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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team will play its first home Southern Conference game of the 2016-17 campaign Thursday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs face off against the undefeated Furman Paladins in a first-place showdown to be held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
The highly-anticipated matchup will be broadcast live on ESPN3 with Chris Stewert calling the action along with color analyst and former Bulldog-great Tyler Hood and sideline reporter Hattie Breece.
 
Samford (11-4, 2-0 SoCon) enters the contest with a full head of steam after topping Western Carolina on the road Monday, 70-65. The Bulldogs' victory, just its second all-time in Cullowhee, North Carolina, extended their winning streak to four, as Samford has been triumphant in eight of its last nine outings.
 
The Bulldogs' only loss since Nov. 27 was a 76-68 road defeat at current No. 12-ranked Florida State.
 
BULLDOGS OFF TO A GREAT START IN 2016-17
Samford has already registered 11 victories this season in 15 games, and achieved the feat on Jan. 2. Therefore, the Bulldogs are off to their best start since 1998-99, when Samford opened the year with a 19-4 record and later earned the school's first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
 
'DOGS BOASTING A WELL-BALANCED ATTACK
Since Dec. 20, six Samford players are averaging at least 10 points per game, while as a team, the Bulldogs are scoring 80 points per contest in its last four outings. Below please find a quick chart that lists Samford's scoring in its last four games as the team has gone 4-0.

               

PLAYER - - - PPG
Demetrius Denzel-Dyson - - - 12.3
Triston Chambers - - - 12.0
Christen Cunningham - - - 11.0
Alex Thompson - - - 10.8
Josh Sharkey - - - 10.0
Wyatt Walker - - - 10.0
 
CUNNINGHAM NEARS HISTORIC 1,000-POINT MARK
Samford's Cunningham, who is only a junior and will be playing in his 81^st career game against Furman on Thursday, sits just 32 points shy of becoming the 27th player in school history to reach the prestigious 1,000-point plateau.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Furman (9-6, 2-0 SoCon) opened league play with back-to-back home victories against The Citadel, 83-68, and Mercer, 71-69, at home last week.
 
The Paladins have been victorious in six of their last eight games and boast a 5-2 record at home this season. Under the tutelage of fourth-year head coach Niko Medved, Furman currently owns a 4-4 mark in road games this season.
 
On Nov. 14, the Paladins traveled to Birmingham for a nonconference matchup with the Blazers and posted a demonstrative 84-74 road victory in Bartow Arena. Furman has also tallied key road triumphs over Tennessee Tech, Liberty and Gardner Webb.
 
Last time out, Furman rallied from a double digit first half deficit behind a game-high 23 points from Devin Sibley to down Mercer, 71-69, at Timmons Arena on Monday night. Despite shooting a season-low 37.5 percent from the field, the Paladins outscored the Bears 26-18 in the paint and connected on 22-of-32 free throw attempts, including 5-of-6 in the final minute, to earn the win.          

Sophomore Matt Rafferty tallied 14 points and seven rebounds, while junior Daniel Fowler added 13 points and a team-high eight boards. Junior Devin Sibley, who leads the Paladins averaging 16.3 points per game, enters Thursday's trip to Samford just 10 points shy of becoming the 41st player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
 
Sibley has tallied 20 points or more six times this season, including three times in the last four games. The 2015 SoCon Freshman of the Year, Sibley averaged 12.1 points per game in 2016 and netted a career-best 29 points in a SoCon Tournament loss to ETSU last season.
 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES - - SAMFORD vs. FURMAN
On Thursday, the Bulldogs will square off against Furman for the 21st time in school history. The Paladins currently own a 13-7 advantage in the all-time series, including a season sweep last year. Furman won 77-57 in Greenville, South Carolina, a year ago, and 67-65 in Birmingham on Feb. 4. Samford owns a 4-2 record when facing the Paladins at home in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
KNOCKING DOWN THE THREE
Heading into Thursday's SoCon home game against Furman, the Bulldogs boast four players shooting at least 39.1 percent from 3-point range this season, including Denzel-Dyson, who is shooting a sizzling 49.3 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Denzel-Dyson is ranked No. 10 in the nation in 3-point field-goal percentage at 49.3, while Samford is ranked No. 27 in the country in the category at 39.8 percent.
 
Along with Denzel-Dyson's remarkable 3-point shooting percentage, the Bulldogs' Triston Chambers owns a 46.3 mark, while Alex Thompson is shooting 39.1 percent from beyond the arc. Additionally, Samford's Gerald Smith is shooting 40.0 percent from long range at a 2-for-5 clip this season.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
Samford owns a 5-1 record when playing at home this season and is scoring an average of 91.0 points per outing in the Pete Hanna Center. So far this season, the Bulldogs have tallied scores of 103, 94, 93, 92, 83 and 81 in their six home games this year.
 

DID YOU KNOW??
Samford's Josh Sharkey is first cousins with 10-year NBA veteran and collegiate standout at St. Joe's Jameer Nelson.
 
SAMFORD'S WALKER IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Bulldogs' Walker heads into Thursday's game ranked sixth in the nation with nine double-doubles this season. Walker, Samford's hard-nosed 6-foot-9 center is also ranked eighth in the country in total rebounds (159), 15th in rebounds per game (10.6) and 16th in defensive rebounds per contest (7.5).
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Thursday's first-place SoCon showdown against Furman, the Samford University basketball team will remain at home to square off against the Wofford Terriers on Saturday at 6 p.m. (CST) in yet another high-profile league contest to be held at 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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