GAME NOTES: Alabama A&M @ Samford (11.29.20 // 2PM)
Complete weekly release in PDF format
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The
#BuckyBall Era of
Samford University Men's Basketball officially tips off on Sunday, Nov. 29, as the
Bulldogs (0-0, 0-0 SoCon) play host to the
Bulldogs (0-0, 0-0 SWAC) of
Alabama A&M University in the season-opener for both schools. Tipoff is set for
2 PM at the
Pete Hanna Center. The game will also be broadcast on
ESPN+ with
Curt Bloom and
Boyd Kaiser on the call.
#BuckyBall burst on the national stage on Wednesday after Samford defeated Greenville, 174-99, in an exhibition. Led by Myron Gordon's 28 points, Samford had 10 Bulldogs score in double figures. Jacob Tryon recorded a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. The Bulldogs scored an unheard of 102 points in the first half. The 174 points scored would have been a school record in a regular-season game, with the current record standing at 131 against Mississippi College in 1971. The 102 points Samford scored in the first half would have been a record for points in a half, with the current mark being 84, also against Mississippi College in 1971. The margin of victory of 75 points would also set a record, eclipsing the current mark of 70 against Covenant in 1964. The 42 assists the team accumulated would also be a school record, with the current record standing at 29 vs Nicholls State in 2016.
Alabama A&M was picked to finish 8th in the annual Southwestern Athletic Conference Preseason Poll. The Bulldogs were 8-22 a year ago, including a 5-13 mark in SWAC play, under second-year head coach Dylan Howard. Sophomore guard Garrett Hicks (6-3, Madison, Ala.) returns to lead the Bulldogs after averaging a team-high 11.6 points per game in 2019-20.
BUCKYBALL BURSTS ONTO NATIONAL STAGE: Samford wasted little time introducing the nation to #BuckyBall, as the Bulldogs overwhelmed the Panthers of Greenville University, 174-99, on Wednesday in an exhibition at the Pete Hanna Center. Myron Gordon's 28 points paced the Bulldogs while senior forward Jacob Tryon added a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman guard A.J. Staton-McCray added 19 points and Tristan Chambers chipped in 16. In total, 10 Bulldogs scored in double-figures and 14 of the 16 who played scored points. Wednesday's victory established a number of new exhibition game records for the Bulldogs including points in a game (174), points in a half (102), FGs made (71), FGs attempted (111), turnovers forced (41), assists (42), and margin of victory (75).
SAMFORD-ALABAMA A&M MEET FOR 5TH TIME: Sunday's official season-opener marks the fifth meeting between Alabama A&M and Samford. The Bulldogs are 4-0 all-time against AAMU in a series that dates back to the 1988-89 season. Samford defeated Alabama A&M 77-59 in the last meeting between the two schools on Dec. 9, 2018. Ruben Guerrero led SU with 18 points, nine rebounds and a pair of blocks in the win.
ALABAMA A&M PICKED 8TH IN SWAC: Sunday's opponent Alabama A&M was picked to finish 8th in the annual Southwestern Athletic Conference Preseason Poll. The Bulldogs were 8-22 a year ago, including a 5-13 mark in SWAC play, under second-year head coach Dylan Howard. Sophomore guard Garrett Hicks (6-3, Madison, Ala.) returns to lead the Bulldogs after averaging a team-high 11.6 points per game in 2019-20.
SAMFORD TIPS OFF 103RD SEASON: The Bulldogs officially tip off the 103rd season in Samford University Men's Basketball history on Wednesday, Nov. 25 versus Martin Methodist. SU has won 1,125 games in its previous 102 seasons, including eight-straight home openers.
FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACHES AT SAMFORD: Bucky McMillan, who won 332 games and five Alabama state championships in 13 seasons at Mountain Brook High School, enters his first season as head coach of Samford men's basketball. In Samford's 47-year NCAA Division I history, Bulldog head coaches have amassed a 93-137 record in their first year on the sidelines. Mel Hankinson owns the school record for first-year skippers with 18 wins in 1984-85.
GORDON LOOKING FOR BREAKOUT RETURN: Redshirt senior guard Myron Gordon is looking to have a breakout return after redshirting last season. The Bordentown, N.J., native, started all 33 games, one of just three players on the team to do so in 2018-19 while averaging 12.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. The 6-3 guard scored in double figures 23 times, including a career-high 25 points, making 9-of-11 shots from the floor against Western Carolina. He also tallied 23 points at The Citadel and scored 22 points and a season-high five rebounds against Belmont.
BULLDOGS PICKED 8TH IN PRESEASON POLL: With the start of the 2020-21 season in less than two weeks, the Samford Bulldogs were picked to finish 8th in the SoCon Preseason Coaches Poll. UNC-Greensboro, which received 76 votes, narrowly edged Furman as the league's preseason favorite. The 2020-21 SoCon Preseason Poll was voted on by the league's head coaches. A complete breakdown of the poll and All-SoCon team is below.
Team (1st-place votes) Total
1. UNCG (4) 76
2. Furman (5) 74
3. ETSU (1) 63
4. Mercer 56
5. Wofford 47
6. Western Carolina 44
7. Chattanooga 38
8. Samford 23
9. VMI 15
10. The Citadel 14
TURNING OVER THE ROSTER: Coach McMillan's biggest challenge this offseason was assembling a roster in the midst of a global pandemic. As Samford marches toward the season-opener Nov. 25 versus Martin Methodist, the Bulldogs have 18 on the roster, including 15 newcomers or transfers. The 2020-21 roster features six seniors, four juniors, two sophomores and six freshman.
TRANSFERS BRING OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER TO SU: #BuckyBall in 2020-21 will feature several new additions to the program, including seven transfers. Christian Guess, a 6-6 guard from North Idaho College, averaged 21.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore in 2019-20 while Richardson Maitre, a 6-3 guard from Florida Atlantic, played in every game for the Owls last season, averaging 9.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. K.J. Davis, a 6-6 guard who sat out last year after transferring from East Carolina, averaged 5.4 points per game for the Pirates. Quinn Richey, a 6-5 sophomore from James Madison, adds another athletic shooting guard with range on the perimeter for coach McMillan. Richey played in 16 games for JMU, scoring a career-high 11 points versus Shenandoah.
CHAMBERS RETURNS TO SAMFORD: Triston Chambers, a 6-2 guard from Cold Springs, is returning to Samford for his senior season. Chambers played two seasons at Samford before transferring to UA-Huntsville. In 2017-18, he played in all 32 games for the Bulldogs, including 22 starts, averaging 8.8 points per game, shooting an impressive 45.2 percent from three-point range.
TRYON ADDS LENGTH IN THE PAINT: Jacob Tryon, a 6-11 center from Temecula, Calif., transferred from Portland where he appeared in 21 games, starting six games in his first year with the Pilots. Tryon averaged 5.2 points and 3.1 rebounds, while shooting 45 percent from the field and 73 percent at the free throw line. He reached double figures in scoring on five occasions.
SoCON CELEBRATING 100 YEARS IN 2021: One of the oldest conferences in college athletics, the Southern Conference will celebrate a century of athletic and academic achievement in 2021 with a variety of initiatives throughout the year. Throughout the 2021 calendar year, the SoCon will celebrate the milestone in a multitude of ways. The most notable and ubiquitous will be a new logo created for the anniversary, which incorporates the well-established mark the league has used since 2000.
