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GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The Samford basketball team will conclude play in its two-game, five-day, 1,197-mile road trip Sunday at noon (CST) as the Bulldogs square off against the UNCG Spartans in a critical Southern Conference contest to be held at the Greensboro Coliseum (7,617). The game was originally scheduled to be played Saturday at 4 p.m., but was pushed back to Sunday due to winter storm Jonas.
 
Samford (11-9, 2-5 SoCon) heads into the game with aspirations of earning its first conference road win of the season. So far this year, the Bulldogs have suffered road losses in league play at Mercer, 69-50, Wofford, 69-64, Furman, 77-57, and VMI on Thursday, 83-76.
 
WHAT'S TRENDING . . .
• Samford's Wyatt Walker is the reigning SoCon Player of the Week. In games against ETSU and Western Carolina last week, he averaged 20.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per outing.
• The Bulldogs' Darius Jones-Gibson is ranked 14th in the nation in free-throw attempts (145) and 20th in free throws made (106).
• Samford is looking for its first road victory in SoCon play this season (0-4 heading in).
 
UNCG (6-13, 2-4 SoCon) enters Sunday's contest with a 2-8 record in its previous 10 outings, but holds a solid 6-3 record at home this season, including recent victories over Furman, 67-66, and VMI, 85-68.
 
The Spartans are currently ranked No. 42 in the nation in 3-point field-goal attempts. UNCG is shooting an average of 24.5 3-pointers per game this season and is ranked second in the SoCon with 8.6 made 3-point field goals per contest. The Spartans only trail the nation's leader, The Citadel, in the category.
 
UNCG also boasts one of the best centers in the conference in 6-foot-8, 280-pound R.J. White. White is ranked No. 15 in the nation in field-goal percentage and is shooting a stellar 62.8 percent from the field this season. White is averaging 12.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest and leads the Spartans with 10 blocked shots.
 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The Bulldogs own a 9-7 all-time record against UNCG, but have dropped their last two meetings with the Spartans. Last season, Samford finished 1-2 versus UNCG as the Bulldogs defeated the Spartans at home in Birmingham, Ala., 89-78, before losing on the road, 81-67. Then, in the first round of the SoCon Tournament held in Asheville, UNCG tallied an 81-76 win.
 
SNOW DELAY
Due to winter storm Jonas, Samford's road game against SoCon foe UNCG, originally scheduled for Saturday, was pushed back a day to Sunday at noon (CST) at the Greensboro Coliseum. The matchup will be aired on the SoCon Digital Network, as well as 91.1 FM.
 
On Thursday night, Samford played on the road at VMI and bused to Greensboro immediately following the game to beat the incoming snowstorm. UNCG competed at home against first-place Chattanooga on Thursday and dropped a 73-60 decision.
 
ROAD SWEET ROAD - - BULLDOGS SHOOTING BETTER AWAY FROM HOME
Typically, teams shoot much better at home than they do on the road, but that's not necessarily the case for the 2015-16 Bulldogs. From the field, Samford is shooting far better at home in the Pete Hanna Center (49.4% to 41.0%) this season, while the Bulldogs' numbers are surprisingly better on the road in both 3-point shooting (33.2% to 32.3%) and free-throw shooting (73.6% to 67.1%).
 
FROM BALL BOY TO DIVISION I CENTER
The Bulldogs' Eric Adams has been attending Samford basketball games for a long time now. His mother, Cassandra, is the Director of Samford's Community Mediation Center and had been working in the University's prestigious Cumberland School of Law for over a decade.

Ever since he was in grade school, Adams remembers attending Samford games with his mother and father, Eric, Sr. He also served as one of the Bulldogs' ball boys for a few seasons. Already this year, Adams has started in games against Louisville and Auburn-Montgomery, and has earned playing time in all 20 games.
 
"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."
 
TRANSITIONING OFFENSE - - BULLDOGS TAKE IT TO HYPERDRIVE
Samford fans will continue to enjoy a much faster paced offense this season. With plenty of depth and a roster chalk-full of young talent, the Bulldogs are getting up and down the court in 2015-16 and creating easy buckets in transition. In 2014-15, Padgett implemented his full-court, fast-paced offensive attack and Samford averaged 69.2 points per game. Already this year, the Bulldogs are scoring 73.9 points per game.
 
BOASTING A BIG-TIME BACKCOURT
Samford continues play in the 2015-16 campaign with a pair of returning starters at the guard position in Christen Cunningham and Jones-Gibson. Cunningham, the Bulldogs' talented sophomore point guard from Georgetown, Kentucky, has never missed a start in his young up-and-coming college career.
 

As a true freshman last year, Cunningham started at the point guard position in all 32 of the team's games and averaged 10.3 points, 3.9 assists and 2.4 rebounds per contest. He also logged a team-high average of 30.1 minutes per outing and finished second on the squad with a 79.1 free-throw percentage.
 
Jones-Gibson, Samford's senior guard from Lexington, Kentucky, returned this season as the Bulldogs' top returning scorer. Last year, Jones-Gibson paced the squad with 12.2 points per game and also pulled down an average of 3.1 rebounds per contest.
 
Since transferring to Samford from Barton County Community College prior to the 2014-15 campaign, Jones-Gibson has started in every outing as a Bulldog, and has shared backcourt duties with Cunningham in all 52 games of Padgett's tenure.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT - - BULLDOGS' COMEBACK BID FALLS SHORT AT VMI, 83-76
Despite trailing by 11 points early in the second half Thursday against the VMI Keydets, Samford battled back to within one point, 77-76, at the 1:03 mark in the SoCon contest, but couldn't get any closer as Julian Eleby scored four straight points and QJ Peterson added a bucket in an 83-76 setback held at Cameron Hall.
 
With the loss, Samford continued its road woes in league play this season and moved to 0-4 in away SoCon games. VMI tallied its first conference victory of the season Thursday and improved to 5-2 when playing at home under the direction of first-year head coach Dan Earl.
 
VMI's Peterson and Eleby combined to score 63 of the team's 83 points and accounted for 21 of 28 field goals in the win. The Keydets finished shooting 46.7 percent from the field Thursday and 41.9 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Peterson, VMI's talented junior Preseason All-SoCon performer, scored a game-high 34 points on 13-of-22 shooting from the floor, while adding a career-high 8-of-14 performance from 3-point range. He also added five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Peterson scored 22 points in the first half to help build the Keydets' 45-37 lead at the intermission. VMI's Eleby scored 29 points, grabbed five rebounds and finished a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line.
 

Samford concluded Thursday's game with four players scoring in double figures. Jones-Gibson led the way with 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, but committed three turnovers and shot 6-of-11 from the charity stripe.
 
Walker, the reigning SoCon Player of the Week, overcame early foul trouble to score 13 points and grab seven rebounds, while sophomore point guard Cunningham and senior guard Marcus Johnson both tallied 10 points apiece.
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Sunday's key road test at UNCG, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs welcome the first-place Chattanooga Mocs to the Pete Hanna Center for a highly-anticipated Southern Rail Rivalry contest to be broadcast live on ESPN3. The game will also mark the opening contest of Samford's crucial four-game SoCon homestand.
 
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