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After last Friday’s 40 point blowout of Alcorn State, Coach Wade and his Tigers will take on the Samford Bulldogs (1-1) before they head to the Maui Invitational next week. Samford dropped their season opener against Arkansas on Friday night in an embarrassing fashion, losing 95-56 and only shooting 32.8% from the field. They would, however, even up their record with a win over Alabama A&M Monday night, and turned in a much better offensive performance, shooting 50.0% from the field.
Judging by one of my personal favorite ranking systems in college basketball, KenPom, this should be a much tougher test for the Tigers, with Samford ranked 137th and LSU at 82nd. For a short explanation, KenPom takes many factors into account, including strength of schedule, tempo, luck, and adjusted defensive/offensive efficiency. It then spits out a coefficient that is used to rank the teams. For comparison’s sake, the now 0-3 Alcorn State is ranked 332nd. There are 351 Division I teams.
Projected Samford Starting 5
#20 F - Alex Thompson: 10.5ppg, 3.5rpg, 26.0 minutes
#33 C - Wyatt Walker: 9.0ppg, 5.0rpg, 17.5 minutes
#00 G - Christen Cunningham: 8.5ppg, 2.5 assists, 27.0 minutes
#22 G - Demetrius Denzel-Dyson: 8.0ppg, 3.5rpg, 24.5 minutes
#03 PG - Josh Sharkey: 7.5ppg, 4.0 assists, 19.5 minutes
Also expect to see a lot of #2 PG Justin Coleman, who’s averaging 7.5 points and 24.5 minutes, and leads the Bulldogs with 6 assists per game.
Be sure to come out and support your Tigers in their last home game until November 29th. Tickets are $2 at the box office with a canned good donation. Watch on SECN+ via the WatchESPN app, listen on 98.1 FM, or follow along in the comments below or on Twitter @marq113.