Jefferson Reporter

 The Samford Men's Basketball Team will host the VMI Keydets to tip off the second week of Southern Conference play on Wednesday, Jan. 4 from the Pete Hanna Center.

Game time is set for 6:30 p.m., with the contest streaming live on ESPN+.

Wednesday's match-up is the 22nd meeting between Samford and VMI in a series that dates back to 1966. The Bulldogs hold a 16-5 series advantage, highlighted by an 11-game winning streak from the 2015-2016 through the 2019-2020 seasons. 

Samford split its season series 1-1 with VMI in 2021-22, earning a 100-99 victory in overtime against the Keydets in the most recent game on Feb. 17, 2022. 

The Bulldogs were one of just three teams in the SoCon to win both games during the opening week of play, most recently picking up a 75-63 road win at The Citadel on Dec. 31.  

Four Bulldogs scored in double figures against The Citadel, with Logan Dye recording 20 points and eight rebounds. Jermaine Marshall logged his first double-double of the season with a 13-point, 10-rebound effort while Nathan Johnson (13) and Jaron Rillie (11) each scored in double digits.  

Dye was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week after averaging 21.5 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 70 percent from the field over last week's action. The senior forward combined his 20-point effort on Saturday with a 23-point performance in the Bulldogs' home win against Mercer on Wednesday, Dec. 28. 

Dye's 21.5 points per game in conference competition leads all SoCon players. The senior forward also ranks third in field goal percentage in SoCon games (70%) and seventh in free throw percentage (91.7%).

The Bulldogs have put together their best performances at home this season, where they are averaging 84 points, 38.4 rebounds, and 13.8 assists per game. 

Marshall leads the Bulldogs in both points (16) and rebounds (6.4) per game in home contests while shooting 58 percent (34-59) from the floor and 81 percent (29-36) on free throw attempts.

The VMI Keydets (5-10, 0-2 SoCon) come in looking for their first SoCon victory of the season after falling 85-62 at Furman on Dec. 29 and 64-50 against ETSU on Dec. 31. 

Sean Conway leads the Keydets in both scoring (15 PPG) and rebounding (6.3 RPG) and is one of four players on the squad averaging double figures in scoring. Asher Woods (14.3 PPG), Tyler Houser (10.3 PPG), and Tony Felder Jr. (10.2 PPG) have all been viable scoring options for VMI this season. 

Andrew Wilson is in his inaugural season as Head Coach of the Keydets. Wilson comes to VMI after spending the past two seasons as an assistant coach under Mark Byington at James Madison University, where he helped coach the Dukes to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in nearly a decade. 

Original source can be found here.