GAME NOTES: After a lopsided victory over Niagara on Friday, the Pittsburgh Panthers will try to start the season 2-0 as they host the Samford Bulldogs in non-conference action Sunday at Petersen Events Center.

Samford was in action Friday night against Purdue, and the Bulldogs found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard in an 80-40 beatdown by the Boilermakers. The matchup with Pittsburgh is the second of a two-game road trip to start the season.

Pittsburgh had no issue whatsoever handling Niagara on Friday in the team's season opener, 78-45. This game is the last one at home the Panthers will play before heading off to Hawaii for the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

This meeting between Samford and Pittsburgh is the first one in the all-time series between the two programs. It's also being played as a first-round game for the Maui Invitational, although it is taking place at Pitt.

Samford didn't finish at the bottom of the league standings last year, but it may be hard to avoid the basement this season after losing so much from the team's roster. Over the past two seasons, then-Bulldogs coach Bennie Seltzer lost 14 players to transfer. The latest wave of exports included five of the team's top six scorers, including First-Team All-Southern Conference forward Tim Williams (17.6 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 45 blocked shots), who was the team's leading scorer last season. New coach Scott Padgett was an assistant with Samford, so you can be sure the system itself at Samford won't change too much after his elevation to head coach.

The team's first game this season against Purdue was hopefully not a sing of things to come. The Bulldogs fell behind 43-16 by the time the first half clock had run out. Only one Samford player recorded a double-digit scoring total in the loss to the Boilermakers - Christen Cunningham netted 10 points and pulled down five rebounds in the one-sided defeat. Tyler Hood and Jamal Shabazz each chipped in seven points for the Bulldogs.

Pittsburgh lost some of the best talent in the ACC after the Panthers' first year as a member of the conference a season ago. Without Lamar Patterson and Talib Zanna, Pittsburgh enters the season searching for a true leader and go- to scorer. But against Niagara on Friday night in the team's season opener, the Panthers got contributions from a number of different outlets, including four players that registered scoring figures in the double digits.

Jamel Artis notched a team-high 14 points, adding four assists to his stat line in the win. Josh Newkirk had 12 points with five assists, Cameron Johnson came off the bench to score 11 points and Chris Jones tallied 10 points in 19 minutes on the floor. The Pittsburgh defense was stifling against Niagara, which as a unit was held to 25 percent shooting from the floor in the loss, and went a dismal 0-for-14 from 3-point range. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, shot 52.6 percent from the field with a 43.8 percent mark from distance.

Samford is going to need plenty of time to adjust to yet another new set of players that doesn't include last season's leading scorer. The same goes for Pittsburgh, but the ACC program is still loaded with contributors that can step up on a nightly basis. Especially at home, the Panthers should be able to take care of Samford Sunday.