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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team will begin play in an important two-game Southern Conference homestand Thursday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs welcome the Western Carolina Catamounts to the Pete Hanna Center for a key league matchup to be broadcast live on ESPN3.
 
Play-by-play specialist Chris Stewart will be calling the action with Bill "The Coach" Jones analyzing the game along with up-and-coming sideline reporter Hattie Breece.
 
The contest will also be broadcast live on the radio at 99.1 FM in the Birmingham area as Blake Gardner calls the action from his spot on press row.
 

Samford (14-8, 5-4 SoCon) enters the matchup with a full head of steam after battling to a hard-fought 69-67 road victory at VMI on Saturday. The Bulldogs used 18 points from junior Demetrius Denzel-Dyson to overcome an early 13-point deficit to earn the SoCon victory held in Lexington, Virginia.
 
QUICK HITTERS
-- Samford boasts four players averaging double figures in scoring this season in Denzel-
Dyson (15.0), Wyatt Walker (13.0), Alex Thompson (10.6) and Christen Cunningham (10.5).
 
-- In SoCon games this year, Samford is averaging 78.1 points per game, shooting 45.7 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from 3-point range.
 
-- The Bulldogs' Cunningham is only 11 assists shy of setting the school's single-season record with 152.
 
-- On Jan. 2, Samford freshman Josh Sharkey set a school record with seven steals at Western Carolina.
 
BULLDOGS OFF TO A GREAT START IN 2016-17
Samford reached the 14-victory mark this season in 22 games and achieved the feat on Jan. 28. Therefore, the Bulldogs are off to their best start since 2005-06, when Samford opened the year with a 14-5 record and later advanced to the championship game of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
 
-- IMPORTANT NOTE:  In the last 10 years, Samford basketball has reached the 14-win plateau four times . . . two of which have occurred in the last three seasons under Head Coach Scott Padgett.
 
PADGETT IN HIS THIRD SEASON
Samford's Padgett is in his third season at the helm of the Bulldogs. Padgett currently owns a 41-46 record at Samford and is coming off the school's winningest season in seven years, dating back to the 2008-09 campaign.
 

Last year, the Bulldogs compiled an impressive 10-5 record in non-conference play and registered a pivotal 69-58 road victory at Nebraska. The win proved to be Samford's first triumph against a Big Ten opponent in school history.
 
"I'm really excited about where we're at right now," said Padgett recently. "We still have a long way to go, but I think we're on target to where we wanted to be in year three. We have a team that's right there talent-wise and that will be able to compete. I think Samford fans have been happy to come watch the team this season."
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Western Carolina (7-16, 2-8 SoCon) heads into Thursday's game looking to bounce back from a
62-47 road loss at Mercer on Monday.
 
In the setback, the Catamounts were unable to overcome an 18-3 second-half run. The Bears led by just one point at the half, 23-22, but Western Carolina connected on just 25.9 percent of its second half shots and saw Mercer pull away for the 62-47 victory. The Catamounts' leading scorer was freshman forward Adam Sledd who scored 10 points while grabbing three boards.
 
Junior Haboubacar Mutombo added nine points and five rebounds, while junior Devin Peterson had seven points, two assists and two steals. Sophomore Marc Gosselin led the team on the boards with six rebounds while also scoring five points and blocking a pair of shots.
 
Western Carolina hung with the Bears in nearly every statistical category except for shooting percentage. Mercer had a slight 33-27 edge on the boards, but dropped the turnover battle, 11-10.
 
Both teams shot around the 40 percent mark in the opening half with WCU at 41.7 percent and Mercer at 40.0 percent but the second half was another story with WCU dropping to 25.9 percent and the Bears jumping to 55.6 percent.
 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES - - SAMFORD vs. WESTERN CAROLINA
On Thursday, the Bulldogs will be squaring off against Western Carolina for the 19th time in school history. The Catamounts currently own a slight 10-8 advantage in the all-time series, but Samford is in the midst of a five-game home winning streak against Western Carolina dating back to Jan. 30, 2010, when the Catamounts topped the Bulldogs, 62-50, in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Earlier this year, Samford earned a hard-fought 70-65 road victory over the Catamounts held in Cullowhee, North Carolina.
 

