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LEXINGTON, Va. -- The Samford University basketball team will begin play in its two-game weekend Southern Conference road trip Thursday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs face the VMI Keydets in a midseason league matchup to be held in Cameron Hall. The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and the action will be called by Wade Branner (play-by-play) and Grafton Young (color analyst).
 
Samford (11-8, 2-4 SoCon) enters the game with a feeling of cautious optimism after earning a dominant 84-68 home victory over Western Carolina on Saturday. The Bulldogs' strong league win snapped a three-game losing stretch versus Wofford, 69-64, Furman, 77-57, and ETSU, 81-77. Samford owns a 4-6 record on the road this season, but are 0-3 in away SoCon games.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
VMI (5-11, 0-5 SoCon) heads into the matchup with aspirations of ending a five-game losing streak. Since defeating Bridgewater College on Dec. 30, 72-37, the Keydets have lost consecutive games against Furman, 85-57, Wofford, 65-61, Western Carolina, 73-52, ETSU, 88-51, and UNCG, 85-68.
 
VMI enters Thursday's game ranked No. 46 in the nation in free-throw shooting percentage (73.3) and is being buoyed by junior QJ Peterson's red-hot 91.2-percent mark from the charity stripe.
 
Peterson, the Keydets' 2015-16 Preseason All-SoCon member, is ranked fifth in the nation in the category, and is also 69th in total field-goal attempts (242) and 78th in 3-point field-goal attempts (119). Peterson leads VMI in scoring at 17.4 points per contest this season, while junior guard Julian Eleby follows averaging 14.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
The Bulldogs will be facing VMI for just the fourth time in school history Thursday. The first meeting between the teams occurred Feb. 24, 1967, as Samford notched an 81-71 win in Lexington. Last season, the Bulldogs split their home-and-home series with the Keydets. Samford lost at home, 88-66, before downing VMI on the road, 80-69.
 

WHAT'S TRENDING . . .
• Samford freshman Wyatt Walker was named the SoCon Player of the Week Tuesday. He averaged 20.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game last week versus ETSU and Western Carolina.
• The Bulldogs' Christen Cunningham is ranked fourth in the SoCon in assists (75) and is on pace to becoming just the fifth player in school history to record back-to-back, 100-assist seasons.
• Samford freshman Matt Rose leads the SoCon in 3-point shooting percentage at 45.8.
• In Saturday's 84-68 victory against Western Carolina, true freshmen scored 44 of Samford's 84 points in just 58 minutes of total playing time. Walker led all scorers with 26 points, while Rose came off the bench to add 16. Additionally, Dakota Quinn logged seven minutes of playing time and chipped in with a key bucket for two points of his own.
• Last week, in home games against ETSU and Western Carolina, Samford shot a sizzling 53.0 percent from the floor and 38.7 percent from 3-point range. The Bulldogs also forced 19 turnovers per game and handed out 38 assists.
• Samford has made at least one 3-point field goal in 741-consecutive games. The last time that the Bulldogs did not make a 3-point basket was on Jan. 19, 1991, against UTSA.
 
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 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, point guard 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.
 
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 SoCon 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.
 
#FOE = FAMILY OVER EVERYTHING
Padgett has coined the phrase "FOE" as his biggest mantra of the Bulldogs' basketball program. FOE stands for Family Over Everything and has truly resonated with Samford's players ... old and new.
 
"I don't really invent a lot of things, but I've worked under a lot of great coaches and have been around a lot of great people," said Padgett. "My former teammate and boss, Steve Masiello, came up with the saying Team Over Everything, and I kind of liked it, but at Kentucky it was all about Family. So, I kind of combined those two concepts and now we have Family Over Everything (#FOE).
 
"I really believe that this team is a family and that goes with everybody's extended families, as well as the staff and everybody involved with Samford basketball."
 
SAMFORD'S WALKER NAMED SOCON PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Samford's Walker was named the SoCon Player of the Week Tuesday for his performance during all games played Jan. 12-18, the league office announced. Walker averaged 20.0 points and 9.5 rebounds and shot 75 percent from the field as Samford split a pair of game last week, falling to ETSU (81-77) before topping Western Carolina (84-68).
 
Walker started both games at center for Samford and finished the week with a 75-percent shooting mark from the field. He also grabbed two steals, blocked a shot and handed out an assist.         
 
Against Western Carolina on Saturday, Walker lifted the Bulldogs to a key 84-68 victory as he turned in the best game of his young, up-and-coming career by registering personal-bests in points (26), rebounds (12) and field goals (11).
 
HOME SWEET HOME - - BULLDOGS SHOOTING BETTER AT HOME THIS YEAR
At home in the Pete Hanna Center this season, Samford is shooting a sizzling 49.4 percent from the field. That total is 8.7 percent better than the Bulldogs' field-goal percentage on the road of 40.7. Additionally, Samford is shooting 32.3 percent from 3-point range at home and only 31.0 percent in away games. Conversely, the Bulldogs shoot free throws better on the road (74.8 percent to 67.1 percent).
 

#PLAYFAST - - SAMFORD LOOKS TO PUSH THE SPEED LIMIT
One of Padgett's top themes this season is #PlayFast. Samford's second-year head coach 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."
 
THE LAST TIME OUT - - SAMFORD PULLS AWAY FOR 84-68 SOCON WIN OVER WESTERN CAROLINA
Samford extended its winning streak against the Western Carolina Catamounts to four-consecutive games Saturday as the Bulldogs rallied in the second half to post a key 84-68 Southern Conference victory at home in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
With the win, Samford snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 10-6 all-time against Western Carolina. The Bulldogs also moved to 5-2 when playing at home this season.
               
Samford's Walker turned in the best game of his young, up-and-coming career Saturday. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-9 true freshman center from Jacksonville, Florida, tallied his second double-double of the season and finished with career-highs in both points (26) and rebounds (12). Walker also finished 11-of-15 from the field and went 4-of-6 from the free-throw line in 27 minutes of play.
 
Western Carolina came out blazing in the first half and built a nine-point lead, 14-5, with 14:52 remaining in the period. The Catamounts turned in a sizzling 48.3-percent shooting mark in the opening 20 minutes of action and knocked down six first-half 3-pointers.
 
Despite Western Carolina's hot start, Samford used a 13-5 run midway through the half and eventually took a 40-38 advantage into the locker room.
 
Samford opened the second period with a 15-0 run and garnered a 55-38 advantage with 15:25 remaining in the game. During the Bulldogs' scoring outburst, Walker scored four straight points, Rose connected on a pair of 3-point baskets and Jamal Shabazz recorded a 3-point play.
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Thursday's game at VMI, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 4 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs conclude their two-game weekend SoCon road trip against the UNCG Spartans in a contest to be held at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.
 
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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