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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University basketball team will compete in its final home game of the 2016-17 regular season Saturday as the Bulldogs welcome The Citadel Bulldogs to the Pete Hanna Center for a Senior Night showdown beginning at 6 p.m. (CT).                      
 
Two-time Hall of Famer Curt Bloom will be calling the action with Rick Cleveland analyzing the contest along with up-and-coming sideline reporter Hattie Breece. The matchup will also be broadcast live on the radio at 99.1 FM as Blake Gardner describes the game from his position on press row.
 
Samford (17-12, 8-8 SoCon) enters Saturday's contest with a full head of steam after earning back-to-back home conference victories over VMI and Chattanooga. The Bulldogs defeated VMI, 80-61, on Feb. 18, before knocking off Chattanooga on Wednesday in overtime, 72-68.
 
Prior to Saturday's game, Samford will hold a special Senior Night presentation for Terry Brutus. Brutus, the Bulldogs' lone senior this season, will be honored for all of his hard work and dedication.
 
Brutus joined the team in the summer after transferring from Ole Miss and immediately provided the Bulldogs with experience and leadership. He has played a key role on the team this year and earned game action in 24 outings, including starts against both Wofford and Furman. On Jan. 8, Brutus scored eight points and helped lead Samford to a 91-89 overtime victory over the Terriers.
 
BULLDOGS IN THE MIDST OF HISTORIC SEASON
Samford reached the 17-victory mark this season in 29 games and achieved the feat on Feb. 22. Therefore, the Bulldogs are in the midst of their best season since 2005-06, when Samford finished the season with a 20-11 overall record. Since the 1998-99 campaign, the Bulldogs have reached the 17-win mark four times, while their last winning season occurred in 2005-06.
 
SAMFORD'S POISED TO BREAK 56-YEAR-OLD RECORD
The Bulldogs are ranked seventh in the nation in free throws made this season with a current total of 536. The school record for most free throws made in a season is 564 and was set over 55 years ago in the 1960-61 campaign.
 
QUICK HITTERS
-- Samford boasts four players averaging double figures in scoring this season in Demetrius Denzel-Dyson (15.9), Wyatt Walker (12.8), Alex Thompson (11.0) and Christen Cunningham (10.7).
 
-- In SoCon games this year, Samford is averaging 80.6 points per game, shooting 47.4 percent from the field and 39.9 percent from 3-point range.
 
-- Samford's Cunningham owns the school's single-season record in assists this year with 181.
 
-- On Jan. 2, Samford freshman Josh Sharkey set a school record with seven steals at Western Carolina.
 
DROPPING DIMES
Cunningham, the Bulldogs' junior point guard from Georgetown, Kentucky, is ranked seventh in the nation in assists (181), 11th in assists per game (6.2) and 21st in assist/turnover ratio (2.9). Additionally, Cunningham recently became Samford's all-time career leader in assists and currently owns a school-record total of 434.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
The Citadel (9-20, 2-14 SoCon) enters Saturday's matchup with aspirations of snapping an 11-game losing streak. The Cadets' last victory occurred Jan. 7, at home against VMI, 79-74.
 
Since registering a 144-94 home triumph over Toccoa Falls on Dec. 7, The Citadel has compiled a 2-16 record, including a 1-9 mark on the road.
 
With 21 free throws Feb. 22 against Western Carolina, the Cadets broke the single-season program record for free throws made, surpassing the previous mark of 529 set in 1984-85. Led by Preston Parks' 17.1 points per game and Zane Najdawi's average of 14.9, The Citadel is one of two SoCon teams with multiple scorers ranked in the top-10 in the conference.
 
The Cadets own five of the 11 highest-scoring performances in the SoCon this season, including eight over the 100-point plateau. Last year, The Citadel had just five games with multiple players scoring at least 20 points. This year, they have posted nine games with multiple 20-point scorers and four games with a 30-point scorer.
 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES - - SAMFORD vs. THE CITADEL
On Saturday, the Bulldogs will square off against The Citadel for the 18th time in school history. Samford currently trails in the all-time series, 7-10, but is in the midst of a three-game winning streak against the Cadets. After sweeping The Citadel in the teams' annual home-and-home series last season, the Bulldogs registered a 98-90 road victory in Charleston, South Carolina, earlier this year on Jan. 14.
 
BULLDOG BITES
-- Against Chattanooga on Wednesday, Samford's Cunningham handed out three assists and became the Bulldogs' all-time career leader in the category with 434. Cunningham, who is only a junior, achieved the feat in less than three full seasons and surpassed the previous school record of 433 assists, which was set by former Samford-great Jerry Smith in the 2006-07 campaign.
 
-- Samford is ranked No. 7 in the nation in free throws made this season with a total of 536.
 
-- 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 versus Mississippi College on Feb. 22, 1971.
 
-- Samford's Cunningham is the only player in school history to record three straight 125-assist seasons. He finished 2015-16 with 128 assists and an average of 3.9 per game.
 
-- Already this year, Cunningham has registered a school-record 181 assists at a break-neck pace of 6.2 assists per contest. On Feb. 4 against UNCG, Cunningham handed out four assists to reach 152 and eclipsed the previous school record of 151, which was achieved by Raijon Kelly in 2012-13.
 
#COACHESVSCANCER TOUCHED HOME THIS SEASON
Samford's Justin Coleman has a younger brother named Glenn Hardy, who was recently battling cancer. Hardy is only three years old, but constantly possesses a positive attitude and loves to attend the Bulldogs' home basketball games. A few weeks ago, he was diagnosed to be CANCER FREE.
 
This year, for the annual #CoachesVsCancer week, Samford's coaching staff wore special tennis shoes and gold laces with the name GLENN HARDY written down the laces.
 
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.
 
SAMFORD'S WALKER IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Bulldogs' Walker is currently ranked 20th in the nation with 14 double-doubles this season. Walker, Samford's hard-nosed 6-foot-9 center is also ranked 22nd in the country in rebounds per game (9.8) and 27th in defensive rebounds per outing (6.9). He is additionally ranked No. 31 in the nation in total rebounds (264).
 
SCORING IS KEY
Since the beginning of last season, Samford has registered a 17-4 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.
 
Most recently, on Feb. 18, Samford played at home against a dangerous VMI squad and earned an 80-61 SoCon victory held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
SAMFORD BOASTING A WELL-BALANCED ATTACK
Since Dec. 20, five Samford players are averaging double figures in scoring, and at least 10.2 points per game, while as a team, the Bulldogs are scoring 81.4 points per contest in its last 18 outings. Below please find a chart that lists Samford's scoring in its last 18 games.
               
PLAYER . . . . . PPG
Demetrius Denzel-Dyson . . . . . 16.8
Wyatt Walker . . . . . 12.8
Christen Cunningham . . . . . 10.6
Alex Thompson . . . . . 10.5
Josh Sharkey . . . . . 10.2
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Saturday's regular-season home finale against The Citadel, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Monday at 6 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs travel to Macon, Georgia, for a final SoCon matchup to be held at Hawkins Arena.
 
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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