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CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel will look to split the season series with archrival VMI on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. when the Keydets make the trek south to McAlister Field House for the Southern Conference battle.
 
Saturday's game will be presented by USAA and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Kyle West (play-by-play) and Jason Kempf (analysis) on the call. The game will also be carried on the radio locally on 102.1FM and 1450AM with Luke Mauro, the Voice of the Bulldogs, on the radio call.
 
The Bulldogs (11-9, 4-9 SoCon) trailed by as many as 21 points at Wofford on Wednesday evening before a late rally, but the run fell just short as The Citadel could not complete the season sweep of the Terriers in an 81-67 defeat. Kaiden Rice stayed hot with six more three-pointers and a team-high 22 points, Hayden Brown logged 17 points and eight rebounds and Fletcher Abee tallied 11 points to round out the trio in double figures.
 
In the high-scoring first meeting with VMI this season on Jan. 16 in Lexington, Va., the Keydets earned a 110-103 victory in the series' highest-scoring game ever with 213 combined points. VMI finished with three players at 25 points or more, as Jake Stephens (33), Greg Parham (27) and Sean Conway (25) all hit that mark; for The Citadel, Rice netted a season-best 29 points after connecting on seven three-pointers, his most against a SoCon opponent this season.
 
Brown was named the SoCon Player of the Week for the second time this season on Tuesday afternoon, becoming the first Bulldog to win the award twice in a single season since Lew Stallworth in 2018-19. A top candidate for SoCon Player of the Year, Brown remains the league's leader in scoring (20.0) and rebounding (10.8) this season.
 
Normally known for its offensive prowess, The Citadel has been strong at swatting away shots this season, leading the SoCon and ranking 23rd nationally with 4.8 blocks per game. The 10 blocked shots against ETSU on Feb. 10 were the fourth-most in a single game in program history. Stephen Clark, who had four blocks against ETSU, currently ranks second among SoCon players with 2.1 blocks per game, a mark that has him ranked 33rd among all Division I players.
 
With 11 double-doubles this season, Brown has already moved into sole possession of third place on The Citadel's all-time single-season list in the category. Brown is on pace to become the first Bulldog to average a double-double since John Sutor in the 1970-71 campaign. Across his 11 double-doubles, Brown is averaging 21.9 points and 14.2 rebounds.
 
Rice has splashed six three-pointers in each of the last two games for the Bulldogs and is up to 87 made triples on the season, the fifth-most in program history and the most by any Division I player in the nation in 2020-21. Among Bulldogs with at least 50 three-point attempts, Rice is also the team's leader in percentage, shooting at a 39 percent clip (87-of-223) for the season.
 
After going winless in conference play last season, The Citadel has already picked up four victories in 2020-21, easily the biggest improvement among SoCon teams. Across the nation, only Cleveland State (7 more wins), Evansville (6) and Morehead State (5) have improved their conference win totals more than the Bulldogs.
 
VMI (12-10, 7-6 SoCon) enters Saturday's matchup as one of the hottest teams in the league, having won three of its last four games, including impressive wins over both UNCG and Wofford, the top two teams in the current standings. Electric guard Parham paces the Keydets with 18.6 points per game and a team-best 88 assists with just 48 turnovers in 724 minutes, and big man Stephens, who had 33 points against The Citadel in the first meeting, averages 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds. Kamdyn Curfman (13.0) and Conway (10.6) round out the quartet scoring in double figures.
 
In their last time out, the Keydets pulled off an impressive upset over SoCon leader UNCG on Wednesday evening, leading for the final 29 minutes in an 88-77 win. Parham (25) and Curfman (20) combined to score just over half of the Keydets' points, and Myles Lewis, who missed the first meeting with The Citadel, added a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.
 
One of the most evenly-matched rivalries in program history, the series between the Bulldogs and Keydets dates back to 1920-21 and became an annual SoCon tradition in 1953-54. The Citadel holds the slimmest of leads with a 58-57 edge across 115 all-time meetings, but will be looking to snap a four-game slide against the Keydets with its first win since Jan. 26, 2019. The Bulldogs own a wider 34-21 lead in games on their home court in the series.
 
The Citadel will face a very busy final week of the regular season with three games, two of which will be played on the road. The Bulldogs will travel to Mercer on Monday and Furman on Wednesday before returning back to McAlister Field House for their final home game of 2020-21 against Samford next Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. That will be the lone meeting against Samford this season after the game in Birmingham was cancelled due to COVID issues within the Samford program on Jan. 23.