Nov. 22, 2006

Box Score

TUCSON, Ariz. - The Samford University basketball team put together a second-half rally against the 15th-ranked Arizona Wildcats on Wednesday, but couldn't overcome a cold-shooting first-half performance in an 86-57 loss at the McKale Center.

"I think that we came out with a lot more intensity in the second half, but that just couldn't get us out of the hole that we dug for ourselves in the first half," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We shot the ball better in the second half and I thought that Randall (Gulina) and Jerry (Smith) played well."

Samford (1-3) was led in scoring by senior Randall Gulina's game-high 21 points. He was followed by Jerry Smith's 13 points and Travis Peterson's 10.

Peterson, a native of nearby Glendale, Ariz., knocked down a pair of 3-point baskets to help spur the Bulldogs' second-half spurt. He shot 4-of-12 from the floor and grabbed a team-high five rebounds.

Samford finished with a McKale Center-record 43 three-point attempts Wednesday and drained its first four of the second half to cut the Wildcats' lead to 52-30 with 15:22 remaining in the game.

Gulina and Peterson both knocked down their first two three-point attempts of the final period.

"Arizona is a very athletic team and I think that we were able to do some good things against them at times," Tillette said. "We didn't play our best basketball tonight, but I think that this is something that we can definitely build upon. This is a tough venue to play in and I think that affected our shot early in the game."

Arizona (3-1) extended its winning streak to three-consecutive games Wednesday, despite being limited to its lowest scoring performance of the 2006-07 campaign.

The Wildcats finished with five players in double-figures and had three people tally a team-lead 14 points. Marcus Williams scored 14 against Samford, as did Chase Budinger and Mustafa Shakur.

Arizona out-rebounded the Bulldogs 47-21.

The Wildcats jumped out to an early 18-7 lead in the game and took a 46-18 advantage into intermission. Arizona's halftime lead was its largest of the first half following a one-on-one isolation bucket from Shakur as time expired.

Arizona's Budinger and Williams both scored 12 points in the opening period of play, while Nic Wise and Shakur added six first-half points apiece. The Wildcats shot 61.8 percent from the floor in the opening half of play and 25 percent from beyond the arc.

Samford's Smith totaled six points at the half and was followed by Gulina with five, Peterson with four and Joe Ross Merritt with three. The Bulldogs only shot 20.7 percent from the field in the first half and 17.4 percent from 3-point range.

With 5:59 remaining until half, Samford trimmed the Wildcats' lead to 28-16 after Gulina drained a 3-point basket from the left flank. Fellow senior, Smith, registered the assist on the play.

The Bulldogs' Curtis West finished with seven points on 2-of-5 shooting, while freshman Bryan Friday added the first three points of his collegiate career.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Tuesday at 7 p.m., against the Ohio Bobcats. The contest is a return game from last season's ESPN BracketBusters Classic and will be held in Seibert Hall.