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LINCOLN, Neb. -- The Samford University basketball team will play its eighth game away from home in nine outings Sunday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs meet the Nebraska Cornhuskers for the first time in school history in a key non-conference contest to be held at the sparkling-new Pinnacle Bank Arena.
 
The matchup will be aired nationally on the Big Ten Network with Steve Physioc and Shon Morris on the call. It will also be available online at BTN.com and on BTN2Go.
 
Samford (7-4) heads into the matchup looking to wipe the bad taste out of its mouth following a 72-70 home double-overtime loss to South Alabama on Friday. The defeat proved to be Samford's first home non-conference loss under Head Coach Scott Padgett. The Bulldogs led, 52-44, with 7:18 left in the game and shot 51.9 percent from the free-throw line.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Nebraska (7-4) enters the contest with a full head of steam after rallying pass Rhode Island on Dec. 13. The Huskers have taken the last week off from action for final exams.
 
Nebraska, under the direction of fourth-year head coach Tim Miles, boasts a near-perfect 6-1 record at home this season. The Huskers' lone home loss of the year occurred Dec. 1, in a hard-fought 77-72 overtime defeat against Miami. Nebraska is outscoring its opponents by an average of 7.8 points per game this season and is limiting the opposition to 66.6 points per outing.
 
The Huskers' leading scorers in 2015-16 are Andrew White III (16.9 ppg) and Shavon Shields (15.3 ppg). White III has already knocked down 27 attempts from beyond the arc this season and is shooting 42.2 percent from 3-point range.
 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The Bulldogs will meet Nebraska for the first time in school history Sunday. The game also marks Samford's second all-time meeting with a team from Nebraska. On Dec. 22, 2010, the Bulldogs dropped a 58-40 decision at Creighton. Samford is 0-7 all-time against current members of the Big Ten:  Indiana (0-1), Maryland (0-1), Ohio State (0-2), Purdue (0-2) and Wisconsin (0-1).
 
WHAT'S TRENDING . . .
• Samford owns a perfect 3-0 record when following a loss this year (Auburn-Montgomery, Jacksonville State and Florida A&M).
• Sunday's game marks the Bulldogs' eighth contest away from home in its last nine outings.
• Since Nov. 22, Samford has spent 17 out of 30 days on the road and owns a 5-3 record.
• On Friday, the Bulldogs shot 3-pointers like they hadn't played at home in 28 days (25 percent).
• Samford true freshman Matt Rose has posted back-to-back scoring career-highs of 17 points against Florida A&M and South Alabama.
 
SAMFORD'S ROSE NAMED SOCON PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Samford's Rose was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week Tuesday for his performance during all games played Dec. 8-14, the league office announced. Rose scored 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while adding a blocked shot in an 86-67 win at Florida A&M on Dec. 12.
 
Rose, the Bulldogs' highly-touted native of Lexington, Kentucky, scored his career-high 17 points in just 23 minutes, shooting 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Overall, he was 5-of-9 from the field and his seven rebounds were a game-high against the Rattlers. Rose is averaging 10.2 points per game this season.
 
REBOUNDING IS KEY FOR THE BULLDOGS
Samford currently boasts a plus-0.8 rebounding margin through 11 games this season. The last time that the Bulldogs finished a campaign with a positive rebounding margin was 16 years ago in 1999-2000 when they finished at plus-0.7. Also that season, Samford finished the year with a 21-11 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
 
733-STRAIGHT AND STILL COUNTING
The Bulldogs have made at least one 3-point field goal in 733-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 950-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.
 
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, point guard Christen Cunningham and center Alex Peters. Only two of Samford's 14 players were born before April 25, 1995, and the average age of a member of the Bulldogs' basketball team is 19 years old.
 
"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."
 
THE LAST TIME OUT - - MISCUES, FREE-THROW SHOOTING AIL 'DOGS IN 2OT LOSS TO USA
Samford committed 18 turnovers and turned in a sub-par 51.9-percent shooting mark (14-of-27) from the free-throw line Friday as the Bulldogs dropped a tough 72-70 double-overtime loss against the South Alabama Jaguars in front of 1,864 frenzied, Christmas Holiday fans at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Samford entered its first home game against South Alabama since Jan. 31, 1976, shooting 74 percent from the free-throw line.
 
With mere seconds remaining in regulation and the score deadlocked at 62-62, Samford's Marcus Johnson shot a possible game-winning 3-pointer from the right flank. Johnson's attempt missed the rim to the left side, but true freshman Walker was in perfect position to catch the shot and attempt the game-winning put-back.
 
Walker was fouled hard by the Jaguars' John Brown with :0.8 seconds remaining in the contest and went to the line to shoot a pair of free throws.
 
Walker, the Bulldogs' true freshman center from Jacksonville, Florida, stepped to the line for the possible game-winning free throw and missed the first attempt. South Alabama head coach Matthew Graves then called timeout to add some more pressure to the youngster.
 
On the second attempt, Walker's stroke looked smooth and confident, but the ball hit the front rim, rolled slowly around the left side of the cylinder and bounced unluckily off the backboard.
 
With the miss, Samford and South Alabama both moved to their first overtime of the 2015-16 campaign.
 
In the first overtime, it was the Jaguars that missed their possible game-winning shot at the buzzer. With the game knotted at 64-64, South Alabama's Tafari Whittingham attempted a deep 3-pointer at the horn. His shot came up short and Alex Peters grabbed the rebound to send the game into double overtime.
 
Friday's contest marked Samford's first double-overtime appearance since Feb. 28, 2013, when the Bulldogs lost a similarly heartbreaking contest at Appalachian State, 70-67.
 
In the final stanza of Friday's marathon 50-minute game, South Alabama built a five-point lead following a pair of free throws from Williams with 20 seconds left to play. At the moment, things didn't look good for the Bulldogs, but then Samford's Rose drained a deep, fall-way 3-pointer from the right wing to cut the Jaguars' lead to 72-70 with five seconds left.
 
Even better for the Bulldogs, Whittingham clanged both of his free throws with four seconds remaining and Rose grabbed the rebound. He quickly passed it out to Cunningham at the midcourt logo and Samford's sophomore point guard nicely evaded a pair of South Alabama defenders.
 
With the final seconds ticking off, Cunningham drifted towards the right flank, but wasn't able to get a shot off before the final buzzer sounded.
 
Samford's 72-70 double-overtime loss to South Alabama proved to be the team's first non-conference home defeat under Padgett, blemishing a previously perfect 7-0 record.
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Sunday's marquee road test at Nebraska, the Samford University basketball team will take the next eight days off from competitive action for the Christmas Holidays before returning home to face the Miles College Golden Bears on Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. (CST). The Bulldogs' game against Miles College will mark Samford's final game of 2015 and will 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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