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ST. LOUIS -- The Samford University basketball team will square off against the Saint Louis Billikens in a key non-conference road test Tuesday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs compete away from home for the fifth time this season in a matchup to be held at Chaiffetz Arena.
 
Samford (3-3) heads into Tuesday's game with hopes of bouncing back from a rare 106-103 double-overtime home loss to Nicholls State on Sunday.
 
BULLDOGS SEE GENERATIONAL SCORING SUNDAY
Marking the most points scored in a Bulldog basketball game in over 40 years, Nicholls State rallied back from a 19-point second-half deficit to upend Samford in the final matchup of the 2016 San Diego Classic.
 
The combined 209 points scored proved to be the most in a Samford game since Feb. 21, 1976, when the Bulldogs dropped a 118-97 decision on the road at Denver. It also marked the most points scored in a Samford home game since March 3, 1975, when the Bulldogs held off Georgia Southern, 110-107, in regulation.
 
SAMFORD IN THE SAN DIEGO CLASSIC
The Bulldogs concluded play in the San Diego Classic with a 2-2 record. Samford earned wins against San Diego, 83-65, and Bethune-Cookman, 93-65, but suffered defeats versus New Mexico State, 58-48, and Nicholls State, 106-103 (2OT).
 

3D'S HISTORIC GAME
The Bulldogs' Demetrius Denzel-Dyson led all scorers with a career-high 40 points on 15-of-20 shooting from the field against Nicholls State on Sunday. He also posted a double-double with 11 rebounds and shot a sizzling 7-of-11 from 3-point range. Denzel-Dyson played 44 of the team's 50 minutes and added two assists and a pair of steals.
 
SAMFORD'S WALKER IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Bulldogs' Wyatt Walker heads into Tuesday's game ranked first in the nation with six double-doubles. He is also ranked No. 2 in the county in rebounds per game (13.5) and No. 3 in total rebounds (81). Additionally, Samford's Walker is ranked fifth in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (9.2) and 10^th in offensive rebounds per game (4.3).
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
After falling to Ball State in the season opener, Saint Louis (2-3) reeled off consecutive home wins against Southern Utah and Eastern Illinois. The Billikens are coming off the Men Who Speak Up Main Event Tournament, which was held last week at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
 
Saint Louis hung with BYU, trailing by just five with 10 minutes left, before the Cougars posted the 92-62 victory. Against Alabama two days later, the Billikens led by nine points with five minutes left, but couldn't hold on, eventually falling 62-57.
 
Junior guard Davell Roby entered the week as the Billikens' leading scorer with 13.4 points per game. Senior forward Reggie Agbeko is averaging a double-double with 12.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per contest. He leads the Atlantic 10 Conference in rebounding.
 
Saint Louis head coach Travis Ford is in his first season with the Billikens, his 20th season as a collegiate head coach. Ford came to Saint Louis from Oklahoma State, where he led the Cowboys to five NCAA Tournament appearances in eight seasons. He has also coached at UMass (2005-08), Eastern Kentucky (2000-05) and Campbellsville (1997-2000).
 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES - - SAMFORD vs. SAINT LOUIS
The Bulldogs will square off against the Billikens for only the third time in school history Tuesday. The first meeting between the teams occurred Dec. 20, 1993, as Saint Louis recorded a slight 70-68 home victory. The second matchup took place Dec. 13, 2008, and featured a more lopsided outcome. At Chaiffetz Arena in St. Louis, the Billikens posted a 70-49 victory against Samford.
 
THE BULLDOGS vs. SAINT LOUIS HEAD COACH TRAVIS FORD
Ford, in his first season at Saint Louis, spent five years at Eastern Kentucky from 2000-05 and two years as Ohio Valley Conference rivals with Samford, 2003-05. During that stretch, the Bulldogs finished with a 1-4 record against the Ford-led Colonels.
 

CHAMBERS' CAREER DAY
Samford's Triston Chambers also turned in a career performance Sunday. The Bulldogs' true freshman sharpshooter from Cold Springs, Alabama, scored a personal-best 24 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. All six of his field goals came from 3-point range as he finished 6-of-8 from beyond the arc. Chambers also handed out five assists for Samford.
 
DOUBLE DOWN
Samford's Walker has recorded a double-double in all six of the Bulldogs' games this season. So far this year, Samford's 6-foot-9 big man from Jacksonville, Florida, is averaging 14.2 points and 13.5 rebounds per game. On Sunday against Nicholls State, Walker posted a 12-point, 10-rebound performance in the Pete Hanna Center. Last season as a true freshman, he finished the campaign with four total double-doubles.
 
CUNNINGHAM'S ASSIST FRENZY
On Sunday, in the Bulldogs' heartbreaking 106-103 home loss to Nicholls State, junior point guard Christen Cunningham handed out a career-high 13 assists. Last year, Samford's dynamic floor general became the first player in school history to record back-to-back seasons with at least 125 assists. Cunningham is also just 157 points shy of reaching the prestigious 1,000-point plateau.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT - - NICHOLLS STATE RALLIES PAST SAMFORD, 106-103 (2OT)
Early in the second half, the Bulldogs used an 18-5 run to garner a 19-point advantage, 62-43, over Nicholls State. During Samford's run, Denzel-Dyson and Chambers both dropped in a pair of 3-pointers, while junior forward Alex Thompson added a deep basket of his own.
 
For the remainder of the second half, Nicholls State continued to chip away at the Bulldogs' lead and eventually trimmed it to 79-77 with 1:22 remaining to play.
 
Samford's Chambers and Thompson then both knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the lead to six, 83-77, with 38 seconds remaining, but the Colonels' Jahvaughn Powell and Lafayette Rutledge closed out the half with back-to-back 3-pointers to even the game at 83-83, and send the contest to overtime.
 
Rutledge scored 27 points for Nicholls State and paced his squad with seven 3-point baskets, all of which occurred after halftime. Following the opening 20 minutes of action, Rutledge had zero points on 0-for-2 shooting from the field.
 
Ja'Dante' Frye led the Colonels with 33 points and nine rebounds on 14-of-22 shooting from the field. He also handed out four assists.
 
In the first overtime period, Samford held a three-point lead, 95-92, with three seconds remaining, but Powell knocked down a game-tying triple to tie the score and send the game to a second overtime frame.
 
Samford again led by three points in the second overtime, but this time it was Rutledge who hit a clutch 3-pointer for Nicholls State to garner a late 102-100 lead. The Colonels then drained four straight free throws to close out the 106-103 decision, as the Bulldogs' Cunningham connected on a half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer.
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following its midweek road showdown at Saint Louis on Tuesday, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Sunday at 3 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs return home to Birmingham, Alabama, for a key in-state contest against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. Sunday's matchup will be held at Samford's Pete Hanna Center.
 
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