Live Video            Live Audio
Live Stats             Game Notes

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team will compete in its final home game of the 2014-15 season Saturday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs welcome the Mercer Bears to the Pete Hanna Center for the first time in over three years.
 
The last time that Mercer (15-13, 10-5 Southern Conference) played in the Pete Hanna Center was Dec.7, 2011, when Samford (12-16, 5-10 SoCon) suffered a heart-breaking 83-78 non-conference defeat.

SENIOR NIGHT
Prior to Saturday's game, Samford will honor its 2015 senior class comprised of Michael Bradley, Brandon Hayman and Tyler Hood with a special Senior Night presentation.
 
The Bulldogs will thank their 2015 senior class for all of its hard work and dedication. This group has been one of the hardest-working trios in school history, and their efforts were not only displayed on the court, but off the court as well.
 
This year's senior class has played a key role in Samford's basketball program, and will be honored Saturday for all of its many contributions.
 
MICHAEL BRADLEY
A native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Bradley joined the Bulldogs as a junior last season and immediately provided to be an inside scoring threat and shot-blocking presence in the front- court.
 
During his first year at Samford, Bradley earned playing time in 28 of the team's 33 games and registered a huge outing against Western Carolina, where he scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a 93-86 victory. Already this season, Samford's center has started in 21 games and is leading the Bulldogs in rebounds, blocked shots and shooting percentage.
 
With 5.5 boards per game this season, Bradley is ranked 14th in the SoCon and has scored in double figures seven times as a senior. In the best game of his two-year Samford career, he scored 16 points and added 10 rebounds against Western Carolina on Jan. 24. An economics major, Bradley has already recorded a team-high three double-doubles this season.
 
BRANDON HAYMAN
A native of Braselton, Georgia, Hayman is a team captain and has filled a key leadership role for the Bulldogs this season. He has earned significant playing time in 26 games and provides an athletic spark off the bench.
 
Already in 2014-15, Hayman has helped guide Samford to its five-game SoCon winning streak, as well as pivotal, non-conference victories over both Campbell and UMKC. Against Campbell, he tallied eight points, three rebounds and two assists in a 65-56 home victory, while he turned in a solid six-point, seven-rebound performance against UMKC.
 
Additionally, throughout his four-year Samford tenure, Hayman registered career-highs of 14 points against Appalachian State and 10 rebounds versus Spring Hill. As a senior this season, he is shooting a stellar 51.1 percent from the field and has already grabbed 44 rebounds.
 
With plans of owning his own business in the near future, Hayman will be graduating from Samford with a degree in accounting.
 
TYLER HOOD
A native of Lenoir City, Tennessee, Hood is a team captain and will go down in Samford history as one of the top Bulldog scorers of all-time. Heading into Saturday's game, he has already accumulated 1,118 points in his career and is ranked 17th on the school's all-time scoring list.
 
A SoCon All-Freshman Team member in 2012, Hood is just one point out of 16th place on the Bulldogs' all-time list and has started in 97 games in his career. Earlier this season, he received one of the University's most coveted honors as he was selected to lead the 34th annual Hanging of the Green service held in Reid Chapel.
 
With an average of 10.8 points per game this season, Hood is ranked No. 22 in the SoCon and has scored in double figures 16 times. On Dec. 23, he was named the SoCon Player of the Week after scoring a season-high 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting from 3-point range at Presbyterian.
 
The best performance of his career occurred at Elon on Jan. 19, 2012, as Hood scored 25 points in an 86-80 road victory over the Phoenix. He will be graduating from Samford with a degree in exercise science and plans to be a physical therapist.
 
SETTING THE TABLE
The Bulldogs enter Saturday's SoCon showdown with aspirations of snapping a two-game losing slide. After rattling off a season-long, five-game winning streak against UNCG, Western Carolina (twice), Furman and ETSU, Samford has lost recent tough decisions to The Citadel, 66-65, and Chattanooga, 79-72.
               
THE LAST TIME OUT
Samford's Evan Taylor scored a career-high 21 points on Feb. 14 against Chattanooga and connected on a personal-best four 3-point field goals, but the Bulldogs dropped a hard-fought 79-72 decision in a physical SoCon contest held at The McKenzie Arena.
 
Taylor turned in his best performance as a Bulldog, but Samford was out-rebounded by Chattanooga, 40-30, in its fifth straight loss in The McKenzie Arena, dating back to Feb. 10, 2010, when the Bulldogs registered a 78-54 victory over the Mocs.
 
Taylor exploded for 21 points, a career-high seven rebounds and finished 4-of-6 from 3-point range. He also went 7-of-18 from the field in 33 minutes of playing time.
 
Samford forced Chattanooga into 10 turnovers in the first half as the teams entered the locker room tied at 32-32. In the second half of play, the Mocs only committed four miscues, two of which came in the waning seconds of action.
 
