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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team will compete in its final non-conference outing of the 2015-16 regular season Tuesday as the Bulldogs welcome the Miles College Golden Bears to the Pete Hanna Center for a 7 p.m. (CST) matchup, which will also mark the final game of the 2015 calendar year for both squads.
 
Samford (8-4) enters the contest with a full head of steam after earning a decisive 69-58 road victory at Nebraska on Dec. 20. The win marked the Bulldogs' first all-time triumph over a Big Ten Conference opponent. Samford's Christen Cunningham (20), Darius Jones-Gibson (15) and Wyatt Walker (14) all scored in double figures in the win.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT
Cunningham led the Bulldogs with 20 points, six assists and four rebounds, while posting a perfect 8-of-8 mark from the free-throw line. He also drained a pair of key 3-pointer and logged a game-high 36 minutes of action.
 
Jones-Gibson added 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from floor and pulled down three rebounds. As a team, Samford only committed nine turnovers, while forcing Nebraska into 17. The Bulldogs finished the victory with 13 points-off-turnovers, as the Huskers scored eight.
 
Samford true freshmen Walker and Matt Rose both played huge roles in the triumph. Walker, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-9 center from Jacksonville, Florida, scored 14 points, grabbed three rebounds and added a trio of assists and a blocked shot in 27 minutes of playing time. He also finished a near-perfect 6-of-7 from the free-throw line.
 
Rose drained two of the biggest baskets of the game. Samford's freshman sharpshooter from Lexington, Kentucky, knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the final 2:31 of the game that secured the Bulldogs' victory. Rose finished with nine points, two steals and a rebound, while shooting 3-of-6 from 3-point range.
 
Samford shot a sizzling 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from 3-point range, while the Bulldogs' active 2-3 zone limited the Huskers to only 27.3 percent from beyond the arc. From the line, Samford finished 21-of-26 for 80.8 percent. Nebraska turned in a 50-percent tally at 10-of-20.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Miles College (5-6) heads into the contest with hopes of snapping a two-game slide. Since defeating Spring Hill College on Dec. 14, the Golden Bears have lost to both Eckerd College and Florida Southern College.
 
Miles College enters the game averaging 82.3 points per outing this season. The Golden Bears, under the tutelage of second-year head coach Leon Douglas, have already surpassed their win total from a year ago.
 
In 2014-15, Miles finished the campaign with a 3-24 overall record. This season, the Golden Bears own a perfect 3-0 record in league play and are shooting a stellar 48.2 percent from the field. Miles College boasts nine players averaging at least 9.0 points per game this season, but only Maiscei Grier, Joshua Johnson and Shaquille Cook have played in all 11 contests.
 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES RIVALRY
Tuesday's game marks Samford's first regular-season meeting with Miles College in school history. The Bulldogs and Golden Bears have faced off in exhibition play twice all-time; with both meetings occurring in the last four years. On Nov. 6, 2012, Samford posted an 87-59 home win before notching a 90-52 exhibition triumph on Nov. 5, 2013.
 
WHAT'S TRENDING . . .
• On Dec. 20, Samford posted a historical 69-58 victory at Nebraska. The win marked the Bulldogs' first all-time triumph against an opponent from the Big Ten Conference.
• Samford's Southern Conference opener at Mercer on Jan. 2 was recently picked up by FOX Sports Southeast and will be broadcast live on the cable channel at 1 p.m. (CST).
• In 2015-16, Samford will have four TV games and at least nine broadcast on ESPN3.
 
THE SAMFORD YOUTH MOVEMENT
Seven of the Bulldogs' 14 members of the 2015-16 roster are underclassmen. Samford boasts four true freshmen this season in Dakota Quinn, Rose, Tanner Tapp and 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 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.
 
734-STRAIGHT AND STILL COUNTING
The Bulldogs have made at least one 3-point field goal in 734-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 952-straight games dating back to the 1986-87 season. Kentucky (947) and Vanderbilt (941) 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.
 
JONES-GIBSON NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-SOCON TEAM
Samford's Jones-Gibson was honored by the SoCon on Oct. 22, as he was one of 10 players named to the 2015 Preseason All-Conference Team, it was announced by the league office.
 
Jones-Gibson, Samford's leading scorer from a year ago, averaged 12.2 points per game last season and earned Third-Team All-SoCon honors. He started all 32 games for the Bulldogs in 2014-15 and averaged 26.8 minutes per game. Jones-Gibson also turned in a 48.5-percent shooting mark from the field last season and averaged 14.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per contest in SoCon play.
 
In his best outing of the 2014-15 campaign, Jones-Gibson scored a career-high 24 points against Chattanooga on Jan. 15, where he finished 9-of-13 from the field and added five rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists. Jones-Gibson also tallied 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals in an 89-78 victory against UNCG on Jan. 22.
 
"TALLADEGA" - THE SPEED OF SAMFORD BASKETBALL
Prior to the beginning of his first season in 2014-15, Samford head coach Scott 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?
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 1 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs begin play in their highly-anticipated 2016 SoCon schedule on the road in Macon, Georgia, against the Mercer Bears. The game will be held at Hawkins Arena and was recently chosen to be broadcast live on FOX Sports Southeast.
 
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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