. Samford has shot at a 42.4% clip from the field this season, 1.1 percentage points less than the 43.5% shooting opponents of VMI have averaged.

The Keydets and Bulldogs square off Thursday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Yildizoglu is averaging 7.5 points, four assists and 1.8 steals for the Keydets. Johnson is averaging 14.4 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 34.5% over the last 10 games.

Jadin Booth is scoring 18.6 points per game and averaging 3.7 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Dylan Faulkner is averaging 14.3 points and 6.7 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Keydets: 3-7, averaging 74.7 points, 32.7 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 7.4 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 40.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.3 points per game.

Bulldogs: 5-5, averaging 75.7 points, 34.2 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 5.4 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 42.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.9 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.