The regular season has come to an end, and it is time for the Samford men’s basketball team to enter tournament play. After finishing the season winning nine of the last 11, the Bulldogs are primed to make a wrun and punch their ticket to March Madness.
Samford enters the tournament as the No.3 seed and is set to face the Furman Paladins. That said, the seeds two through five are all within one game of each other, meaning this tournament could be many ways. So how does Samford stack up?
Samford
If Samford is going to win, it is going to be on the back of Jadin Booth. The senior leads the country in three-pointers made per game and ended his regular-season campaign by breaking the school record for most three-pointers made in a game on the path to scoring 40 points.
Behind Booth, Dylan Faulkner will need to be a key contributor. Faulkner finished second in the SoCon in blocks and fourth in rebounds, all while averaging 17.3 points per game.
Cade and Keaton Norris will also be key contributors, both starting 31 and 27 games, respectively. The two lead the Bulldogs in assists. Isaish Campbell-Finch will likely round out the starting lineup.
For Samford to go on a run, they will need to win three games over three days, so team depth is crucial. Zion Willburn has been a consistent sixth man this year and has proven the ability to take over a game when necessary. Kam Martin and Will Shaver both saw decent minutes down the stretch, a trend likely to continue throughout the tournament. Finally, Jaxon Pollard, who has not had a great statistical season, continues to get high praise from head coach Lennie Acuff on his leadership. Pollard’s veteran presence makes him a reliable option off the bench.
Samford went 11-7 in SoCon play this season. After starting 2-5, the Bulldogs finished 9-2, making them one of the hottest teams in the tournament. Every conference loss this season was within 10 points, proving to fans that the Bulldogs will not be outmatched by any team in the competition. The only team the Bulldogs did not beat in the regular season is the first team Samford is slated to play.
Furman
Despite standing as the No. 6 seed, the Paladins were only one win from being a No. 2 seed. Furman will prove to be a formidable matchup for Samford in the postseason. Head coach Bob Richey has a storied career, taking the Paladins to the final round of the SoCon tournament three of the last four seasons. While often said to be difficult to beat a team three times in a single season, Alex Wilkins, Cooper Bowser and Asa Thomas will not make it easy for Samford.
Wofford
Wofford split the regular-season series with Samford this year and stands as the No 2. seed. Despite winning the conference tournament last season, the Terriers were picked to finish ninth in preseason coaches’ poll under first-year head coach Kevin Giltner.
Wofford was led by Kahmare Holmes and Nils Machowski as the leading point scorers, Holmes being third in the SoCon in scoring. Wofford will look to continue defying expectations and be a serious contender.
East Tennessee State
As the regular-season conference champions, ETSU is the team to beat in this bracket. Their 13-5 conference record gave them a two-game lead over second place. Head coach Brooks Savage is in his third season at the helm, and if Samford were to meet ETSU in the finals, he would look to get revenge after the Bulldogs beat him in that spot two years ago.
ETSU shares the ball well, with their top three players all averaging 14 points per game. While they don’t have one guy leading the SoCon in any statistical category, they do have multiple players in the top 10 across several. To beat them again, Samford will need to play disciplined basketball.
The rest
Mercer and Western Carolina are other teams to look out for. Both have proven to be threats to the top teams in the SoCon and could put together a run. Chattanooga, Virginia Military Institute and UNC Greensboro have all shown to give Samford a challenge.
SoCon action begins in Asheville on March 6. Samford will face Furman on March 7 at 5 p.m. CT.
Sports Editor
