UNC Greensboro beats VMI 84-70 in SoCon first round, KJ Younger 29

KJ Younger poured in 29 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead UNC Greensboro to an 84-70 victory over VMI in the Southern Conference Tournament first round in Asheville, moving the Spartans into a quarterfinal matchup with No. 2 Wofford. The win followed a 39-27 first-half edge and a 45-43 second half for UNCG that pushed the Spartans into the next round.

Justin Neely posted a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double while shooting 6-of-11 from the field, and Donald Whitehead Jr. finished with 13 points on 5-for-15 shooting, including a 1-for-6 mark from three-point range. UNCG used balanced depth beyond its top three scorers, with contributions listed from Domas Kauzonas, Valentino Pinedo, Lilian Marville, Noah Norgaard and Clinton Efinda on the game roster.

The team box score showed UNCG shooting .500 from the field to VMI’s .417, while VMI made 33.3 percent from three compared with UNCG’s 26.1 percent. UNCG’s free-throw percentage is listed at 1.000 in the available team statistics, though individual free-throw attempt totals were not provided in the game excerpts. The Spartans outrebounded VMI 40-29, committed nine turnovers to VMI’s 11, and recorded six steals to VMI’s five.

UNCG entered the tournament with a 13-18 overall record and 9-9 in Southern Conference play and improved to 14-18 with the win. VMI fell to 6-25 overall and 1-17 in SoCon, and the loss extended the Keydets’ losing streak to 17 games, the second-longest active string in the country behind Air Force’s 23-game skid. The teams had met earlier this season on February 12, when UNCG won 92-71; KJ Younger had 21 points in that meeting while Linus Holmstrom scored 23 for VMI.

Season context underscores contrasting profiles: UNCG averaged 78.7 points per game this season and allowed 81.1, while VMI averaged 72.0 points and allowed 79.9. Justin Neely entered the tournament as one of UNCG’s season leaders, listed with 17.6 points per game and 11.4 rebounds per game in season summaries.

The Spartans’ reward is a quarterfinal date with No. 2 Wofford on Saturday, March 7, 2026, at 2:30 PM in Asheville. With Younger’s 29-point performance and a 40-29 rebounding margin, UNCG will bring an offense that averages nearly 79 points into a matchup against a Wofford squad seeded second in the SoCon bracket.