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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team will play its final home game of November on Saturday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs welcome the Kennesaw State Owls to the Pete Hanna Center for a pivotal early-season contest.
 
Samford (1-1) heads into the matchup with a bit of momentum after earning a 94-79 home victory against Auburn-Montgomery on Monday. In the Bulldogs' win, Darius Jones-Gibson scored a career-high 31 points, while Christen Cunningham (18), Matt Rose (12) and Eric Adams (10) also reached double figures in scoring.
 

Samford outscored the Warhawks, 64-34, in the paint and 21-14 in second-chance points.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Kennesaw State (0-3) enters Saturday's game having faced one of the toughest schedules in the nation this year with road losses at Alabama, 77-64, LSU, 91-69, and Arizona State, 91-53. Against the Sun Devils on Wednesday, the Owls trailed by 11 points at the half, 35-24, but were then outscored 56-29 in the final 20 minutes of action.
 
Kennesaw State boasts three players averaging double-digit scoring this season. The Owls are currently being led by Yonel Brown's 18.7 points per game, while Kendrick Ray follows with an average of 16.3 points per contest.
 
Brown, Kennesaw State's senior guard from Lawrenceville, Georgia, is averaging 37 minutes per game this season and owns a sizzling 90.9 free-throw percentage. Ray, a 6-foot-1 junior transfer from Quinnipiac University, is ranked second on the team with 32.3 minutes per outing. Senior forward Nigel Pruitt is averaging 11.7 points and 5.3 rebounds.
 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The Bulldogs will face Kennesaw State for just the second time in school history Saturday as the teams meet in Samford's Pete Hanna Center for an inaugural time. Last season, in the first all-time meeting between the teams, the Bulldogs played at Kennesaw State on Nov. 26, and dropped an 84-71 decision held at the KSU Convocation Center.
 
LAST YEAR'S MEETING
Samford was outshot 60.0 percent to 33.3 percent last season on the road against Kennesaw State as the Bulldogs only led for a total of six seconds in the 84-71 non-conference loss.
 
Despite falling behind early, Samford battled back throughout the first half and eventually took the lead, 26-25, following a pair of free throws from sophomore guard Brandon Roberts. Roberts finished the game with 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field in 17 minutes of playing time.
 
Just six seconds after the Bulldogs garnered their lone advantage of the day, Kennesaw State's Nick Masterson answered with a 3-point basket regain the lead at 28-26 with 4:18 remaining in the opening half.
 
The Owls took a 35-30 advantage into the locker room and turned in a 51.9 percent shooting performance from the field.
 
Kennesaw State shot the ball even better in the second half and opened the final period with a 15-2 run. The Owls recorded a brilliant 69.6 shooting percentage in the second half and extended their lead to 54-34 with 11:13 remaining in the game.
 
Down the stretch, Samford cut Kennesaw State's lead to 67-56 at the 4:30 mark, but then the Owls were able to hold off the Bulldogs' late charge and earn an 84-71 victory in their home opener.
 
WHAT'S TRENDING . . .
• Saturday's coaching matchup features two former NBA players. Samford's Scott Padgett played in the NBA for eight seasons (1999-2007), while Kennesaw State's Al Skinner spent seven seasons (1974-80) in the league.
• Samford's Jones-Gibson was named a member of the All-Southern Conference Preseason Team.
• As a team, the Bulldogs were preseason picked to finish seventh in the SoCon standings.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT
Samford's Jones-Gibson scored a career-high 31 points and pulled down a personal-best 10 rebounds Monday as the Bulldogs earned a decisive 94-79 home-opening victory against the Auburn-Montgomery Warhawks in front of 1,273 red-and-blue clad fans at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Jones-Gibson's 31 points surpassed his previous career-high of 24, which he achieved at home against Chattanooga on Jan. 15. He career-high rebound total Monday proved to be three better than his previous best of seven at Louisiana Tech on Nov. 28.
 
