Jan. 21, 2012

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Samford University basketball team will play on the road for the seventh time in nine games Sunday as the Bulldogs conclude a five-day, two-game road trip against the resurgent UNCG Spartans at 1 p.m. (CST) in the Greensboro Coliseum.

The game can also be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the Internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. Fans can also follow the action in real time via Live Stats.

Samford (5-12, 2-4 Southern Conference) heads into Sunday's contest with a full head of steam after earning back-to-back North Division victories against Chattanooga, 81-70, and Elon, 86-80.

In Thursday's win at Elon, the Bulldogs finished with four players scoring in double figures. Redshirt freshman Tyler Hood paced the offensive attack with a career-high 25 points, while sophomore Drew Windler chipped in with 21 points and Raijon Kelly and Will Cook added 19 and 13, respectively.

Samford's 86-point performance at Elon proved to be its second best of the 2011-12 campaign. Earlier this year, the Bulldogs scored 90 points in a lopsided home victory against Spring Hill. Samford shot 49.2 percent from the field and knocked down 16 baskets from beyond the arc in a 53.3-percent outing from long range.

UNCG (5-14, 3-4 SoCon) also enters Sunday's contest riding a wave of positive momentum. The Spartans are in the midst of a three-game winning streak and are coming off SoCon victories against College of Charleston, 73-66, The Citadel, 67-66, and Chattanooga, 81-72. So far this season, UNCG is 2-4 when playing at home.

UNCG opened the 2011-12 season with a 2-8 record when Head Coach Mike Dement resigned from his duties. Assistant Coach Wes Miller (28) was then named the Interim Head Coach and is currently the youngest head coach in the nation. Since taking the reins, Miller's squad has compiled a 3-6 record, despite losing the first six games of his tenure.

The Bulldogs own a 6-2 all-time record against UNCG and are 4-2 versus the Spartans since joining the SoCon in 2008. Samford has never been defeated when playing on the road in the series and holds a 4-0 advantage in Greensboro, N.C. In last season's home-and-home matchup, the Bulldogs won at UNCG, 68-64, but lost at home, 91-72.

A key matchup in Sunday's game will be Samford's backcourt against UNCG's Trevis Simpson. Simpson, the Spartans' 6-foot-4 combo guard from Douglas, Ga., is averaging a team-high 15.9 points per game this season. He is ranked fourth in the SoCon in scoring and has started all of UNCG's contests this year.

Sunday's game will determine if Samford can continue its hot streak against SoCon North Division opponents. The Bulldogs are in the midst of a two-game winning streak and are coming off victories over SoCon North Division foes Chattanooga, 81-70, and Elon, 86-80. A triumph tonight would propel Samford to its longest winning streak this season.

Samford's starting lineup consists of two freshmen, two sophomores and senior team captain, Merritt. The Bulldogs are coming off a win in which the underclassmen combined to score 80 of the team's 86 points. Samford's dynamic combination of Hood, Windler, Kelly and Cook is averaging 72 of the Bulldogs' 83.5 points in their last two games.

Since moving into the starting lineup against UTSA on Dec. 5, Samford's Hood is averaging 13.3 points per game. Hood, a 6-foot-6 redshirt freshman from Kingston, Tenn., has made an immediate impact for the Bulldogs and is also averaging 4.5 rebounds per contest during the span. Since moving into the starting lineup, Hood is playing 29.8 minutes per game and is shooting 50 percent from the field.

Against Elon on Thursday, Hood turned in the best game of his collegiate career as he scored a career-high 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field. He also knocked down a career-high four 3-point field goals and pulled down seven rebounds.

Samford heads into Sunday's matchup as the top-ranked team in the SoCon in 3-point field goals made per game. So far this season, the Bulldogs are knocking down an average of 9.4 3-point baskets per outing and are shooting 34.6 percent from beyond the arc.

Samford is also ranked among the top five teams in the conference in an additional three categories. The Bulldogs are ranked second in the league in assists (15.1 apg), and fifth in the SoCon in both assist/turnover ratio (1.1) and field-goal percentage (44.1).

Individually, Samford's Merritt is ranked among the league's leaders in a number of statistical categories. Merritt, the Bulldogs' senior guard is ranked third in defensive rebounds (5.4 rpg), fifth in the SoCon in both rebounding (6.8 rpg), seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.8) and eighth in assists (3.2 apg).

The Bulldogs have made at least one 3-point field goal in 612-consecutive games. The last time that Samford did not make a 3-point basket was on Jan. 19, 1991, against UTSA.

The Bulldogs' streak of having made at least two 3-pointers in a game was snapped on Dec. 13, 2008, against Saint Louis when Samford turned in a dismal 1-for-14 performance from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs' streak of 476-straight games with two 3-pointers began Feb. 8, 1992.

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 828-straight games dating back to the 1986-87 season. Vanderbilt (818) and Kentucky (809) 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. While most teams play pressure defense and tend to run the ball up the court, the Bulldogs also use patience and precision cutting in their offensive sets 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 opposition's coaches in the league to scout.

Since Head Coach Jimmy Tillette incorporated the Princeton offense at Samford in 1997, the Bulldogs have reeled off an 86-68 record in games played against teams that have less than three days to prepare.

Following Sunday's game at UNCG, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs begin play in a three-game homestand against the Georgia Southern Eagles in a SoCon cross-divisional contest to be held at the Pete Hanna Center. Thursday's matchup will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

Live Stats - Samford at UNCG
Samford Basketball Game Notes