GAME NOTES: Chattanooga @ Samford (1.20.21) (PDF)
Complete game notes package in PDF format

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - For the second time this season, the Samford men's basketball team will square off with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The Bulldogs (5-6, 1-3 SoCon) welcome the Mocs (11-4, 2-4 SoCon) to the Pete Hanna Center on Wednesday, Jan. 20. Tipoff is set for 7 PM. ESPN+ will have complete coverage of the event.

Wednesday's games is the 105th between the two schools in a series that dates back to the 1925-26 season. Chattanooga leads the all-time series 64-40. The Mocs have won three in a row against the Bulldogs. In fact, SU's last win at home versus UTC was an 80-76 overtime thriller on Feb. 16, 2019.

Chattanooga edged Samford, 73-68, on Jan. 6 at McKenzie Arena in the season's earlier matchup. The Bulldogs were led in scoring by Myron Gordon with 18 points while Christian Guess had 13 points and 13 rebounds. The Mocs were paced by David Jean-Baptiste with 22 points.

After starting off the season 9-0, UTC is 2-4 in their last six games, all Southern Conference events. Wofford defeated the Mocs, 77-59, in their last outing on Jan. 16 after Chattanooga had defeated Mercer, 83-80, earlier that week. 

The Mocs have four players averaging in double figures led David Jean-Baptiste at 18.6 points per game. The 6-1 guard from Miami, Fla., has scored in double figures in all 15 games this season with a career-high 29 coming at VMI. 

Wright State transfer Malachi Smith, a Belleville, Ill., native, is nearly averaging a double-double with 16.3 points and 9.8 rebounds as well. Smith posted a career best 29 points at Tennessee State earlier this year. 

Samford is coming off a hard-fought 82-78 victory over Western Carolina on Monday, Jan. 18 at the Pete Hanna Center. Five Bulldogs scored in double figures led by Christian Guess with 19 points and seven rebounds. Jacob Tryon added 17 points followed by Logan Dye and A.J. Staton-McCray with 11 each. Richardson Maitre turned in 10 points with a career-high eight assists. Western's Mason Faulkner led all scorers with 24 points.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS:

• Christian Guess, a 6-6 junior guard from Cleveland, Ohio, is narrowly missing a double-double on the season after averaging 15.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. The North Idaho College transfer has scored in double digits in ever game he's played this year, including a career-high 22 points versus Alabama A&M. He currently ranks 11th in scoring and fourth in rebounding in the SoCon.    
• A.J. Staton-McCray, a 6-5 freshman from Charlotte, N.C., continues to be one of the most productive newcomers in the SoCon, averaging 10.5 points and 3.9 rebounds a game. 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.  
• Freshman point guard Jaron Rillie continues to increase his production, scoring a combined 25 points and dishing out four assists in Samford's last three games. The 6-3 freshman from Santa Barbara, Calif., scored a career-high nine points versus the UNCG Spartans on Thursday, Jan. 14 and played a huge role in the Bulldogs' 82-78 win over Western Carolina with eight points, two rebounds and two assists.
• Junior forward Logan Dye, a 6-8 forward from Haleyville, Ala., is averaging 8.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game coming into Wednesday's game with Chattanooga. He scored a career-high 21 points in the season-opener versus Alabama A&M. Dye finished with 11 points and six rebounds in Monday's win over Western Carolina.  
• Jalen Dupree, a 6-8 senior forward from Cordova, Tenn., had found his stride after an early injury delayed his start to the year. Dupree has played in SU's last seven game, starting four, averaging 7.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.  
• Sharp-shooting guard Triston Chambers is tied for the team lead with 20 made 3-pointers. The Cold Springs, Ala., native, is averaging 6.0 points per game. He posted a season-best 21 points earlier this year versus Belhaven.  Earlier this year, Chambers passed the 600 career point plateau with 619 points and 159 made 3-pointers. 
• Richardson Maitre a 6-3 senior point guard from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, has started all 13 games for the Bulldogs since transferring from Florida Atlantic. The speedy guard is averaging 7.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 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 6.2 points and 2.2 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 enters Wednesday's game with Chattanooga averaging 81.9 points per game, ranking 5th in the SoCon.
• The Bulldogs are holding opponents to 43.0 percent from the field. Samford currently ranks fifth in FG percentage defense in the SoCon.
• Samford has been tenacious on the glass this season, averaging 40.5 rebounds per game. The Bulldogs are second in the league on the glass trailing only UNCG (41.9).
• The Bulldogs are sharing the wealth, averaging g 16.8 assists per game to rank fourth in the league. 
• Samford's success this season has been fueled by the offensive production of its non-starters, who have outscored the opposition 528-199. 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.