Bulldogs win five out of last six contests
When the 2021-2022 season tipped off on Tuesday, Nov. 9, the Samford Men’s Basketball team made an effort to deliver a unique style of college basketball to the Pete Hanna Center.
The team, led by second-year head coach Bucky McMillan, is sitting at 16-9 overall and 6-7 in the Southern Conference.
Their most recent home game against Wofford was a critical win for the Bulldogs. The game, which ended with a 65-60 Samford overtime victory, was a hard-fought finish that was won late by McMillan’s aggressive defense.
The game consisted of six technical fouls and was the second meeting between Samford and Wofford this season. Less than one month ago, the Bulldogs were dominated by the Terriers, 87-64.
The quick turnaround between these two games reflects Samford’s conference record. The Bulldogs’ first of two conference schedule legs ended 1-6, but they have gone 5-1 since then.
After the first leg of the conference, Samford was in last place. Now, the Bulldogs currently sit in seventh place, three spots higher than where they were just three weeks ago.
Bucky McMillan’s intense style of play has been an obvious difference maker over the past two weeks. The defense that delivered two massive Power 5 upsets earlier this season appears to be slowly translating to Southern Conference play.
Though McMillan’s defense has contributed to several important victories this season, there are still gaps to be filled.
The Bulldogs currently have the lowest opponent field goal percentage in the conference (45%) and recently gave up 107 points to The Citadel. The defense will need to continue to improve before making a run in the conference tournament.
On offense, sophomore guard Ques Glover leads the team in scoring, averaging 18.5 points per game, which is the fourth highest PPG in the SoCOn. He also holds the team high average of 4.4 assists per game, which is second highest in the SoCon.
Akron transfer Jermaine Marshall is averaging 12 points per game while also snagging a team leading average of 7.9 rebounds per game. Senior Logan Dye stands at 6-feet-9-inches and is scoring 11.9 points per game with 4.4 rebounds. Both Marshall and Dye have provided massive contributions in the paint during their recent conference victories.
Though a regular season title may be out of reach, the Bulldogs still have plenty of time to better their SoCon Tournament seed and fix harmful errors before the end of the regular season on Feb. 26. The Bulldogs have five conference games remaining and the tournament will begin on March 3 in Asheville, North Carolina.
The next home game will be at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Alabama on Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs will face off against the Virginia Military Institute Keydets, who beat the Bulldogs 99-80 on Jan. 20.
Staff Writer
