Game Day Essentials: Game #12 vs Samford

Samford Info

Head Coach: Scott Padgett
Location: Providence, RI
Conference: Southern
Nickname: Bulldogs
Mascot: Spike the Bulldog
Last time out: Lost to South Alabama
Typical Rotation Depth: 9-10 players
Offensive Style: Hack attack
Defensive Style: Pressure, Zone
Line: Nebraska by 12.5
Halftime: Red Panda!

Player to watch: Darius Jones-Gibson

The 6-1 Senior draws fouls at an elite Div 1 rate as over half of his shot attempts are in the paint and he's been to the line 80 times already (Shields leads the Huskers with 50 FT attempts) DJG is turnover prone and is a poor 3pt shooter

Player to watch: Matt Rose

Samford overall is a poor 3pt shooting team but Kentucky native Matt Rose and his 47.6% 3pt shooting is almost singlehandedly keeping them from being one of the worst.

The Skinny

From 1997-2012 Jimmy Tillette ran the Princeton offense at Samford, leading them to their only two tourney appearances in 1999 and 2000. Long time Tom Crean protege Bennie Seltzer took over in 2012 and was run out of town 2 years later after he had an astounding 14 players transfer on him. Current 2nd year coach and former Kentucky Wildcat player Scott Padgett has seen some success with his press and zone defense but has yet to beat anyone of note. If the Huskers show up, it won't happen tonight.

This is a slightly dangerous matchup for Nebraska as the Bulldogs excel in turning teams over and drawing fouls which have been ongoing issues for the Huskers. Jake Hammond and Ed Morrow in particular will have to keep their hacking to a minimum or else will find themselves riding the bench again. On the flipside Samford is not a good shooting team and also draws a lot of fouls in their attempts to steal. There should be some opportunity on the offensive boards as well against this team.

Look for Nebraska to have their full focus on Samford and beat the spread

Prediction: Nebraska 79 - Samford 64 with a 79% chance of Runzas