Chattanooga incrementally increased its lead over Samford early in the second period and eventually built a seven-point advantage, 47-40, at the 14:42 mark following a pair of free throws from Casey Jones.
 
The Bulldogs would bounce back with four straight points from Hood and a 3-pointer from Taylor to trim the Mocs' lead to 49-47.
 
With 10:35 to play in the game, Chattanooga put together its most damaging run as the Mocs scored seven straight points to build a 60-51 advantage with 8:45 left to play.
 
Chattanooga grabbed an 11-point lead at the 3:14 point in the contest as the Bulldogs were never able to get any closer than 79-72 with a Darius Jones-Gibson layup at the final horn.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Mercer is also coming off a road loss at Chattanooga. The Bears opened their two-game weekend road trip versus Chattanooga on Thursday and suffered a 74-61 defeat.
 
Mercer heads into Saturday's game as the third-place team in the conference. The Bears own a strong 10-2 record at home this season, but are 4-9 when playing in true road games.            
 
Mercer leads the SoCon in a trio of statistical categories this year, including fewest turnovers (300), rebound margin (1.9) and fewest turnovers per game (10.7). The Bears are also ranked 22nd in the nation in fewest turnovers per game.
 
Offensively, Mercer is being paced this season by junior guard Ike Nwamu, who is averaging 14.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in 2014-15.
 
The Bulldogs will square off against Mercer for a school-record 106th time on Saturday. The rivalry began EXACTLY 112 years ago on Feb. 21, 1903, as Samford cruised past the Bears, 34-11, at a site unknown. Mercer is the Bulldogs' most played opponent in school history and the Bears recently defeated Samford in Macon, Ga., 80-56, on Jan. 17.
 
IN THE LAST MEETING
In front of 3,672 orange-clad fans on Jan. 17, Samford could never get in sync on the road against Mercer as the Bulldogs dropped an 80-56 decision in a SoCon matchup held at Hawkins Arena.
 
Samford committed seven first-half turnovers in the game and trailed by as many as 16 points in the opening 20 minutes of action.
 
At the intermission, Mercer held a 40-26 advantage and received 17 first-half points from Nwamu. Nwamu, who finished with a game-high 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, scored 12 of the Bears' first 15 points as Mercer jumped out to an early 17-2 lead over the Bulldogs.
 
Late in the opening period, Samford used a driving layup from Jones-Gibson and a deep 3-point basket from Marcus Johnson to trim the Bears' advantage to 29-21 with 4:11 left until halftime.
 
The Bulldogs shot 44 percent from the field in the opening half and drained a trio of 3-point baskets. Mercer also turned in a 44-percent shooting mark in the opening period, but registered a 5-of-9 performance from 3-point range.
 
The Bears closed out the first half on an 11-5 run to take a 40-26 lead into halftime.
 
In the second period, Samford battled back to within 11 points at the 16:41 mark, 44-33, but then Mercer exploded to take a 64-40 advantage with 9:17 remaining in the SoCon contest.
 
WHAT'S TRENDING . . .
• Samford's Jones-Gibson has scored in double-figures in 19 of the Bulldogs' last 22 games.
• The Bulldogs' Bradley leads the team with three double-doubles this season and is averaging a team-high 5.5 rebounds per game.
• Samford freshman Taylor scored a career-high 21 points against Chattanooga on Feb. 14.
• Christen Cunningham has already set the school's freshman record with 116 assists.
• The Bulldogs' Hood needs just one point to move into 16th place on Samford's all-time scoring list.
 
CUNNINGHAM CHASING HISTORY
Samford's Cunningham has already handed out a freshman-record 116 assists this season and recently surpassed Isaiah Williams' record of 103, which was achieved last year.
 
The Bulldogs' all-time record for single-season assists is 151 and is held by Raijon Kelly who reached it during the 2012-13 campaign. At his current rate of 4.1 assists per game, Cunningham is on pace to reach 132 in 2014-15.
 
RED OUT TO HONOR GRIFFIN & AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION'S HEART MONTH
Saturday's meeting with Mercer will also be Samford's annual Red-Out Game to honor former player Jim Griffin. The Bulldogs will also wear red jerseys in conjunction with the American Heart Association's Heart Month, which continues throughout the month of February.
 
In September of 2009, fifth-year senior forward Griffin passed away in his sleep of a heart condition that had previously gone undetected.
 
Samford retired Griffin's No. 3 jersey and hosted its first "Red Out" game on Feb. 11, 2010, against Elon. The game was the second-highest attended contest in Samford men's basketball history and the team was able to collect over $2,200 to be donated to the American Heart Association.
 
NEXT UP
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs begin their final road trip of the 2014-15 regular season against the UNCG Spartans in a critical league contest to be held at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Live Video            Live Audio
Live Stats             Game Notes