Johnson leads VMI against Furman after 30-point game

By Canadian Press on January 9, 2026.

VMI Keydets (6-10, 1-2 SoCon) at Furman Paladins (11-5, 2-1 SoCon)

Greenville, South Carolina; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: VMI plays Furman after TJ Johnson scored 30 points in VMI’s 81-67 loss to the East Tennessee State Buccaneers.

The Paladins are 7-2 on their home court. Furman is fourth in the SoCon with 10.4 offensive rebounds per game led by Cole Bowser averaging 3.0.

The Keydets are 1-2 against SoCon opponents. VMI has a 0-1 record in games decided by less than 4 points.

Furman makes 47.9% of its shots from the field this season, which is 3.7 percentage points higher than VMI has allowed to its opponents (44.2%). VMI averages 10.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.2 more made shots on average than the 8.6 per game Furman gives up.

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Alex Wilkins is shooting 45.6% and averaging 16.9 points for the Paladins. Asa Thomas is averaging 3.7 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Johnson is scoring 19.3 points per game and averaging 7.5 rebounds for the Keydets. Linus Holmstrom is averaging 2.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Paladins: 8-2, averaging 80.7 points, 34.6 rebounds, 17.7 assists, 6.1 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 49.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.1 points per game.

Keydets: 3-7, averaging 72.4 points, 32.0 rebounds, 11.9 assists, 6.6 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 39.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 77.3 points.

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

The Associated Press

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