Jan. 4, 2008

MARTIN, Tenn. - The Samford University basketball team will continue play in its four-game road trip Saturday at 6 p.m., as the Bulldogs square off against the UT Martin Skyhawks in an Ohio Valley Conference duel to be held in Skyhawk Arena (5,000).

The contest will be Samford's third of its current four-game road swing and its second OVC matchup of five-straight conference games held in eight days.

The matchup will be broadcast by Samford's play-by-play specialist Kevin Henslee on WVSU 91.1 FM and via the internet at www.al.com/wvsu.

Samford (6-6, 3-1 OVC) has been victorious in its previous two conference games and enters Saturday's matchup as the third-place team in the league standings.

On Thursday, the Bulldogs mounted a late second-half rally to defeat Tennessee Tech 62-59 in Cookeville, Tenn. In the victory, Samford's Travis Peterson led the team with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field, including a game-high 4-of-6 performance from beyond the arc.

UT Martin (5-9, 1-3 OVC) heads into Saturday's game as the most explosive offensive team in the conference.

The Skyhawks are averaging an OVC-high 77.3 points per game this season and junior guard Lester Hudson is the nation's leading scorer with 27.6 points per contest. Hudson, the reigning OVC newcomer of the week, is in the midst of his first season at UT Martin after transferring to the Skyhawks from Southwest Tennessee Community College.

UT Martin has been defeated in five straight games and is coming off a pair of hard-fought losses against 15th-ranked Vanderbilt 92-85 and defending OVC regular-season champion Austin Peay 90-85 OT.

In Thursday's heart-wrenching loss to Austin Peay, UT Martin led by four points with a little over one minute remaining in the game.

Samford has won seven-straight games against UT Martin and holds a 7-1 all-time record in the series.

UT Martin's lone win over Samford was a 75-59 victory in the first meeting between the teams Dec. 5, 1992. Since joining the OVC in 2003, the Bulldogs have rattled off six-consecutive wins over the Skyhawks, including three held in Martin, Tenn.

In Samford's two victories against UT Martin last season, the Bulldogs' Joe Ross Merritt averaged 12.5 points and four rebounds per contest. Samford's 6-foot-4 sharpshooter from Oklahoma City, Okla., led all scorers with 17 points in the Bulldogs' first win against the Skyhawks a year ago.

The Bulldogs have made at least one 3-point field goal in 483-consecutive games.

The last game in which Samford did not make a 3-point basket was on Jan. 19, 1991, against Texas-San Antonio. The Bulldogs have also made at least two 3-pointers in 452-straight contests dating back to Feb. 8, 1992, when Samford finished 1-of-6 from beyond the arc against Mercer.

UNLV is the national leader in consecutive games with a 3-point field goal as the Running Rebels have made a 3-point basket in 676-straight games dating back to the 1986-87 season. Vanderbilt (674) and Kentucky (658) are the only other two schools that have made at least one 3-point basket since the rule was adopted prior to the 1986 campaign.

It is safe to say that Samford's offensive style is unique, especially in the OVC. While most teams in the conference play pressure defense and tend to run the ball up the court, the Bulldogs use patience and precision cutting on offense to get either a back-door layup or a wide open look at a 3-point shot.

With that in mind, Samford's offense is hard to prepare for and often poses problems for the other coaches in the league to scout. Since head coach Jimmy Tillette incorporated the Princeton offense at Samford in 1997, the Bulldogs have reeled off a 63-33 record in games played against teams that have less than three days to prepare.

Following Samford's game at UT Martin on Saturday, the Bulldogs will next be in action Monday as they conclude their four-game road trip against in-state rival Jacksonville State at 7:30 p.m., in the Pete Mathews Coliseum.

Samford Basketball Game Notes