GAME NOTES: First-year head coach Scott Padgett has his Samford Bulldogs on the road at the Jack Stephens Center facing off against the Cal State Northridge Matadors as part of the 2014 Maui on the Mainland Invitational.

After losing the first two games of the season to Purdue and Pittsburgh, the Bulldogs responded earlier this week by slipping by Austin Peay in the home opener by a narrow 68-67 final to earn Padgett, a former Kentucky standout, his first win as a head coach.

As for the Matadors, led by second-year coach Reggie Theus, they have followed a similar road to Samford, losing the first two outings of the campaign to San Diego State and Arizona, both nationally ranked, before taking down Montana State on Wednesday night, 72-65, at home.

The Bulldogs won the only previous meeting between the teams back in 1995 as part of the Dr. Pepper Classic in Tennessee, a 70-55 decision.

The winner of this game will face off against the survivor of the UMKC/Arkansas-Little Rock contest in the next round of the event on Sunday.

Samford appeared poised to post an easy win over Austin Peay earlier this week at home, leading by 11 points at the break, but in the second half the hosts shot a mere 37.5 percent from the floor, including 2-of-9 behind the 3-point line, as they held on for the one-point victory. Christen Cunningham came up with 14 points and five assists, Brandon Roberts 11 points off the bench, and Darius Jones-Gibson 10 points and seven boards in the close call.

Not a very aggressive team at the offensive end of the floor, the Bulldogs are scoring a mere 54.7 ppg and will have a hard time working their way back, as far as the stats are concerned, from their 80-40 blowout loss against the Boilermakers in the opener. Because of that meeting, Samford is shooting just 32.8 percent from the floor overall and is being outscored by more than 15 ppg.

Currently, the only player scoring in double figures for the Bulldogs is Cunningham with his 10.7 ppg, his 13 assists also by far the best mark on the unit.

For the Matadors, they held Montana State to only 34.4 percent shooting from the field in the their meeting this week, forcing the visitors into 17 turnovers as well, and yet CSUN still won by just seven points in front of the hometown crowd. Stephan Hicks was the high man with 23 points, hitting all but one of his 10 free-throw chances, followed by Stephen Maxwell with 15 points for a squad that outscored the opposition, 20-10, at the charity stripe.

A 51.3 percent shooter from the floor, Maxwell is pacing the Matadors with his 16.3 ppg, although Hicks is not that far behind with 14.3 ppg. Maxwell is also responsible for 6.7 rpg, which helps to offset the fact that he has turned the ball over eight times and has but two assists. Landon Drew (3.3 ppg) may not be much of a scorer at the moment, but he is still contributing with 13 assists and 10 steals in three starts.

Unfortunately for the Matadors, they are still dealing with a depleted roster due to several suspension, something that could certainly hurt them when they take the floor all this weekend.