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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team will begin a critical three-game, late-season Southern Conference homestand Saturday at 6 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs welcome the VMI Keydets to the Pete Hanna Center for a key league showdown to be broadcast on ESPN3.
 
Play-by-play specialist Ryan Brown will be calling the action with Rick Cleveland 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 Birmingham as Blake Gardner calls the action from his spot on press row.
 
Samford (15-12, 6-8 SoCon) heads into the contest with hopes of snapping a season-long, four-game losing streak. Since earning back-to-back wins over VMI and Western Carolina, the Bulldogs have lost consecutive games to UNCG, Wofford, Furman and ETSU.
 
Samford owns a 7-5 record at home this season and currently sits tied for sixth place in the league standings with Mercer.
 
SCORING IS KEY
Since the beginning of last season, Samford has registered a 16-4 record when scoring at least 80 points. On Nov. 14, the Bulldogs opened the 2016-17 season with a dominant 83-65 road victory at San Diego and turned in a 46.9-percent shooting performance from the field, including a welcome 10-of-25 (40 percent) outing from 3-point range.
 
On Feb. 9, Samford played in a classic four-overtime contest at Wofford, but dropped a hard-fought 131-127 decision to the Terriers.
 
QUICK HITTERS
-- Samford boasts four players averaging double figures in scoring this season in Demetrius Denzel-Dyson (16.0), Wyatt Walker (12.7), Alex Thompson (11.1) and Christen Cunningham (11.0).
 
-- In SoCon games this year, Samford is averaging 81.2 points per game, shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from 3-point range.
 
-- Samford's Cunningham owns the school's single-season record in assists this year with 172.
 
-- On Jan. 2, Samford freshman Josh Sharkey set a school record with seven steals at Western Carolina.
 
PADGETT IN HIS THIRD SEASON
Samford head coach Scott Padgett is in his third season at the helm of the Bulldogs. Padgett currently owns a 42-50 record at Samford and is in the midst of the school's winningest season in seven years, dating all the way 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.
 
DROPPING DIMES
Cunningham, the Bulldogs' junior point guard from Georgetown, Kentucky, is ranked sixth in the nation in assists (172), 11th in assists per game (6.4) and 22nd in assist/turnover ratio (2.9).
 
Additionally, Cunningham only needs nine more assists to become Samford's all-time career leader in the category with 434.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
VMI (6-19, 3-11 SoCon) enters Saturday's matchup with hopes of ending a two-game losing stretch. Since cruising past The Citadel on Feb. 11, 101-78, the Keydets have dropped back-to-back home contests against Furman, 80-52, and Chattanooga, 74-68. VMI is 1-5 in its last six games, 2-8 in its last 10 and 3-12 since Dec. 20.

The Keydets have struggled on the road this season and are only 1-11 when playing outside of the friendly confines of Cameron Hall. VMI's lone road victory this season occurred at third-place
Chattanooga on Jan. 25, 80-64.
 
Senior QJ Peterson, the SoCon's leading scorer, is pacing the Keydets' offensive attack this season with 20.0 points per outings. VMI's game-changing shooting guard is also the team's top rebounder with 6.6 boards per game.
 
Additionally, Petersen leads the Keydets with 61 assists, while Julian Eleby and Trey Chapman are averaging 13.4 and 9.3 points per game this season, respectively.
 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES - - SAMFORD vs. VMI
On Saturday, the Bulldogs will be squaring off against VMI for the ninth time in school history. Samford currently leads the all-time series, 6-2, and earned a 2-1 record against the Keydets last season.
 
In 2015-16, both teams won at home in the season series, while the Bulldogs later knocked VMI out of the SoCon Tournament, 92-85, in overtime on March 4. Samford's two victories over the Keydets last year occurred in a three-game, 12-day span from Feb. 20 to March 4. Earlier this season, the Bulldogs won, 69-67, on the road at VMI.
 
KNOCKING DOWN THE THREE
Heading into Saturday's SoCon home game against VMI, the Bulldogs boast four players shooting at least 40.0 percent from 3-point range this season, including Denzel-Dyson, who is shooting a sizzling 48.8 percent from beyond the arc.
 
As a team, Samford is ranked No. 18 in the country in 3-point shooting at 39.9 percent.
 
Along with Denzel-Dyson's remarkable 3-point shooting percentage this season, the Bulldogs' Triston Chambers owns a 43.3 mark, while Alex Thompson is shooting 40.0 percent from beyond the arc. Additionally, Samford's Gerald Smith is also shooting 40.0 percent from long range at a 2-for-5 clip this season.
 
BULLDOG BITES
-- Samford's Cunningham is only nine assists shy of setting the school's all-time record in the category with 434. Former Bulldog great Jerry Smith currently holds Samford's career assist record with 433. Smith achieved the historic mark in the 2006-07 season.
 
-- Samford is ranked No. 8 in the nation in free throws made this season with a total of 504.
 
-- The Bulldogs' heart-wrenching 131-127 (4OT) loss at Wofford on Feb. 9 turned out to be the longest game in Samford history. The Bulldogs' 127 points proved to be the second highest total in the 115 years of Samford hoops, trailing only a 131-point outing against Mississippi College on Feb. 22, 1971.
 
-- 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 pg.
 
-- Already this year, Cunningham has registered a school-record 172 assists at a break-neck pace of 6.4 assists per contest. On Feb. 4 against UNCG, Cunningham handed out four assists to reach 152 and eclipse the previous school record of 151, which was achieved by Raijon Kelly in 2012-13.
 
3D'S HISTORIC GAME
The Bulldogs' Denzel-Dyson led all scorers with a career-high 40 points on 15-of-20 shooting from the field against Nicholls State on Nov. 27. 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.
 
BULLDOGS COMBINE FOR SCHOOL-RECORD SCORING TOTAL
Marking the most points scored in a Bulldog basketball game in school history, Samford dropped a heart-wrenching 131-127 (4OT) decision to the Wofford Terriers in a SoCon matchup held at Benjamin Johnson Arena on Feb. 9.
 
The combined 258 points scored proved to be the most in a Samford game in school history. The mark well surpassed the previous record of 215 points, which was achieved Feb. 21, 1976, when the Bulldogs dropped a 118-97 decision on the road at Denver.
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Saturday's key home matchup against VMI, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Wednesday at 7 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs continue their three-game homestand against defending SoCon champion Chattanooga.
 
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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