Jan. 15, 2011

Box Score

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Samford University basketball team nearly extended its winning streak against the Chattanooga Mocs to three-consecutive games Saturday as the Bulldogs almost overcame an early 13-point deficit at The McKenzie Arena. Despite Samford's rally, Chattanooga was able to remain undefeated in Southern Conference play and win its sixth straight league contest, 65-60.

"That was not exactly an auspicious start for us," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We missed our first 13 3-point shots in the game and that set us back quite a bit. Over the course of the game, they were obviously going to allow us to shoot 3-pointers, which is fine, but the problem for us was that we had 15 turnovers. From our perspective, when they're giving us 3s, how are we turning the ball over 13 times."

With the loss, Samford (10-7, 2-3 SoCon) fell short against Chattanooga (10-8, 6-0 SoCon) for the first time since the semifinal round of the 2009 SoCon Tournament. Last season, the Bulldogs swept the season series between the teams, 78-54, in Chattanooga, Tenn., and 60-54 in Birmingham, Ala. The teams will next square off at the Pete Hanna Center on Senior Night, Feb. 26.

Samford finished Saturday's game with three players scoring in double figures. Senior Josh Bedwell led the Bulldogs' offense by tying his season-high of 21 points. Bedwell, a senior guard from Hartselle, Ala., finished 6-of-11 from the field and 5-of-10 from 3-point range. Samford sharpshooter was also a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.

"Bedwell was finally able to get hot for us and we needed that, especially at that time in the game," Tillette said. "I thought that he really helped us to get out of our funk and it jumpstarted our offense. I didn't really think our point guards played that well, and we definitely need to start getting some more production from our `P' or center position."

The Bulldogs' Josh Davis and Jeffrey Merritt both chipped in with 10 points apiece. Merritt tallied his third double-double of the season as he also pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds. A native of Oklahoma City, Okla., Merritt entered Saturday's game ranked second in the SoCon with an average of 7.2 boards per game. Davis grabbed a season-high eight rebounds and knocked down a pair of key 3-point baskets.

Chattanooga was paced offensively Saturday by Chris Early and Omar Wattad. Both players finished with 17 points and combined to knock down eight of the Mocs' 11 3-pointers in the game. Wattad registered a 5-of-11 performance from beyond the arc, while Early went 3-of-6 from long range.

"On the other side of the floor, Early was a guy that we didn't think was that great of a 3-point shooter, so we non-starred him, which means we keep him in front and if he makes his shots, he makes his shots," said Tillette. "The thing that we couldn't do was let Wattad make five 3-point baskets. From my point of view, that was due to our miscommunication and guys not following through on their assignments."

Ricky Taylor, Chattanooga's junior guard from Brownsville, Tenn., tallied a double-double for the Mocs as he finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Taylor also handed out a pair of assists and went 6-of-7 from the free-throw line.

"I thought that (Head Coach) John (Shulman) did a great job of coaching and I also thought his guys did a very good job of playing against us," Tillette said. "They found a way to win the game and obviously that's what they've been doing all season, because they are 6-0 in conference play and they deserve to be in first place."

Samford overcame its slow start to take a 46-45 lead in the game with 8:59 left to play. Andy King, the Bulldogs' senior center from Omaha, Neb., knocked down the basket to give his squad the lead with just under nine minutes to play in Saturday's contest. King finished with nine points and three assists as he knocked down a trio of 3-point baskets.

Following King's 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs the lead, Chattanooga's Wattad answered with a 3-point basket of his own to give the Mocs at 48-46 advantage.

"I thought that all night, we really had very good looks for us," said Tillette. "Again, we were on the road and it's hard to make shots consistently. We had a lot of good looks, but early in the game they just weren't going down."

Shortly after Wattad's 3-pointer, Samford's Merritt drove down the court on a fast break and was intentionally fouled by Chattanooga's Taylor with 8:15 to play. Merritt was unable to connect on either of the free throws and the Bulldogs forced up an errant 3-point basket on the accompanying possession.

"I thought that the biggest play of the game for us was when it was 48-46 and we get intentionally fouled, but miss both free throws and then get a bad look," said Tillette. "We had a shooter that didn't go behind the screen and took a bad shot. That was an empty possession for us. If we could have taken the lead there, then psychologically who knows what their guys are thinking after being up by so many points early."

With 2:50 left to play in the game, King knocked down another critical 3-point basket to trim the Mocs' lead to 54-53. Chattanooga's Early then responded with a 3-pointer on its next time down the court to make the score 57-53 with 2:26 remaining.

Samford wouldn't get any closer than three points down the stretch as the Mocs knocked down 8-of-9 free-throw attempts in the final 1:05 to play to hold on for the 65-60 victory.

The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 38.8 percent from the field, but only 31.6 percent from beyond the arc. Samford missed its first 13 attempts from 3-point range in Saturday's game, but knocked down 12-of-25 (48 percent) to close out the contest.

Chattanooga, the SoCon leader in rebounding, only out-rebounded the Bulldogs by five, 39-34, but outscored Samford 25-8 in points off turnovers. The Bulldogs committed 15 turnovers, while the Mocs finished with only 10 miscues.

Samford's bench outscored Chattanooga's bench, 15-4.

At the half, Chattanooga held a 30-25 lead in Saturday's game. Despite not hitting its first field goal until the 12:19 mark in the opening period, Samford fought back to only a five-point deficit at the intermission.

The Mocs opened the game with an early 13-0 lead as the Bulldogs didn't connect on their first 3-point basket until Bedwell drained a deep shot from the top of the key at 7:19 in the first half. Bedwell paced Samford in scoring in the opening period with 12 points. All four of his baskets came from beyond the arc in the first half.

Chattanooga was paced in scoring by Early's 10 points in the opening 20 minutes of play. Taylor added eight points for the Mocs as Wattad chipped in with six.

The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Monday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs return home to the Pete Hanna Center for another key conference matchup against The Citadel Bulldogs in Birmingham, Ala.