ETSU has a chance for 20th win against Samford

East Tennessee State matched its win total of the previous two years on Wednesday night. The Bucs, who are on a four-game win streak, have a chance for a milestone 20th win Saturday at noon against Samford in a game televised on ESPNU. ETSU coach Brooks Savage explained his team's success is part of a three-year process. The Bucs (19-7) are also 11-2 in the Southern Conference with a two-game lead over Wofford in the league standings. "We've taken some big steps. It started that first year when we went on the road and beat Davidson, beat East Carolina," Savage said. "We started 1-5 (in the SoCon) then we rallied, got hot the end of the year and made the championship. Last year, finishing third 7-2 on the back half, another step. This year to take another step during the regular season, try to get our 20th win Saturday. The accolades have improved as we've done something that hasn't been done around here a while." The Bucs, who swept Chattanooga for the first time since the 2020 season on Wednesday night, will try to do the same to Samford. They beat the Bulldogs 76-75 on Blake Barkley's tip-in with four seconds left when the teams met January 17 at Birmingham. Barkley had career highs with 26 points and 11 rebounds that day. He's been the Bucs' most consistent offensive player the second half of the season with 13 straight games in double figures. He ranks second on the team with 14.2 points per game and leads the team with a 5.7 rebound average. Savage is happy how year's team has been balanced offensively. Jordan McCullum scored 24 points in the 73-61 victory over Chattanooga. He became the sixth ETSU player to score 20 points or more in a game this season. "We can kind of compare it to the 2020 team. We had eight guys that year that led the team in scoring at some point," Savage said. "We've got plenty of plenty of weapons, plenty of good players. When we're really playing together, cutting, playing on balance, we're tough to beat." Cam Morris III leads the ETSU weaponry at 14.5 points per game. Brian Taylor II, the 6-4 senior guard, is at 13.5 points per game, while Jaylen Smith is at 9.4 points per game. Allen Strothers hasn't hit the 20-point mark, but plays a different role with a team-best 88 assists. In the Bucs' last two games, they've had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio. As good as the offense has been, ETSU leads the Southern Conference in scoring defense, allowing 67.6 points per game. The defense kept ETSU close early in the game against Chattanooga when the Bucs went scoreless nearly a seven-minute stretch before a 3-point shot by Maki Johnson. "We're hanging our hat on the defensive end of the floor," Savage said. "On basketball, if you don't value the ball in terms of shot selection and turnovers, if you don't get back in transition defense, play five on five, you don't defensive rebound, you got no shot. So when you do those things, you know, we're pretty good." BATTLING THE BULLDOGS Samford (14-12, 7-6), also on a four-game win streak, won 97-80 over Wofford on Wednesday. Jadin Booth scored 25 points and Cade Norris contributed 17 as the Bulldogs hit 58 percent from the field. In the loss to ETSU, the Bulldogs only led once in the second half on a 3-point shot by Keaton Norris with seven seconds left. The Bulldogs hit 14 shots behind the arc that day to give themselves the shot at the end Booth led the Bulldogs with 19 points against the Bucs. The 6-foot-2 graduate student leads the team with a 20.9 points per game average. Dylan Faulkner, a 6-9 junior forward, is next at 17.3 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds per game. Keaton Norris, a graduate student, is at 9.6 points, and younger brother Cade, a sophomore, averages 8.3 points.