Dec. 5, 2009

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team suffered its worst loss in Pete Hanna Center history Saturday as the Bulldogs were defeated by the UNC Greensboro Spartans 73-40 in Southern Conference play. Samford was outscored by UNC Greensboro 42-12 in the second half.

"That was the worst half of basketball I've ever seen," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We were uninspired on the court and it was like we were just going through the motions. It was as if we thought we were going to win just because we showed up. We are going to have to move on from this and work hard in practice this week to get better."

Samford (2-6, 1-1 SoCon) lost its first game at home this season and fell prey to its worst defeat in the Pete Hanna Center. The loss was also tied for third on Tillette's worst margins of defeat in his 13-year career. The performance equaled the Bulldogs' 78-45 loss against 20th-ranked Clemson on Dec. 29, 2007.

With Saturday's lopsided victory, UNC Greensboro (2-4, 1-0 SoCon) recorded its largest all-tine win over a Division I opponent - home or away. The previous largest margin had come against The Citadel, 84-54.

The Spartans' largest margin in a conference road win previously in the Division I era had been a 23-point victory at Winthrop in 1995. UNC Greensboro's largest SoCon road win previously was a 68-47 win at Georgia Southern in 2006. The Spartans nearly led wire-to-wire, except for the game's only tie at 3-3 less than two minutes in.

Samford was paced in scoring by 15 points from Brian Friday, 12 of those coming in the first half. Samford finished with only 12 points in the second half and shot just 3-for-22 from the floor in the final period. Samford did not record a field goal in the final 11:15 of the game.

Early in the second half of play, UNC Greensboro's lead was just two at 33-31 following Andy King's 3-pointer from the left corner with 18:32 left to play. The Spartans then blew the game open by scoring 29 of the next 35 points over an 11-minute span to hold a 25-point lead with seven minutes to play. In the process, Samford missed 17 of its final 19 shots from the floor after King's trey.

UNC Greensboro finished with four players scoring in double figures. The Spartans were paced by Kyle Randall's career-high 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field. Randall, a true freshman guard from Canfield, Ohio, also added five rebounds, three assists and knocked down three 3-point baskets.

The Spartans shot a sizzling 55.6 percent from 3-point range and 49.1 from the field. UNC Greensboro knocked down a season-high 10 shots from beyond the arc and was a perfect 9-for9 from the free-throw line.

Brandon Evans, the Spartans' junior guard from Jackson, Tenn., came off the bench to score 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting. He played 26 minutes Saturday and finished 3-for-4 from 3-point range.

UNC Greensboro's Ben Stywall earned his first double-double of the season by scoring 11 points and tying his career high with 15 rebounds. He was 5-of-7 from the field and also tallied three steals, two assists and a pair of blocked shots.

Samford was out-rebounded 40-22 and allowed 14 second-chance points. The Bulldogs' bench was outscored 20-5.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 2 p.m., as the Bulldogs play host to the Spring Hill College Badgers in a non-conference matchup to be held at the Pete Hanna Center.