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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team will play at home for the first time this season Monday at 7 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs welcome the Auburn-Montgomery Warhawks to the Pete Hanna Center for an early-season, non-conference matchup.
 
Samford (0-1) heads into the game looking to rebound from an 86-45 road loss at Louisville on Friday. The Cardinals featured five players 6-foot-10 or taller, including a pair of 7-footers, and their height and length forced the Bulldogs to shoot just 21 percent from the field and 15.8 percent from beyond the arc.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT
At Louisville, Samford 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 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.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Auburn-Montgomery (4-0) owns an unblemished record at the NAIA level this season, but has suffered a pair of exhibition losses against Division I foes Troy, 97-70, and South Alabama, 88-68. The Warhawks boast an up-tempo style of play and are averaging 91.2 points per game this season.
 
AUM is being led offensively this season by junior forward Phillip Rankin, who is averaging 21 points per game. Rankin, a native of Mobile, is the tallest player on the Warhawk's roster at 6-foot-8 and is also averaging a team-high 13.8 rebounds per contest.
 
Julius McCoy, Auburn-Montgomery's junior transfer from MCC Penn Valley Community College in Kansas, hasn't started a game yet this season, but is ranked second on the team in scoring at 16 points per outing. AUM is also tallying 45.2 rebounds per game in 2015-16.
 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The Bulldogs face Auburn-Montgomery for just the second time in school history Monday as the teams will meet in Samford's Pete Hanna Center for a consecutive year. Last season, in the first all-time meeting between the teams, the Bulldogs rolled to a 94-60 victory held Dec. 30, 2014. Samford's Marcus Johnson scored 15 points in the win.
 
IN THE LAST MEETING
In its highest scoring output of the 2014-15 season, Samford earned a 94-60 home triumph against the Auburn-Montgomery Warhawks on Dec. 30.
 
Despite falling behind 6-0 out of the gate, Samford quickly rebounded and tied the score at 6-6 with 16:32 left in the first half. Midway through the opening period, the Bulldogs exploded for a 16-0 run and extended their decisive advantage to 37-18 with 3:30 remaining until the intermission.
 
During Samford's dominant first-half run, the Bulldogs' catalysts proved to be guards Brandon Roberts and Marcus Johnson. Roberts scored seven points during the flurry, while Johnson drained a deep 3-point basket and added a fast-break layup for five points.
 
Johnson, the Bulldogs' talented junior transfer from Washington, D.C., finished the contest with a career-high 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field. He also went a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.
 
Auburn-Montgomery was limited to 38.6 percent shooting from the field and became the Bulldogs' third straight opponent to fail to reach the 40-percent mark.
 
Samford outscored the Warhawks, 38-18, in the paint and out-rebounded Auburn-Montgomery, 39-26. Additionally, the Bulldogs bested the Warhawks in bench scoring, 61-20, and fast-break points, 26-13.
 
WHAT'S TRENDING . . .
• Samford's Cunningham led all scorers at Louisville on Friday with 15 points.
• Freshman Rose tallied 10 points and five rebounds in his college debut versus the Cardinals.
• Senior Darius Jones-Gibson was named a member of the All-SoCon Preseason Team.
• As a team, Samford was preseason picked to finish seventh in the SoCon standings.
• The last time the Bulldogs scored in triple figures was a 105-75 win at Troy on Jan. 2, 1999.
 
CUNNINGHAM THRIVING AT THE POINT
Last season, Samford's Cunningham handed out a freshman-record 125 assists and finished the campaign as the team's third leading scorer with 10.3 points per game. Cunningham, who started all 32 games in 2014-15, also averaged 3.9 assists per contest and grabbed 77 rebounds.
 
HOME SWEET HOME - 'DOGS SHOOT BETTER AT HOME LAST YEAR
Last season, Samford shot the ball significantly better at home in the friendly confines of the Pete Hanna Center. The Bulldogs finished the year shooting 47.8 percent from the field at home in 2014-15, but only 40.6 percent from the floor when playing on the road. Additionally, Samford shot 2.2 percentage points better at home from 3-point range; 35.8 at home versus 33.6 on the road.
 
TRANSITIONING OFFENSE - SAMFORD TAKES IT TO HYPERDRIVE
Samford fans will continue to enjoy a much faster paced offense this season. With plenty of depth and a roster chalk-full of young talent, the Bulldogs are expected to get up and down the court in 2015-16 and create easy buckets in transition.
 
Last season, Head Coach Scott Padgett implemented his full-court fast-paced offensive attack and Samford averaged 69.2 points per game.
 
THE SAMFORD YOUTH MOVEMENT
Eight of the Bulldogs' 15 members of the 2015-16 roster are underclassmen. Samford boasts four true freshmen this season in Dakota Quinn, Rose, Tanner Tapp and Wyatt Walker, as well as talented redshirt freshman Gerald Smith.
 
Additionally, the Bulldogs' roster includes an impressive sophomore class comprised of forward Eric Adams, Cunningham and center Alex Peters. Only three of Samford's 15 players were born before April 25, 1995, and the average age of a member of the Bulldogs' basketball team is 19 years and three months old.
 
#FOE = FAMILY OVER EVERYTHING
Since taking over as head coach in 2014, Samford's Padgett has coined the phrase "FOE" as his biggest mantra of the Bulldogs' basketball program. FOE stands for Family Over Everything and has truly resonated with Samford's players ... old and new.
 
"I don't really invent a lot of things, but I've worked under a lot of great coaches and have been around a lot of great people," said Padgett. "My former teammate and boss, Steve Masiello, came up with the saying Team Over Everything, and I kind of liked it, but at Kentucky it was all about Family. So, I kind of combined those two concepts and now we have Family Over Everything (#FOE).
 
"I really believe that this team is a family and that goes with everybody's extended families, as well as the staff and everybody involved with Samford basketball."
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Monday's home-opening contest against Auburn-Montgomery, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 6 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs remain at home to face the Kennesaw State Owls in another key regional matchup to be held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
For quick score updates, breaking news and links to all of your favorite articles featuring the Bulldogs, please follow @SamfordHoopsFOE and @Samford_Sports on Twitter.

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