# 2008–09 VMI Keydets basketball team

The 2008–09 VMI Keydets basketball team represented the Virginia Military Institute during the 2008-09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Keydets were coached by Duggar Baucom in his 4th year at VMI, and played their home games at Cameron Hall. It was VMI's 5th season in the Big South Conference and the Keydets' 101st season of basketball.
VMI opened the year with an upset over the Kentucky Wildcats in Rupp Arena on November 14, 2008, by a score of 111–103. After losses to Virginia and Jacksonville State to drop their record to 4–2, VMI then went on a ten-game winning streak and won their first six conference games before falling to Liberty 91–80, in what was the first sellout in the 27-year history of Cameron Hall.
After finishing the regular season with a 22–7 mark, VMI cruised through their first two Big South tournament games, beating Coastal Carolina 96–76 in the quarterfinals and besting Liberty 78–58 in the semifinals. The Keydets ultimately fell to Radford 108–94 in the Big South Championship game, ending their season at 24–8. The 24 wins in a season were the school's second-most all-time, trailing only the 1976–77 team who 26 wins en route to a Sweet 16 appearance.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 14* 7:00 pm, FSN | at Kentucky | W 111–103 | 1–0 | Rupp Arena (22,579) Lexington, KY |
| November 16* 4:00 pm, CSN | at Virginia | L 97–107 | 1–1 | John Paul Jones Arena (9,955) Charlottesville, VA |
| November 18* 8:00 pm | Maryland Bible | W 118–72 | 2–1 | Cameron Hall (1,211) Lexington, VA |
| November 20* 7:00 pm | Stevenson | W 133–72 | 3–1 | Cameron Hall (846) Lexington, VA |
| November 24* 7:00 pm | at Campbell | W 97–92 | 4–1 | Pope Convocation Center (1,531) Buies Creek, NC |
| November 29* 7:00 pm | at Jacksonville State | L 67–95 | 4–2 | Pete Mathews Coliseum (753) Jacksonville, AL |
| December 3 9:00 pm, MASN | Winthrop | W 92–74 | 5–2 (1–0) | Cameron Hall (2,846) Lexington, VA |
| December 6 4:30 pm | at UNC Asheville | W 114–105 | 6–2 (2–0) | Justice Center (1,009) Asheville, NC |
| December 9* 7:00 pm | Campbell | W 88–76 | 7–2 | Cameron Hall (1,076) Lexington, VA |
| December 13* 1:00 pm | Southern Wesleyan | W 113–94 | 8–2 | Cameron Hall (2,446) Lexington, VA |
| December 21* 1:00 pm | at Army | W 62–55 | 9–2 | Christl Arena (206) West Point, NY |
| December 31* 7:00 pm, MASN | Richmond | W 73–70 | 10–2 | Cameron Hall (3,109) Lexington, VA |
| January 3 7:00 pm | at Gardner–Webb | W 96–92 | 11–2 (3–0) | Paul Porter Arena (1,500) Boiling Springs, NC |
| January 5 7:30 pm | at Charleston Southern | W 93–90 | 12–2 (4–0) | CSU Field House (684) North Charleston, SC |
| January 10 1:00 pm | Coastal Carolina | W 103–102 | 13–2 (5–0) | Cameron Hall (2,875) Lexington, VA |
| January 12 7:00 pm | Presbyterian | W 90–75 | 14–2 (6–0) | Cameron Hall (2,105) Lexington, VA |
| January 17 1:00 pm | Liberty | L 80–91 | 14–3 (6–1) | Cameron Hall (5,029) Lexington, VA |
| January 21 7:00 pm | at Radford | W 87–72 | 15–3 (7–1) | Dedmon Center (3,066) Radford, VA |
| January 24 1:00 pm | High Point | W 92–85 | 16–3 (8–1) | Cameron Hall (3,690) Lexington, VA |
| January 29* 7:00 pm | Southern Virginia | W 113–92 | 17–3 | Cameron Hall (2,318) Lexington, VA |
| February 2 7:00 pm | UNC Asheville | L 95–103 $^{OT}$ | 17–4 (8–2) | Cameron Hall (2,483) Lexington, VA |
| February 4 7:00 pm | at Winthrop | W 110–106 $^{OT}$ | 18–4 (9–2) | Winthrop Coliseum (2,275) Rock Hill, SC |
| February 7 2:00 pm | Gardner–Webb | W 94–88 | 19–4 (10–2) | Cameron Hall (4,084) Lexington, VA |
| February 9 7:00 pm | Charleston Southern | W 82–76 | 20–4 (11–2) | Cameron Hall (2,137) Lexington, VA |
| February 14 2:00 pm | at Coastal Carolina | L 97–100 | 20–5 (11–3) | Kimbel Arena (1,031) Conway, SC |
| February 16 7:00 pm | at Presbyterian | L 57–63 | 20–6 (11–4) | Templeton Physical Education Center (790) Clinton, SC |
| February 21 1:00 pm, MASN | Radford | L 90–97 | 20–7 (11–5) | Cameron Hall (4,744) Lexington, VA |
| February 24 7:00 pm | at Liberty | W 109–72 | 21–7 (12–5) | Vines Center (6,973) Lynchburg, VA |
| February 28 7:00 pm | at High Point | W 81–76 | 22–7 (13–5) | Millis Center (1,642) High Point, NC |
| 2009 Big South Conference men's basketball tournament ||||||
| March 3 7:00 pm | Coastal Carolina Quarterfinal | W 96–76 | 23–7 | Cameron Hall (3,654) Lexington, VA |
| March 5 6:00 pm | vs. Liberty Semifinal | W 78–58 | 24–7 | Dedmon Center (N/A) Radford, VA |
| March 7 4:00 pm | at Radford | L 94–108 | 24–8 | Dedmon Center (3,480) Radford, VA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||