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2023–24 Samford Bulldogs men's basketball
2023–24 Samford Bulldogs men's basketball
SoCon regular-season champions; SoCon tournament champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	29–6 (15–3 SoCon)
Head coach	Bucky McMillan (4th season);
Assistant coaches	Mitch Cole; Danny Young; Neb Exantus;
Home arena	Pete Hanna Center
	Seasons ← 2022–23 2024–25 →

2023–24 Southern Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Samford †	15	–	3	.833	29	–	6	.829
UNC Greensboro	12	–	6	.667	21	–	11	.656
Chattanooga	12	–	6	.667	21	–	12	.636
Western Carolina	11	–	7	.611	22	–	10	.688
Furman	10	–	8	.556	17	–	16	.515
Wofford	10	–	8	.556	17	–	15	.531
East Tennessee State	8	–	10	.444	19	–	16	.543
Mercer	8	–	10	.444	16	–	17	.485
The Citadel	3	–	15	.167	11	–	21	.344
VMI	1	–	17	.056	4	–	28	.125

† 2024 SoCon tournament winner

The 2023–24 Samford Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Samford University in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by fourth-year head coach Bucky McMillan, played their home games at the Pete Hanna Center in Homewood, Alabama as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They finished the season 29–6, 15–3 in SoCon play, to win the regular-season championship. As No. 1 seed in the SoCon tournament, they defeated Mercer,^[1] Furman^[2] and East Tennessee State to win the conference championship.^[3] As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for the third time in school history and first since 2000.^[3] As the No. 13 seed in the Midwest region, they lost to Kansas in the first round.^[4]

Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the 2022–23 season 21–11, 15–3 in SoCon play, to finish in as the regular-season conference champions. They lost to Chattanooga in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference tournament.^[5]

Roster

2023–24 Samford Bulldogs men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	0	Lukas Walls	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	203 lb (92 kg)	Fr	Knoxville, TN
G	1	Josh Holloway	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Fr	Memphis, TN
G	2	Jaden Campbell	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr	Brampton, ON
G	3	Chandler Leopard	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	GS	Athens, AL
F	4	Jermaine Marshall	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Sr	Brighton, AL
G	5	A.J. Staton-McCray	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	Delray Beach, FL
G	10	Garrett Hicks	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	GS	Madison, AL
G/F	11	Jonathan Caicedo	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	214 lb (97 kg)	Fr	Tampa, FL
G	12	Dallas Graziani	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	140 lb (64 kg)	So	Pembroke Pines, FL
G	13	Paulie Stramaglia	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Mountain Brook, AL
F	14	Achor Achor	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	227 lb (103 kg)	Jr	Melbourne, Australia
F	15	Grayson Walters	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sr	Mountain Brook, AL
G	21	Rylan Jones	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	GS	Logan, UT
G	22	Thomas Kizer	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Fr	Memphis, TN
G	23	Owen LaRocca	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Jr	Sugar Land, TX
G	24	Brody Boyer	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sr	Palm Bay, FL
F	25	Nathan Johnson	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	GS	Adel, IA
F	31	Joshua Hughes	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Woodstock, GA
F/C	32	Zach Loveday	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Sr	Gallipolis, OH
F/C	35	Riley Allenspach	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	247 lb (112 kg)	Fr	Charlotte, NC

