ROCK HILL, S.C. -- Did Stonewall Jackson like basketball?

Wait a minute. They didn't play basketball when the late general was giving marching orders. But you could bet the old VMI professor would have liked the way the descendants of the cadets he taught are playing the game now.

Striking another cruel blow for the underdog, the Keydets upended second-seeded High Point 91-81 in the semifinals of the Big South Conference tournament Thursday at the Winthrop Coliseum.

Despite a 14-18 record, VMI is one game from the NCAA tournament. That'll have to wait until Saturday at 2 p.m., ESPN's cameras rolling for the national broadcast, as they play for the conference title at top-seeded Winthrop, which beat UNC Asheville 79-60.

Appearing on the small screen from sea to shining sea -- that'll be a new one for VMI's players, none of whom has ever played for a collegiate team that finished with a winning record.

Despite public comments to the contrary, it's hard to believe the Panthers didn't feel as though they had a major edge on a team they beat 115-109 in Lexington and 104-92 in High Point, N.C.

"It's pretty simple," High Point coach Bart Lundy said. "We scored 81 points. That should be plenty enough to win. We just didn't guard, didn't rebound, we didn't get the loose balls, we didn't scrap.

"For whatever reason, we weren't tough enough to handle VMI."

High Point finished 22-10 and had the conference player of the year in junior forward Arizona Reid -- a nice campaign to be sure. The Panthers had won six of seven coming in but weren't the same after getting tangled up all night in VMI's switching zone defense.

It was the second time in as many games the Keydets had gone out of character and away from all the pressing man-to-man that had helped make them the nation's leading scoring team at 101.9 points per game. Going zone and slowing down at the defensive end helped VMI topple host Liberty 79-78 in the tournament's opening round Tuesday.

Those tactics Thursday cluttered the middle, put a net over Reid, and forced the Panthers to shoot 39 triples (they made 15), far more long-distance shots than Lundy said he would have preferred.

High Point, for the first time in three games with VMI, also had trouble on the backboards, where the Keydets had a 43-37 edge.

"I told the guys before the game that if we could outrebound them, we could win the game," said VMI coach Duggar Baucom, whose team also outrebounded Liberty 38-36.

Eugene Harris led High Point with 23 points and seven treys. Troy Bowman had 14 points and three 3s.

"We knew what was coming," said High Point's Mike Jefferson, who had 17 points and five triples. "But we weren't tough enough to overcome VMI today."

Reid was pretty much a non-factor, scoring only six of his 13 points after intermission. After grabbing a stunning 25 rebounds against VMI less than a week ago, Reid had eight boards, one coming in the first half.

"Arizona is pretty down right now because he felt like he let the team down," Jefferson said. "It was a whole team effort. It wasn't just Arizona not scoring."

The scoring came from the nation's leading scorer, VMI's Reggie Williams, who finished a point off his average with 28, to go with eight rebounds, five assists, and a blocked shot.

Oddly, Williams didn't get much support in the conference player of the year race, although he was the first Keydet to be voted to the first team.

"Honestly, I was pretty upset by" the player of the year voting, said Williams, who played all 40 minutes. "I told my teammates and my coaches, if we get another chance to play High Point, good things would happen."

Good as he was, Williams wasn't the only one making good things happen, by a long shot.

Travis Holmes had 18 points and 10 rebounds, battling taller players inside and drifting outside for three of VMI's 12 bombs. He played 37 minutes. Matt Murrer played 35 minutes, scored 11 points, snagged six rebounds and blocked four shots -- as many as High Point had as a team.

Chavis Holmes was in foul trouble but scored 12 points and had three steals in 13 minutes. Then there was senior Fred Robinson, who came off the bench to stun the Panthers with four first-half treys and a couple of clutch foul shots to finish with 16 points.

Once again led by Williams (7 of 8), VMI canned 15 of 19 foul shots, outscoring High Point by 11.

"The game was won and lost on their offensive and our defensive end, I think," Lundy said. "They're very talented offensively."

HIGH POINT (22-10)

Minnis 2-5 0-0 4, Reid 5-14 3-4 13, Jefferson 6-17 0-0 17, Harris 8-15 0-0 23, Quick 3-6 0-1 6, Crowder 1-3 0-0 2, Burns 1-4 0-0 2, Bowen 5-9 1-2 14, Daniels 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-73 4-7 81.

VMI (14-18)

Murrer 5-11 0-1 11, Williams 9-18 7-8 28, Lonon 1-3 2-2 4, C.Holmes 4-6 3-4 12, T.Holmes 7-16 1-2 18, Bell 1-3 0-0 2, Robinson 5-9 2-2 16, Castleberry 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-66 15-19 91.

Halftime--Virginia Military 48-43. 3-Point Goals--High Point 15-39 (Harris 7-14, Jefferson 5-14, Bowen 3-6, Burns 0-2, Reid 0-3), VMI 12-30 (Robinson 4-8, T.Holmes 3-6, Williams 3-7, C.Holmes 1-3, Murrer 1-5, Bell 0-1). Fouled Out--Minnis. Rebounds--High Point 37 (Minnis 10), VMI 43 (T.Holmes 10). Assists--High Point 21 (Quick 9), VMI 12 (Williams 5). Total Fouls--High Point 19, VMI 13. A--NA.