GAME NOTES: Western Carolina @ Samford (PDF)
Complete game release in PDF format

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford men's basketball team continues its five game home stand on Monday, Jan. 18, as the Bulldogs (5-6, 1-3 SoCon) host the Catamounts of Western Carolina on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at the Pete Hanna Center. Tipoff is set for 2 PM. ESPN+ will have complete coverage of the event.

Monday's matinee is the 26th meeting between the two schools in a series that dates back to the 1961-62. Western Carolina, which sept the season series in 2019-20, leads the all-time series 14-11, including a 109-78 victory on Feb. 26, 2020 in Cullowee, N.C. in their last meeting.

The Catamounts have battled COVID-19 issues recently, which forced the postponement of their game on Jan. 13 with UNC-Greensboro. WCU enters Monday's matchup 7-4 with a 0-2 mark in Southern Conference play after a 78-76 loss on Saturday, Jan. 16 at Mercer.   

Five players average in double figures for coach Mark Prosser, led by Matt Halvorsen's 16.0 points per game. Mason Faulker is adding 15.0 ppg and 5.9 rebounds.

Both teams rank in the top five in the SoCon in scoring, with the Bulldogs averaging 81.9 and the Catamounts 82.7 points per game.

The rare Monday matinee will feature a special recognition of the lasting legacy Dr. King has had on the United States of America. Southern Conference commissioner Jim Schaus will also be featured in a special video message to all fans in attendance.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS:

• Christian Guess, a 6-6 junior guard from Cleveland, Ohio, continues his strong play on the glass, averaging a team-leading 9.4 rebounds while scoring 15.5 points per game. In Saturday's loss to UNCG, Guess led the Bulldogs with 16 points and eight rebounds. He has scored in double figures in all eight games he has played.  
• A.J. Staton-McCray, a 6-5 freshman from Charlotte, N.C., made his fifth consecutive start for the Bulldogs on Saturday versus UNCG, finishing with 10 points, five rebounds and three assists. He 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 is averaging 10.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game thus far. 
• Freshman point guard Jaron Rillie continues to increase his production, scoring a combined 17 points and dishing out six assists in back-to-back games versus UNCG. The 6-3 freshman from Santa Barbara, Calif., scored a career-high nine points versus the Spartans on Thursday, Jan. 14.
• Junior forward Logan Dye, a 6-8 forward from Haleyville, Ala., is averaging 8.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game coming into Monday's matchup with the Catamounts. He scored a career-high 21 points in the season-opener versus Alabama A&M.   
• 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. Dupree turned in eight points and five rebounds in his last outing versus UNCG. He enters Monday's game versus Western Carolina averaging 8.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. 
• Sharp-shooting guard Triston Chambers leads the Bulldogs with 20 made 3-pointers this season. The Coldwater, Ala., native, is averaging 6.5 points per game. He posted a season-best 21 points earlier this year versus Belhaven. 
• Richardson Maitre a 6-3 senior point guard from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, has started all 12 games for the Bulldogs since transferring from Florida Atlantic. The speedy guard is averaging 7.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game for Samford. Maitre had 12 points and three assists in SU's last outing versus UNCG.
• Senior Preston Parks started the season a little slowly, but has turned it on of late. The Greenville, S.C., native, scored 13 points at Wofford after a career-high 15 versus VMI. He is averaging 6.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. After his eight point performance versus UNCG, Parks topped the 1,000 career point plateau across his time at The Citadel, Tennessee-Martin and Samford.  
• Myron Gordon, a 6-3 senior guard from Bordentown, N.J., sustained an undisclosed injury versus UNCG on Thursday, Jan. 14. Gordon did not play against the Spartans on Saturday, Jan. 16. The slashing guard is leading the team in scoring, averaging 15.6 ppg to rank eighth in the league. Gordon, a two-time SoCon Player of the Week, scored a career-high 29 points at Georgia.
• Samford has been tremendous on the glass this year, averaging 40.8 rebounds per game. The Bulldogs have topped 40 rebounds in a game six times in 2020-21. 
• Samford hosts the Catamounts of Western Carolina on Monday, Jan. 18 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - at 2PM in the Pete Hanna Center. The rare Monday matinee will feature a special recognition of the lasting legacy Dr. King has had on the United States of America. Southern Conference commissioner Jim Schaus will also be featured in a special video message to all fans in attendance.
• Samford's success this season has been fueled by the offensive production of its non-starters, who have outscored the opposition 503-191. 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. 
• Arguably one of the nation's most distinct brands of basketball, #BuckyBall, has come to Samford with new head coach Bucky McMillan. The former standout at Birmingham Southern won 332 games and five Alabama state championships in 13 seasons as head coach at Mountain Brook High School. The up-tempo, in your face style of play became a staple in Birmingham, as MBHS transformed into a national power. McMillan has been named "Coach of the Year" 12 times in his career, including 2019 USA Today National Coach of the Year.
• 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.