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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The Samford University basketball team will play its seventh-consecutive game on the road Saturday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs travel to face the Florida A&M Rattlers in a key non-conference contest to be held at the Alfred Lawson, Jr. Multipurpose Center.
 
Samford (6-3) heads into the matchup holding a 2-3 record on the road this season, while two of the Bulldogs' three losses occurred at Louisville on Nov. 13 and at Texas on Dec. 4. In its 59-49 defeat against Texas, Samford charged back late in the game, but came up short in their second all-time contest versus the Longhorns.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Florida A&M (3-6) enters the matchup with aspirations of snapping a two-game losing streak. Since defeating Alcorn State on Nov. 28, the Rattlers have dropped consecutive games against Kennesaw State, 61-41, on Dec. 2 and South Carolina State, 79-67, on Dec. 5.

Florida A&M is ranked No. 46 in the nation in total steals with 67. The Rattlers are averaging 7.4 steals per game this season and are also ranked No. 62 in the country with 15.6 turnovers forced per contest.
 
Florida A&M's Malcolm Bernard is ranked second in the nation in triple doubles with one, while he is also ranked fifth in total steals (25) and 11th in the country in steals per game (2.78). Bernard, a 6-foot-6 junior from Middleburg, Florida, leads the Rattlers in scoring this season with an average of 13 points per game. He also boasts an average of 6.3 rebounds per outing.             
 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The Bulldogs own a perfect 2-0 all-time record against Florida A&M, but haven't faced the Rattlers in well over 30 years, dating all the way back to Feb. 11, 1985. Both of Samford's games against Florida A&M occurred in 1985 as the Bulldogs won 77-74 on the road Jan. 14, before notching a 78-56 triumph at home in Seibert Hall on Feb. 11.
 
WHAT'S TRENDING . . .
• In games at Louisville and Texas this year, Samford sophomore Christen Cunningham proved to be the leading scorer in each contest with 15 and 16 points, respectively.
• Samford true freshman Wyatt Walker has led the Bulldogs in rebounding five times this season and is averaging a team-high 6.7 boards per outing.
• Samford is ranked No. 18 in the nation with 167 free throws made this year (18.6 per game).
 

SAMFORD'S WALKER RETURNS HOME TO FLORIDA
The Bulldogs' Walker will be returning to his home state of Florida this weekend as the true freshman native of Jacksonville, Florida, travels with the team to Tallahassee to face the Florida A&M Rattlers.
 
Walker, Samford's talented 6-foot-9 center, prepped at Providence School and helped lead the Stallions to the 2015 Florida High School Athletic Association State championship as a senior.
 
He was also named the Jacksonville.com Player of the Year. Already this season at Samford, Walker has started in seven of the team's nine games and is averaging 7.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest.
 
THE FOUR HORSEMEN
Samford's top three active leaders in the statistical categories of points, rebounds, assists, steals and 3-point field goals are all a combination of the following four players:  Darius Jones-Gibson, Cunningham, Marcus Johnson and Jamal Shabazz.
 
Here in the early portion of the 2015-16 campaign, Jones-Gibson is ranked first in points (535), rebounds (124) and steals (49). The Bulldogs' senior guard is also listed second in active career assists with 90. Cunningham paces Samford in assists with 156 and is also ranked second on the team in points (458), steals (47) and 3-pointers (16), while being listed third in rebounds (109).
 
Johnson, the Bulldogs' senior guard from Washington, D.C., is ranked third on the team in points (255), assists (75) and steals (29), while Shabazz is tabbed second in both rebounds (115) and 3-point field goals (22).
 

731-STRAIGHT AND STILL COUNTING
The Bulldogs have made at least one 3-point field goal in 731-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 949-straight games dating back to the 1986-87 season. Kentucky (946) and Vanderbilt (940) 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, Head Coach Scott 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 Southern Conference 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.         
 
THE LAST TIME OUT - - SAMFORD PLAYED TOUGH AT TEXAS
Samford battled its heart out Dec. 4 on the road against the Texas Longhorns in a tough environment as the Bulldogs came back from an 18-point second-half deficit to fight within striking distance in a hard-fought 59-49 loss held in the Frank Erwin Center.
 
Samford trailed Texas, 40-22, at the 14:40 mark in the second half and seemed to be doomed to a difficult road loss, but the Bulldogs never lost heart and used a quick 7-0 run to stop the bleeding to make the score 40-29.
 
During Samford's run, Cunningham scored on a driving layup and then Jones-Gibson followed with a pair of free throws. True freshman forward Matt Rose capped off the Bulldogs' run with a key 3-point basket from the left corner.
 
Cunningham finished the game with 14 points, four rebounds and a trio of assists, while Jones-Gibson added seven points and two boards despite only playing 29 minutes. Jones-Gibson battled foul trouble throughout the night and never seemed to be able to get into a rhythm offensively.
 
Samford's Rose finished with three points, four rebounds and a steal, but it was Walker who turned in a career-high 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. He also grabbed a team-high five rebounds and had to battle Texas' massive big guys Cameron Ridley, Prince Ibeh and Shaquille Cleare throughout the night.
 
In the final minutes, Samford's Shabazz threw down an electric one-handed, fast-break dunk in front of 80 family members and friends from his nearby hometown of Pflugerville. Cunningham scored on a layup at the buzzer to make the final score of the game, 59-49.
 

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.
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Saturday's game at Florida A&M on Saturday, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Friday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs play host to the South Alabama Jaguars for the first time Jan. 31, 1976. The contest will be held at Samford's Pete Hanna Center.
 
Friday's game will also be a "$1 High School Night". All high school students can show their school I.D. and get in for just $1. Also, starting at 6:30 p.m., the first 100 fans in attendance will receive a free Samford Athletics Tacky Christmas t-shirt. Pick yours up on the concourse on top of Section Q.
 
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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