Jan. 27, 2012

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team will attempt to make a statement in Southern Conference play Saturday as the Bulldogs welcome the first-place and undefeated Davidson Wildcats to the Pete Hanna Center for a high-profile league showdown set to begin at 4 p.m. (CST).

The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the Internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. The contest may also be viewed online via the Bulldog Big Screen at www.samfordsports.com. Fans can also follow the action live via GameTracker.

Samford (6-13, 3-5 SoCon) has been victorious in three of its previous four games and is coming off a hard-fought 57-55 win against Georgia Southern on Thursday.

In the Bulldogs' nail-biting triumph, Samford's Drew Windler scored a game-high 18 points, while senior team captain Jeffrey Merritt tallied eight points, seven rebounds and six assists in 38 minutes of playing time. Sophomore guard Will Cook also turned in a solid all-around game with nine points, five assists, four rebounds, a steal and a block.

Samford's hard-fought win over Georgia Southern came down to the final possession. After a potential game-winning 3-point basket from the Eagles' Jelani Hewitt rimmed out, the Bulldogs' Merritt out-fought three Georgia Southern big men for the rebound and was fouled on the play.

Merritt connected on the second free throw to give Samford a 57-55 advantage with less than five seconds remaining. Following a timeout, the Eagles inbounded the ball to halfcourt where speedy point guard Ben Drayton III grabbed a quick pass and screamed down the left sideline. He arrived at the free throw line extended with a second remaining, jump-stopped towards the goal and fired a shot off the backboard.

The attempt would have tied the game at 57-57 and forced overtime, but the ball skimmed off the front of the rim and fell directly into the arms of Samford's Raijon Kelly.

Davidson (15-4, 9-0 SoCon) heads into Saturday's contest riding the positive momentum of an eight-game winning streak. The Wildcats have not been defeated since Dec. 22 at UMass, 73-65, and earlier this season knocked off Kansas on the road, 80-74.

Throughout the 2011-12 campaign, Davidson's only losses on the year have come against Duke on the road, 82-69, Vanderbilt at home, 87-83, Charlotte on the road, 84-61, and at UMass.

Davidson, which holds a three-game lead over Wofford in the South Division standings, recently survived a 64-63 scare at Chattanooga on Thursday. In the Wildcats' last-second victory, junior guard JP Kuhlman scored a game-high 16 points and knocked down four 3-point baskets. In SoCon play this year, Davidson's Jake Cohen leads all scorers with 20.7 points per game.

A key matchup in Saturday's game will be Cohen against Samford's Windler. The top two scorers in SoCon play will square off today as Cohen and Windler meet on the hardwood. Cohen, the Wildcats' 6-foot-10 forward from Berwyn, Pa., is averaging 20.7 points per game in conference play this season, while the Bulldogs' Windler is ranked second in the league at 18.3.

Windler, a 6-foot-9 sophomore center from South Milwaukee, Wis., has started in 20 straight games for Samford. His consecutive starting streak dates all the way back to Samford's SoCon Tournament game versus Furman on March 4, 2011.

The Bulldogs have never defeated Davidson and trail the Wildcats, 6-0, in the all-time series. The teams first met with a home-and-home series in both 1992 and 1993 before Samford joined the SoCon in 2008. The Bulldogs have lost four straight league games against Davidson and were defeated at home last season, 62-49, on Feb. 3, 2011.

The Wildcats head into Saturday's contest as the top-ranked team in the SoCon in scoring offense. Davidson is averaging 79.2 points per game this season and also leads the league in margin of victory. So far this season, the Wildcats are winning each contest by an average of 9.9 points per outing.

Samford is currently ranked 10th in each of the aforementioned categories at 65.9 points per game and a -3.6 margin of victory.

Saturday's game will determine if the resurgent Bulldogs can put an end to Davidson's 13-game SoCon winning streak. The Wildcats own a perfect 9-0 league record this season and have not been defeated in conference play since losing at Furman, 88-79, on Feb. 12, 2011.

Nearly three years ago on Jan. 31, 2009, during Stephen Curry's final season at Davidson, the Wildcats and Bulldogs squared off for the first time in the Pete Hanna Center. The game was played in front of a Samford record attendance of 5,116, as Davidson held on for a hard-fought 55-52 victory.

Samford heads into Saturday'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 8.9 3-point baskets per outing and are shooting 34.1 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 (14.6 apg), fourth in the SoCon in assist/turnover ratio (1.0) and fifth in the conference in field-goal percentage (44.0).

Individually, Samford's Merritt is ranked among the league's leaders in a number of statistical categories. Merritt, the Bulldogs' senior guard is ranked second in defensive rebounds (5.6 pg), third in overall rebounding (7.0 pg), fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.9), sixth in assists (3.4 pg) and eighth in the SoCon in minutes played (32.9 pg).

In the Bulldogs' last five games, Merritt is averaging 38.2 minutes per contest. Samford's team captain and emotional leader has recorded a team-high four double-doubles this season, and is coming off an eight-point, seven-rebound and six-assist performance against Georgia Southern on Thursday.

Since 2001, there has been at least one Merritt brother listed on Samford's roster. In 2001, J. Robert Merritt joined the Bulldogs as a freshman and went on to become the school's seventh all-time leading scorer with 1,584 points. Samford's former great was also the school's first All-American and is still the Bulldogs' leader in 3-pointers made in a career (311).

In 2003, Joe Ross Merritt came to Samford as a freshman and played three seasons with J. Robert. Joe Ross also proved to be one of the top players in school history and finished his career ranked second in games played with 121. Joe Ross graduated following the 2007-08 campaign, and now there is another Merritt to wear his No. 5 jersey.

In his senior season at Samford, Jeffrey Merritt has already done an outstanding job of keeping the Samford-Merritt tradition alive and will be the Bulldogs' Team Captain in 2011-12.

Since Head Coach Jimmy Tillette incorporated the Princeton offense at Samford in 1997, the Bulldogs have reeled off an 86-69 record in games played against teams that have less than three days to prepare.

Following Saturday's SoCon showdown with Davidson, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Monday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs conclude their key three-game conference homestand with a matchup against the College of Charleston Cougars to be held at the Pete Hanna Center.

GameTracker - Davidson at Samford
Samford Basketball Game Notes