Box Score
Samford Stats

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Samford University basketball team dropped its season-opening matchup at the Louisville Cardinals on Friday as the Bulldogs only shot 21 percent from the field and 16 percent from 3-point range in an 86-45 decision held at the KFC Yum! Center.
 
"We knew that with their athleticism, their length and their size that we couldn't really play the way that we like to play," said Samford head coach Scott Padgett. "We're a team that really likes to get up and down in transition, but we knew that if we tried to do that, it would end up the way it did tonight."
 
Samford (0-1) was paced offensively by sophomore point guard Christen Cunningham, who scored a game-high 15 points and also led the Bulldogs with six rebounds in 33 minutes of playing time. Cunningham, Samford's Southern Conference All-Freshman Team member last season, finished a perfect 9-of-9 from the free-throw line.
 
True freshman Matt Rose notched a double-figure scoring performance in his first collegiate outing as he tallied 10 points and four rebounds, while shooting 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
 
As a team, Samford finished 13-of-62 from the field and 3-of-19 from 3-point range. Rose knocked down two of the Bulldogs' 3-pointers in the game, while senior guard Marcus Johnson added the third.
 
Louisville (1-0) finished with four players scoring in double figures and turned in a 53.6-percent shooting outing from the field. The Cardinals' Mitchell Donovan and Damion Lee both registered 14 points Friday, while Quentin Snider and Chinanu Onuaku added 12 and 11, respectively.
 
From 3-point range, Louisville tallied a 46.7-percent outing, finishing 7-of-15 from beyond the arc.
 
"Somewhere along the line, our shots weren't falling and it seemed like they were hitting every shot," Padgett said. "I think that was a bit disheartening for our team and it definitely took us out of our game plan. We started doing our own thing and it became a lot of 'me basketball' versus 'we basketball' and that wasn't good, because our 6-foot-1 guards were going up against their 7-foot-tall bigs."
 
Samford led Louisville, 4-3, nearly four minutes into the game and were only trailing 23-17 with 8:35 left in the opening half. The Bulldogs' offense started the game by maintaining the ball and frustrating the Cardinals' trapping, full-court pressure defense. Halfway through the first half, Samford had only committed five turnovers and forced six from Louisville.
 
"We thought we were going to keep them in a game," Padgett said. "We started off with our 2-2-1 press and went back to our zone defense and it was basically our press just to slow them up a little bit. We wanted to make them take a shot late in the clock, rebound the ball and for the first 10 minutes or so, I thought we did a good job of that."
 
Louisville closed out the first half on a 25-10 run.
 
The Cardinals' offensive success continued in the second half as they turned in a 55.2-percent mark from the field. Louisville outscored Samford, 38-18, in the second half.
 
"This was going to be a tough game no matter what, but not sticking to the game plan wasn't going to keep us in it," said Padgett. "Initially, our plan was to be in the game with about 10 minutes remaining and then we were hoping they would start feeling the pressure. Obviously, Louisville is a very talented team and they are going to be extremely tough to play in February."
 
Rounding out the Bulldogs' scoring Friday were Marcus Johnson (6), Jamal Shabazz (4), Dakota Quinn (4), Wyatt Walker (2), Eric Adams (2) and Darius Jones-Gibson (2).
 
"This was a great atmosphere for our team to play in," Padgett said. "I think this is the best arena in all of basketball and that includes the NBA arenas as well. If we go to the NCAA Tournament this year, we're going to face a team a lot like Louisville, so we'll have been through this situation already and it's the experience that we'll have gained from tonight."
 
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Monday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs welcome the Auburn-Montgomery Warhawks to the Pete Hanna Center for a home-opening, in-state contest.

Box Score
Samford Stats