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ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- The Samford University basketball team will begin play in the 2017 Southern Conference Tournament on Friday at 6:30 p.m. (CT) as the seventh-seeded Bulldogs meet the 10th-seeded VMI Keydets in an opening-round matchup for a second straight season.
 
Friday's game will be held at the U.S. Cellular Center and will be broadcast live on ESPN3 as play-by-play specialist Pete Yanity calls the action along with color analyst Dean Keener and sideline reporter Megan Sloggett.
 
Samford (17-14, 8-10 SoCon) enters the SoCon Tournament filled with optimism and eager to play for the right to earn an NCAA Tournament bid.
 
The Bulldogs are in the midst of their best season in 11 years and have secured their first winning season since the 2005-06 campaign.
 
Samford has been victorious in two of its last four games and recently earned a thrilling 72-68 overtime victory at home against Chattanooga. The Bulldogs' win snapped a six-game losing streak versus the Mocs. Samford is 8-8 when playing away from home this season.
 
BULLDOGS IN THE MIDST OF A 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.
 
QUICK HITTERS
-- Samford boasts four players averaging double figures in scoring this season in Demetrius Denzel-
Dyson (16.6), Wyatt Walker (12.5), Alex Thompson (11.8) and Christen Cunningham (10.8).
 
-- In SoCon games this year, Samford is averaging 81.3 points per game, shooting 47.7 percent from the field and 41.6 percent from 3-point range.
 
-- Samford's Cunningham owns the school's single-season record in assists this year with 200.
 
-- On Jan. 2, Samford freshman Josh Sharkey set a school record with seven steals at Western Carolina.
 
FIXTURES IN THE STARTING LINEUP
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 96 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 Samford head coach Scott 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.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
VMI (6-23, 3-15 SoCon) enters the 2017 SoCon Tournament with aspirations of snapping a six-game losing streak. Since topping The Citadel at home on Feb. 11, 101-78, the Keydets have dropped consecutive contests against Furman, Chattanooga, Samford, Wofford, UNCG and Western Carolina.
 
VMI owns a 1-9 record in its last 10 games, as well as a 2-12 mark in its last 14 outings.
 
Additionally, the Keydets are 1-14 when playing away from home this season. VMI's lone road win occurred Jan. 25, on the road at Chattanooga.
               
The Keydets' senior guard QJ Peterson was named to both All-SoCon postseason squads on Wednesday. Peterson was named First-Team All-SoCon as selected by the league media and was a second team selection on the coaches voting.
 
It marked the second straight year that Peterson had landed first team honors on the media all-
conference squad. Peterson leads the SoCon in scoring with a 19.4 per game average.
 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES - - SAMFORD vs. VMI
On Friday, the Bulldogs will be squaring off against VMI for the 10th time in school history. Samford currently leads the all-time series, 7-2, and has won the last four meetings between the teams dating back to Feb. 20, 2016.
 
The Bulldogs finished with a 2-1 record against the Keydets last season. Both teams won at home in the 2015-16 series, while the Bulldogs later knocked VMI out of the SoCon Tournament, 92-85, in overtime on March 4. Samford swept the regular-season series this year with a 69-67 win at VMI on Jan. 28, as well as an 80-61 home triumph held Feb. 18.
 
SAMFORD'S SOCON TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Samford joined the SoCon in 2008 and will be playing in its ninth SoCon Tournament this season. The Bulldogs own a 4-8 all-time record in the SoCon Tournament and will be facing VMI for the second time in postseason play.
 
Last year, the Bulldogs also opened SoCon Tournament play against VMI and held on for a thrilling 92-85 overtime victory over the Keydets in the first round of action held at the U.S. Cellular Center. Samford then moved on to face top-seeded Chattanooga in the quarterfinal round of action and nearly toppled the Mocs, 59-54.
 
Samford, heading into the 2017 SoCon Tournament, holds the following records against league foes:  Furman (1-3), The Citadel (1-1), Chattanooga (0-2), Appalachian State (1-0), Davidson (0-1), UNCG (0-1) and VMI (0-1).
 
DROPPING DIMES
Cunningham, the Bulldogs' junior point guard from Georgetown, Kentucky, is ranked third in the nation in assists (200), ninth in assists per game (6.5) and 16th in assist/turnover ratio (3.0).
 
Additionally, Cunningham recently became Samford's all-time career leader in assists and currently owns a school-record total of 453.
 
'DOGS BOASTING A WELL-BALANCED ATTACK
In SoCon play this season, five Samford players are averaging at least 9.2 points per game, while as a team, the Bulldogs are scoring 81.3 points per contest in 18 outings. Below please find a chart that lists Samford's top five scorers and their points-per-game average against conference opponents this year.
               
PLAYER . . . . . . PPG
Demetrius Denzel-Dyson . . . . . . 18.8
Wyatt Walker . . . . . . 12.5
Alex Thompson . . . . . . 11.7
Christen Cunningham . . . . . . 10.7
Josh Sharkey . . . . . . 9.2
 
SAMFORD BREAKS 56-YEAR-OLD RECORD
Samford is ranked No. 5 in the nation in free throws made this season with a total of 566. The mark set a school record with 566 this year and broke Samford's previous record of 564, which was achieved 56 years ago in the 1960-61 campaign.
 
SAMFORD'S WALKER IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Bulldogs' Walker is currently ranked 21st in the nation with 14 double-doubles this season. Walker, Samford's hard-nosed 6-foot-9 center is also ranked 27th in the country in rebounds per game (9.6), 28th in total rebounds (279) and 30th in the nation in defensive rebounds per outing (6.8).
 
BULLDOG BITES
-- Against Chattanooga on Feb. 22, 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 Jerry Smith in 2007. Cunningham now boasts 453 career assists.
 
-- Samford is ranked No. 5 in the nation in free throws made this season with a total of 566. The mark set a school record with 566 this year and broke Samford's previous record of 564, which was achieved 56 years ago in the 1960-61 campaign.
 
-- 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 200 assists at a break-neck pace of 6.5 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.
 
FOUR BULLDOGS RECEIVE ALL-SOCON HONORS
Samford's Denzel-Dyson, Walker, Chambers and Sharkey were all honored by the SoCon on Wednesday as the Bulldogs' foursome received high-profile postseason accolades, it was announced by the league office.
 
Denzel-Dyson earned Third-Team All-SoCon honors for his outstanding play this season. The Bulldogs' junior from Covington, Tennessee, averaged 18.8 points against league opponents this year and turned in a 51.6 shooting percentage from the field.
               
Samford's Walker also garnered Third-Team All-SoCon honors. Walker is averaging 12.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game this season and is ranked among the top players in the nation in four statistical categories.
               
Samford placed at least one player on the SoCon All-Freshman team for the sixth straight season, in fact, the Bulldogs' Chambers and Sharkey were both honored by the media Monday.
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
The winner of Friday's first-round SoCon Tournament matchup between Samford and VMI will advance to Saturday's quarterfinal round of competition where it will challenge the No. 2-seeded Furman Paladins in a key matchup to be held at the U.S. Cellular Center at 5 p.m. (CT).
 
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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