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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team will begin a key stretch in its 2015-16 Southern Conference schedule Thursday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs play host to the first-place ETSU Buccaneers in a home league contest to be held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Samford (10-7, 1-3 SoCon) will play six of its next eight games at home and aspires to use this upcoming three-week stretch as a catalyst to climb in the conference standings. The Bulldogs head into Thursday's contest with a perfect 1-0 SoCon record at home this season, but have recently dropped a trio of tough road decisions at Mercer, Wofford and Furman.
 
$5 TICKETS
General admission tickets for all fans ages 13 and up for Thursday's game versus ETSU are just $5. To get your tickets, please call 205-726–DOGS. Don't forget, kids 12 and under receive FREE general admission with a paid adult courtesy of Alabama Power.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
ETSU (10-6, 3-0 SoCon) enters the meeting riding the positive momentum of a league-best, five-game winning streak. Since falling at Tennessee on Dec. 22, the Buccaneers have rattled off consecutive victories against Morehead State, Western Carolina, N.C. Central, UNCG and VMI.
 
ETSU is currently ranked second in the SoCon in points per game (78.7), field-goal percentage (46.1) and 3-point field-goal percentage (37.5).
 
The Buccaneers are also ranked third in the league in 3-point field-goal percentage defense (32.4) and boast the reigning SoCon Player of the Week in junior guard T.J. Cromer. Cromer is averaging 15.8 points per game this season, while senior guard Ge'Lawn Guyn paces the team with 16.9 points per outing.
 
ETSU owns a 7-1 record at home this season, but stands at 3-5 when playing on the road.
 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
Last season, in ETSU's inaugural campaign as a member of the SoCon, Samford split its home-and-home meetings with the Buccaneers. ETSU opened the hard-fought series with a 76-74 victory in Birmingham, while the Bulldogs bounced back with a thrilling 71-68 win in Johnson City, Tenn. All-time, the Buccaneers hold a 4-1 lead in the series.
 
WHAT'S TRENDING . . .
• Samford's senior guard Darius Jones-Gibson is ranked No. 18 in the nation in both free throws made (93) and free-throw attempts (122).
• Samford owns a 4-1 record at home this year and has won two straight games in the Pete Hanna Center.
• The Bulldogs' Jones-Gibson is averaging 21.4 points per game at home this season.
• Samford freshman Wyatt Walker has started at center in 13-straight games in 2015-16.
• The Bulldogs suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season as they dropped consecutive road games at Wofford and Furman. Prior to its 77-57 setback at Furman on Monday, Samford held a perfect 5-0 record in games following a loss.
• On Monday at Furman, the Bulldogs finished 1-of-10 from beyond the arc. With Marcus Johnson's first-half 3-pointer, Samford barely extended its consecutive 3-point field goal streak to 739 games, dating all the way back to Jan. 19, 1991.
• Against Furman on Monday, the Bulldogs failed to have a player reach double figures in scoring for the first time this season.
 
#PLAYFAST - - SAMFORD LOOKS TO PUSH THE SPEED LIMIT
One of Head Coach Scott Padgett's top themes this season is #PlayFast. Samford's second-year skipper looks to have his team press full-court for 40 minutes and then push the ball up the court on the offensive attack.
 
"The thing that's going to get us playing fast offensively is going to be our defense," said Padgett. "We're going to be a defensive team. There are going to be a lot of times when we score a lot of points, but those points are going to be directly related to playing great defense and getting the rebound. Once we get a defensive rebound, we will be pushing to get a layup every time down the court, or at least a wide-open shot.
 
"We're going to be in attack-mode all game long. We teach our guys that we want to dictate what the offense does when we're on defense, and we also want to dictate what their defense does when we are on the offensive side of the ball. There will be times when teams try to slow us down, but we're going to keep the game going 90 miles per hour all the time."
 
BULLDOGS PICKED SEVENTH IN SOCON PRESEASON RANKING
Samford was predicted to finish seventh in the SoCon's preseason rankings on Oct. 22, according to a vote by the league's 10 head coaches. The Bulldogs concluded the 2014-15 campaign in ninth place in the conference's final standings with a 13-19 overall record and a 6-12 mark in SoCon play.
 
Samford's players have been using the preseason ranking as motivation throughout the 2015-16 campaign: "It provided us with some motivation, because I think they ranked us lower that we should have been," said Jones-Gibson. "We really want to prove everybody wrong, especially all of the seniors because this is our last go-round."
 
The Bulldogs' senior forward Iman Johnson also noted that the team's preseason ranking would serve as motivation this season: "From my experience, and by being at a couple different schools, I know that preseason rankings don't really matter. It's just something that you hear and then you react to it. So it's definitely been motivation for us and we're determined to win the league.
 
"We have a lot of talented freshmen and new guys here this season and a second-year coach in Coach Padgett, so we're going to be ready."
 
THE "PETE" - - SAMFORD CALLS THE PETE HANNA CENTER HOME
Nov. 15, 2007, marked the dawning of a new era for Samford as the Bulldogs began play in their pristine 32-million-dollar Pete Hanna Center. The state-of-the-art 5,000-seat arena was completed in October of 2007 and features new locker rooms, a training room, a weight room and coaches offices.          
 
The Pete Hanna Center, which replaced Samford's historic 45-year-old Seibert Hall, also houses the University's recreation center and workout facility. In their Pete Hanna Center debut, the Bulldogs dropped a hard-fought 82-73 decision against perennial NCAA Tournament participant Belmont.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT - - SAMFORD SUFFERS 77-57 ROAD LOSS AT FURMAN
Samford failed to have a player reach double figures in scoring for the first time this season Monday as the Bulldogs dropped a 77-57 road decision against the Furman Paladins in a SoCon contest held at Timmons Arena.
 
With the loss, Samford concluded its two-game South Carolina road trip with an 0-2 record. On Saturday, the Bulldogs suffered a heart-wrenching 69-64 setback at Wofford. Samford dropped to 4-6 when playing on the road this season.
 
Furman ended its two-game homestand with a momentous 2-0 record. On Saturday, the Paladins snapped Chattanooga's eight-game winning streak by dropping the Mocs, 70-55. Furman has been impressive when playing at home this season and improved to 7-1 in Timmons Arena.
 
Samford jumped out to an early 4-1 lead Monday against Furman, but then the Paladins used a 10-0 run to garner the momentum of the game and took an eventual 23-point lead at the half, 45-22. The Bulldogs only shot 30.4 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play, while Furman turned in a 14-for-28 performance from the floor.
 
In the second half of action, Samford trimmed the Paladins' lead to 17 points at 50-33, but then Furman answered with an 8-0 run of its own and later took its largest advantage of the game, 68-40, with 9:29 left to play. The Bulldogs would get no closer than 18 points for the remainder of the evening.
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Thursday's home showdown against first-place ETSU, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs conclude their two-game weekend homestand against the Western Carolina Catamounts in 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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