IN THE PREVIOUS MEETING
Samford used late free throws from its backcourt and a decisive steal from Sharkey to stave off a second-half rally from the homestanding Western Carolina Catamounts at the Ramsey Center, 70-65, on Jan. 2.
 
Following a 9-0 run from the Bulldogs midway through the second half, Samford garnered its largest lead of the game, 49-38, with 13:22 left to play in the contest.
 
Western Carolina then strung together a 20-3 run in the next seven minutes to take its biggest advantage of the game, 58-52, with 6:10 remaining. During the scoring streak, the Catamounts knocked down four of their 10 3-pointers in the game.
 
Down the stretch, Samford continued to chip away at Western Carolina's lead and used a fast-break layup from Denzel-Dyson at the 2:32 mark to regain the advantage, 64-63.
 
The Bulldogs' Sharkey then drained four straight free throws and came up with a huge steal in the final 1:21 to secure the victory. Samford's Cunningham iced the game away with a pair of free throws at the nine-second mark to make the final score, 70-65.
 

BULLDOG BITES
-- Samford's Walker is averaging a double-double this season with 13.0 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. He has already tallied 16 double-doubles in his young, up-and-coming career.
 
-- Samford is ranked No. 20 in the nation in free throws made this season with a total of 403.
 
-- Since the beginning of last season, the Bulldogs have compiled an impressive 19-9 record against non-conference opponents, including a pivotal 69-58 road victory at Nebraska last year. The Bulldogs' monumental win proved to be their first against a Big Ten opponent in school history.
 
-- Last season, Samford's Cunningham became the first player in school history to record back-to-back 125-assist seasons. He finished 2015-16 with a career-high 128 assists and an average of 3.9 per game.
 
-- Already this year, Cunningham has registered 141 assists at a break-neck pace of 6.4 assists per contest. At his current rate, Samford's floor general is on pace to tally 205 assists this season, which would well eclipse the Bulldogs' current school record of 151 achieved by Raijon Kelly in 2012-13.
 
-- Since the beginning of last season, the Bulldogs have tallied a 15-3 record when scoring 80 points or more. On Jan. 25, Samford suffered a 96-86 double-overtime loss at home to ETSU.
 
AUTISM SPEAKS
This Saturday, in Samford's home matchup against UNCG, the Bulldogs' coaches, staff and administrators will be wearing a special blue Autism Speaks puzzle piece pin during the game.
 
This weekend's games are all a part of 2017 Coaches Powering Forward for Autism, where basketball coaches around the country will all wear the pins to bring awareness and raise money towards finding a cure for Autism.
 
RETURNING STARTERS
The Bulldogs boast two returning starters this season in Cunningham and Walker. Cunningham has started every game of his illustrious three-year career at the point guard position and has already made 87 starts at Samford. Last season, the Georgetown, Kentucky, native averaged 14.4 points and 3.9 assists per game.
 
"Christen's a natural-born point guard and he really knows how to run a team," said Padgett. "He does a great job of finding the open man, and when you need a bucket, he has the talent and ability to go score it for you. Since last season, he's really done a good job of becoming more of a leader. We've had seniors here in his last two years, so now he's one of the oldest guys on the team and definitely the leader."
 
Walker, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-9 All-SoCon Freshman Team performer from a year ago, is definitely using this season to build upon his stellar rookie campaign. Last year, the Jacksonville, Florida, native averaged 10.6 points and 6.0 rebounds. He also led the team with a 58.1 shooting percentage in 22 minutes per contest.
 
SAMFORD'S WALKER IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Bulldogs' Walker heads into Thursday's game ranked 14th in the nation with 12 double-doubles this season. Walker, Samford's hard-nosed 6-foot-9 center is also ranked 16th in the country in total rebounds (226), 17th in defensive rebounds per contest (7.3) and 18th in the nation in rebounds per game (10.3).
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Thursday's home test against Western Carolina, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 3 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs conclude their brief two-game SoCon homestand with a televised matchup against the UNCG Spartans.
 
Saturday's game will be broadcast live from the Pete Hanna Center on both the American Sports Network and ESPN3.
 
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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