GAME NOTES: UNC-Greensboro @ Samford (PDF)
Complete release with notes, stats, rankings and more in PDF format 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Due to scheduling changes precipitated by COVID-19, the Samford men's basketball team will host the University of North Carolina-Greensboro in back-to-back Southern Conference contests on Thursday, Jan. 14 at 6 PM and Saturday, Jan. 16 at 2 PM. Both games will be played at the Pete Hanna Center with ESPN+ providing complete coverage of the games.

UNCG was originally scheduled to play at Western Carolina on Wednesday before the league announced the change. 

Thursday's tilt will be the 28th all-time on the hardwood between the Bulldogs (5-5, 1-2 SoCon) and Spartans (6-5, 1-2 SoCon). UNCG leads the series standings 17-10, including seven wins in a row. The Spartans swept the series in 2019-20 with a 70-63 win at the PHC and a 95-67 victory at home.

UNCG enters Thursday's game coming off a 48-45 loss at Wofford on Jan. 9 in Greensboro. Isaiah Miller and Hayden Koval led UNCG with 10 points each while Storm Murphy paced Wofford and all scorers with 18 points.

Miller, a 6-0 guard and the 2020-21 Preseason SoCon Player of the Year, leads the Spartans in scoring at 17.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
 

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS:

• The Bulldogs will play five games in nine days thanks to this week's reshuffled Southern Conference schedule. After back-to-back dates with UNCG, Samford will host Western Carolina on Jan. 18 (2PM) followed by Chattanooga on Jan. 20 (7PM) and The Citadel on Jan. 23 (2 PM). 
• Samford enters Thursday's game versus UNC-Greensboro averaging 85.0 points per game, ranking third in the SoCon and 17th in NCAA DI basketball.
• The Bulldogs are 5-1 when out rebounding the opposition. 
• Myron Gordon , a 6-3 senior guard from Bordentown, N.J., is leading the team in scoring, averaging 17.1 ppg to rank sixth in the league. Gordon, a two-time SoCon Player of the Week, scored a career-high 29 points at Georgia. 
• Christian Guess, a 6-6 junior guard from Cleveland, Ohio, has been a major force for the Bulldogs, averaging a double-double with 15.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. 
• A.J. Staton-McCray, a 6-5 freshman from Charlotte, N.C., scored a career-high 23 points, making 7-of-8 shots from the floor and 5-of-6 from three-point range, in Samford's 133-84 win over Belhaven. McCray, who ranks 26th in the SoCon in scoring, is averaging 11.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game for the Bulldogs.
• Senior center Jacob Tryon , who is averaging 8.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds in his last outing at Wofford.   
• Jalen Dupree, a 6-8 senior forward from Cordova, Tenn., made his 2020-21 debut in Samford's 133-84 win over Belhaven on Dec. 21, 2020. Dupree played 14 minutes while finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds. He enters Thursday's game versus UNCG averaging 9.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
• Senior Preston Parks started the season a little slowly, but has turned it on of late, scoring in double figures in his last two games. The Greenville, S.C., native, scored 13 points at Wofford on Saturday after a career-high 15 versus VMI. He is averaging 6.7 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.
• Triston Chambers has increased his production of late, scoring a season-high 21 points versus Belhaven. The Coldwater, Ala., native, is averaging 7.1 points per game and leads the team with 19 made 3-pointers.
• Junior forward Logan Dye, a 6-8 forward from Haleyville, Ala., is averaging 9.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game coming into the week. He scored a career-high 21 points in the season-opener versus Alabama A&M.   
• Senior point guard Richardson Maitre , a 6-3 transfer from Florida Atlantic, leads Samford in assists with 35, averaging 3.5 per contest.
• Samford's success this season has been fueled by the offensive production of its non-starters, who have outscored the opposition 466-169. In a 98-73 win over Covenant, the Bulldogs bench outscored the Scots, 48-21, and in a 96-83 win at Belmont, SU held a dominating 64-4 edge in bench scoring. In Saturday's heartbreaking loss at Georgia, the Bulldogs bench outscored UGA 44-19. In Saturday's win at Kennesaw State, the Bulldog bench dominated the scoring, 37-7. SU had it's largest bench scoring margin of the season, 94-21, in a 133-84 win over Belhaven. 
• The Bulldogs are playing their 103rd season in Samford University Men's Basketball history. Samford has won 1,129 games in its previous 102 seasons, including 604 as an NCAA Division I institution.