Samford shot 50 percent from the field as a team, while Jones-Gibson turned in a stellar 12-of-18 outing from the floor. The Bulldogs knocked down a total of 36 field goals against Auburn-Montgomery, but only three came from beyond the arc. Samford finished 3-of-15 from 3-point range.
 
Wyatt Walker, the Bulldogs' highly-touted true freshman from Jacksonville, Florida, accumulated eight points and six rebounds in 13 minutes of game action. Senior Jamal Shabazz tallied six points, four rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot Monday, while Iman Johnson added four points, four rebounds and three assists.
 

BULLDOGS' "DJG" MAKING WAVES IN THE SOCON
Samford's Jones-Gibson, the Bulldogs' explosive senior guard from Lexington, Kentucky, was voted to the third team by the SoCon Sports Media Association last year.
 
Jones-Gibson, in just his first season at Samford, finished the 2014-15 campaign as the Bulldogs' leading scorer with an average of 12.2 points per game. He also tallied 3.1 rebounds per game and handed out 69 assists. In 18 matchups against SoCon opponents, Jones-Gibson averaged 14.4 points per game and shot a sizzling 42.9 percent from 3-point range.
 
724-STRAIGHT AND STILL COUNTING
The Bulldogs have made at least one 3-point field goal in 724-consecutive games. The last time that Samford did not make a 3-point basket was on Jan. 19, 1991, against UTSA.
 
The Bulldogs' streak of having made at least two 3-pointers in a game was snapped on Dec. 13, 2008, against Saint Louis when Samford turned in a dismal 1-for-14 performance from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs' streak of 476-straight games with two 3-pointers began Feb. 8, 1992.
 
UNLV is the national leader in consecutive games with a 3-point field goal as the Running Rebels have made a 3-point basket in 944-straight games dating back to the 1986-87 season. Kentucky (942) and Vanderbilt (935) are the only other two schools that have made at least one 3-point basket since the rule was adopted prior to the 1986 campaign.
 
PADGETT NAMED FINALIST FOR JOE B. HALL AWARD
Following his inaugural season at the helm of the Samford basketball program, Padgett was named a finalist for the Joe B. Hall award, which is presented annually to the top first-year coach in college basketball. The award is named in the honor of Joe B. Hall who was given the task of following the legendary Adolph Rupp.
 
In his first season at the University of Kentucky, Hall finished 20-8, won the Southeastern Conference and advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals. From 1972 to 1985, Hall would win two-thirds of his games (297-100), receive four SEC Coach of the Year honors and win a National Championship (1978).
 
Padgett, in first season as head coach at Samford, compiled 13 wins and six SoCon victories with the Bulldogs. With a roster comprised of just three seniors and a trio of juniors, Padgett guided his young Bulldogs to early success in his inaugural season heading the program.
 
"TALLADEGA" - THE SPEED OF SAMFORD BASKETBALL
Prior to the beginning of his first season in 2014-15, Samford's Padgett wanted to associate with something local that would represent both the state of Alabama, as well as his new exciting brand of fast-paced, full-court basketball. That's when the Bulldogs' marketing department set him up with a photo shoot at the Talladega Superspeedway.
 
"My dad's a big NASCAR fan and so in growing up around him I really got into it as well," said Padgett. "I wanted to do something that definitely related to us as a team, but also something that was very much the state of Alabama. I don't know how much Samford basketball has recruited Alabama in years past, but I do know that we are going to hit this state hard in recruiting.
 
"I also like being associated with Talladega. Obviously, speed is what racing is all about and that's the way we're going to play. We're going to play fast and I thought the two fit hand in hand. I thought it was a perfect match."
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Saturday's home test against Kennesaw State, the Samford University basketball team will begin a seven-game road stretch Monday at 5 p.m. (CDT) as they face the Troy Trojans in the opening contest of the 2015 Mean Green Showcase to be held at The Super Pit on the campus of University of North Texas.
 
Next week, Samford will also face North Texas on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., and Idaho on Wednesday at 2 p.m. The Bulldogs are slated to close out the week's road trip at Austin Peay on Saturday at 7 p.m., in Clarksville, Tennessee.
 
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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