Dec. 29, 2007

Box Score

CLEMSON, S.C. - Without the healthy efforts of starters Bryan Friday, Travis Peterson and Curtis West, the Samford basketball team suffered its worst defeat of the season Saturday as the Bulldogs dropped a 78-45 decision on the road against the 20th-ranked Clemson Tigers in Littlejohn Coliseum.

Samford's sophomore forward Friday missed the trip due to a stomach virus and senior center Peterson was limited to only five minutes of playing time with a bruised tailbone. Fellow-senior Curtis West is out for the season with an injured shoulder.

"We knew coming in that this was going to be a difficult game for us," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We were without three starters. Bryan Friday is sick and still hasn't come back from Christmas and I didn't play Peterson until late in the game because he's injured and has missed the last three practices. Then, there's Curtis West who we've lost for the year, so without them it was hard for us to have a chance."

With the loss, Samford (5-6) dropped its second straight road game against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. On Dec. 2, the Bulldogs fell short versus the Florida State Seminoles 61-45. Samford fell to 1-3 in road games this season.

Clemson (11-1) bounced back from its only loss of the season to Ole Miss on Dec. 23, and was led by K.C. Rivers' 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field. The Tigers' junior guard from Charlotte, N.C., also finished with game-highs in rebounds (7) and assists (5).

Freshman Demontez Smith added 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor for the Tigers, while Terrence Oglesby scored 10 points in only 15 minutes of playing time.

Samford's Joe Ross Merritt led the Bulldogs with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. The 6-foot-4 guard from Oklahoma City, Okla., was 2-for-3 from beyond the arc and also grabbed two rebounds in a game-high 32 minutes.

The Bulldogs' true freshman Josh Davis added eight points, two assists and a pair of steals, while Trey Montgomery scored seven points and Gaby Bermudez added six.

Samford shot 47.2 percent in the game, but committed a season-high 19 turnovers. Clemson turned in a 53.2 shooting percentage from the field and only turned the ball over 12 times.

Clemson out-rebounded Samford 40-11, including 21-2 on the offensive boards. The Bulldogs' 11 rebounds was their lowest total of the 2007-08 season. Samford's previous low was 18 in its season-opening 50-49 victory at Evansville on Nov. 11.

"Clemson is a good team and they are very well-coached," Tillette said. "The best thing that they did is that they out-recruited us three and four years ago. Clemson will without a doubt be the best team that we see this season. They have a lot of talent and a nice chemistry, but they are in a very difficult league."

Clemson scored the first 14 points of the ballgame and increased its early lead to 25-5 with 10:57 remaining in the opening half. The Tigers eventually used 11 first-half points from Rivers to take a 43-20 lead at the intermission.

Samford's Bermudez led the Bulldogs with six points in the first half and connected on both of his field-goal attempts in the opening period. Bermudez surpassed his previous career-high of four points in the first half alone.

Freshman Josh Bedwell snapped Clemson's 14-0 run to start the game by drawing a foul and knocking down a pair of free throws.

Following back-to-back 3-pointers from Davis and Bermudez, Samford trimmed Clemson's lead to 31-18 with six minutes remaining in the period. The Tigers then used six straight points from Raymond Sykes and a pair of buckets from Rivers to scored 12 of the final 14 points of the half.

Clemson's Sykes and Oglesby both scored eight points in the first half, while Stitt added seven points on 2-for-4 shooting from the floor. The Tigers' freshman from Matthews, N.C., was also a perfect 3-for-3 from the free-throw line.

Samford's lone active starting senior, Merritt, finished the first half with five points on 2-of-4 shooting from the field. Jim Griffin and Montgomery both scored two points in the opening period.

Clemson shot 58.1 percent in the first half, while Samford shot 36.8 from the floor in the opening period.

"Right now, we're performing triage as we speak and once we get back to our own level, this game will actually help us," said Tillette. "The next team that we play (Tennessee Tech) will be physical like this, although not as strong as Clemson, but they will have a similar style of play. It will be effective in that regard."

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 7:30 p.m., as the Bulldogs continue their four-game road trip against the Ohio Valley Conference-foe Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles in Cookeville, Tenn.