Head coach

Bucky McMillan (Birmingham–Southern)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: October 22, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2023* 6:30 p.m., BTN		at No. 3 Purdue	L 45–98	0–1	11 – Campbell	7 – Achor	2 – tied	Mackey Arena (14,876) West Lafayette, IN
November 10, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at VCU	L 65–75	0–2	20 – Marshall	10 – Marshall	4 – Holloway	Siegel Center (7,114) Richmond, VA
November 14, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		Mississippi College	W 96–52	1–2	17 – Achor	7 – tied	3 – tied	Pete Hanna Center (1,732) Homewood, AL
November 17, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		South Carolina State	W 89–72	2–2	20 – Marshall	14 – Achor	5 – Holloway	Pete Hanna Center (1,023) Homewood, AL
November 22, 2023* 4:30 p.m., ESPN+		Alabama State Samford MTE	W 99–67	3–2	17 – Campbell	7 – Staton-McCray	6 – tied	Pete Hanna Center (866) Homewood, AL
November 24, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Merrimack Samford MTE	W 79–71	4–2	19 – Campbell	8 – Achor	4 – tied	Pete Hanna Center (818) Homewood, AL
November 25, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		North Carolina A&T Samford MTE	W 101–83	5–2	26 – Achor	7 – Loveday	6 – Jones	Pete Hanna Center (411) Homewood, AL
November 30, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Louisiana	W 88–65	6–2	25 – Achor	8 – Achor	9 – Jones	Pete Hanna Center (1,471) Homewood, AL
December 3, 2023* 3:30 p.m., ESPN+		LaGrange	W 128–82	7–2	21 – Leopard	8 – Achor	7 – Holloway	Pete Hanna Center (879) Homewood, AL
December 11, 2023* 6:30pm, ESPN+		Alabama A&M	W 118–91	8–2	18 – Staton-McCray	6 – Staton-McCray	5 – tied	Pete Hanna Center (1,763) Homewood, AL
December 16, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Belmont	W 99–93	9–2	19 – Staton-McCray	12 – Marshall	7 – Jones	Pete Hanna Center (2,196) Homewood, AL
December 19, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Valparaiso	W 79–61	10–2	15 – Hicks	6 – Staton-McCray	7 – Jones	Athletics–Recreation Center (1,100) Valparaiso, IN
December 21, 2023* 7:00 p.m., YouTube		at Texas Southern	W 87–65	11–2	16 – Staton-McCray	8 – Marshall	6 – Jones	Health and Physical Education Arena (754) Houston, TX
SoCon regular season
January 3, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		Chattanooga	W 89–74	12–2 (1–0)	29 – Staton-McCray	5 – Staton-McCray	6 – Jones	Pete Hanna Center (1,083) Homewood, AL
January 6, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at The Citadel	W 80–64	13–2 (2–0)	19 – Achor	8 – Allenspach	8 – Jones	McAlister Field House (1,647) Charleston, SC
January 11, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		UNC Greensboro	W 79–70	14–2 (3–0)	22 – Achor	9 – Jones	8 – Jones	Pete Hanna Center (2,317) Homewood, AL
January 13, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		VMI	W 134–96	15–2 (4–0)	18 – tied	9 – Allenspach	6 – Jones	Pete Hanna Center (3,714) Homewood, AL
January 16, 2024 7:00 p.m., CBSSN		at Western Carolina	W 75–71	16–2 (5–0)	35 – Achor	10 – Achor	6 – Jones	Ramsey Center (5,018) Cullowhee, NC
January 20, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		Mercer	W 87–80	17–2 (6–0)	20 – tied	5 – tied	4 – tied	Pete Hanna Center (2,516) Homewood, AL
January 24, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Furman	L 68–78	17–3 (6–1)	19 – Achor	6 – Achor	8 – Jones	Timmons Arena (2,207) Greenville, SC
January 27, 2024 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at East Tennessee State	W 75–72	18–3 (7–1)	18 – Johnson	7 – Campbell	5 – Jones	Freedom Hall Civic Center (4,043) Johnson City, TN
January 31, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		Wofford	W 81–79	19–3 (8–1)	18 – Campbell	8 – Achor	8 – Achor	Pete Hanna Center (2,431) Homewood, AL
February 3, 2024 4:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Chattanooga	W 78–56	20–3 (9–1)	16 – Campbell	10 – Staton-McCray	3 – Jones	McKenzie Arena (4,000) Chattanooga, TN
February 8, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPNU		at UNC Greensboro	W 78–69	21–3 (10–1)	17 – Campbell	7 – Achor	7 – Jones	Greensboro Coliseum (2,023) Greensboro, NC
February 10, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at VMI	W 102–63	22–3 (11–1)	16 – tied	4 – tied	5 – tied	Cameron Hall (3,267) Lexington, VA
February 14, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN2/U		Western Carolina	W 88–62	23–3 (12–1)	18 – Achor	6 – Staton-McCray	5 – Jones	Pete Hanna Center (1,321) Homewood, AL
February 17, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Mercer	L 84–88	23–4 (12–2)	20 – Achor	9 – Achor	2 – tied	Hawkins Arena (2,901) Macon, GA
February 21, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		Furman	W 74–72	24–4 (13–2)	17 – Jones	8 – Marshall	4 – tied	Pete Hanna Center (2,531) Homewood, AL
February 24, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		East Tennessee State	W 87–71	25–4 (14–2)	28 – Campbell	5 – tied	5 – Jones	Pete Hanna Center (4,523) Homewood, AL
February 28, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Wofford	L 69–91	25–5 (14–3)	12 – Allenspach	5 – tied	5 – Holloway	Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (1,674) Spartanburg, SC
March 2, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		The Citadel	W 92–80	26–5 (15–3)	21 – Achor	7 – Marshall	4 – tied	Pete Hanna Center (−) Homewood, AL
SoCon tournament
March 9, 2024 11:00 a.m., ESPN+	(1)	vs. (8) Mercer Quarterfinals	W 70–57	27–5	15 – tied	8 – Marshall	2 – tied	Harrah's Cherokee Center (−) Asheville, NC
March 10, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPNU	(1)	vs. (5) Furman Semifinals	W 84–77	28–5	28 – Achor	14 – Achor	6 – Jones	Harrah's Cherokee Center (−) Asheville, NC
March 11, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN	(1)	vs. (7) East Tennessee State Championship	W 76–69	29–5	25 – Achor	9 – Achor	4 – Jones	Harrah's Cherokee Center (−) Asheville, NC
NCAA tournament
March 21, 2024 8:55 p.m., TBS	(13 MW)	vs. (4 MW) No. 17 Kansas First round	L 89–93	29–6	23 – Achor	8 – Achor	9 – Jones	Delta Center (17,404) Salt Lake City, UT
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest region. All times are in Central.