Texas Longhorns Basketball: Samford Preview

After playing Washington twice during the first several weeks of the season, the Texas Longhorns get to take on yet another Pac-12 opponent as the Stanford Cardinal heads to Austin.

Stanford is led by sophomore point guard.... wait, what? Oh, crap. Let's start again.

The 6-2 Samford Bulldogs come into Austin tonight. And thankfully, we have some game footage that we found online to show you.

No. Sorry again. That wasn't helpful at all.

Like I said, Samford is 6-2, and is coached by former Kentucky Wildcat and eight year NBA vet Scott Padgett. Padgett is in his second season in Birmingham, taking over the program after Bennie Seltzer was let go.

Samford opened the season against Padgett's former college coach, losing 86-45 to Louisville. Since then, the only blemish on the Bulldog record is a one point road loss at Austin Peay. That said, since playing Louisville, Samford hasn't played a single opponent in the Kenpom.com top 250.

The strength of Samford comes on offense, while the D has been up and down. The Bulldog attack is led by guards Darius Jones-Gibson and Christen Cunningham. Both players are double digit scorers, and are relentless attackers that prefer barreling towards the rim over shooting from the perimeter. Both have a knack for scoring around the basket and earn frequent trips to the foul line. And both take good care of the ball and are more nimble than Redd Foxx. Containing this duo will be of primary importance for Shaka Smart's defense.

Playing off the action of Cunningham and Jones-Gibson are a couple of tall shooting wings. 6-7 freshman Matt Rose and 6-6 senior Jamal Shabazz, as well as significantly less tall 5-11 senior Marcus Johnson are Padgett's designated perimeter shooters. Rose is also active on the offensive glass.

Rotating through the front court are 6-9 freshman Wyatt Walker, 6-5 senior Iman Johnson, and 6-7 sophomore Eric Adams. Adams is the team's leading shot blocker, despite averaging fewer than 11 minutes per game. Walker is the most likely to score, with most of his offense coming at the rim off of passes from teammates and offensive rebounds.

The game airs on the Longhorn Network, and should tip off a little past 8 PM CST.