Box Score LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Samford University basketball team faced its highest-ranked opponent in nearly six years Thursday as the Bulldogs dropped an 80-54 decision on the road against the second-ranked Louisville Cardinals in front of 20,016 fans at the KFC Yum! Center.
 
“I'm proud of our guys and the effort that they gave in the second half, but we must become a tougher team,” said Samford head coach Bennie Seltzer. “I know Louisville is the second-ranked team in the country, but when you give up 28 offensive rebounds it's going to be hard to beat any team. We must become a much tougher team.”
 
Samford (1-2) outscored Louisville (2-0), 41-38, in the second half of play, but the damage had already been done as the Cardinals leapt out to a 42-13 halftime lead. The Bulldogs shot 53.3 percent from 3-point range in the second period and only committed five turnovers in the final half, as opposed to 16 in the first half.
 
Samford was led in scoring for a third straight game by true freshman Tim Williams. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-8 forward from Chicago, Ill., paced the team with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and pulled down six rebounds. Sophomore guard Raijon Kelly added 11 points and knocked down a team-high three 3-point field goals.
 
“We didn't get the win that we wanted tonight, but I know that we will get better from this point on and it was a memorable experience to play in this arena against Louisville,” said Williams. “It was tough going up against someone like (Gorgui Dieng), but I just tried my best to front him in the post and block him out from getting offensive rebounds.”
 
In the first half, Louisville shot 41.7 percent from the field and outscored Samford, 24-0, in the paint. The Cardinals also bested the Bulldogs in points off turnovers, 20-3, and second-chance points, 15-0. Louisville finished Thursday's contest with 53 rebounds, 28 on the offensive side of the court.
 
“In the first half, I think our guys displayed a little bit of stage-fright,” Seltzer said. “This is definitely a different venue for our team, but that shouldn't be an excuse. Louisville had five guys on the court and we had five guys on the court. We ought to know that every time to strap it up and compete, you're going to have to give your best and I don't think we started the game playing at our best tonight.”
 
Chane Behanan, the Cardinals' 6-foot-6 sophomore forward from Cincinnati, Ohio, pulled down 18 rebounds and added 12 points to register his first double-double of the young 2012-13 season. Louisville's starting center Gorgui Dieng also posted a double-double Thursday with 10 points and 13 rebounds in 23 minutes of playing time.
 
The Cardinals' Russ Smith led all scorers with 18 points on a 7-of-14 shooting performance from the field. Louisville's explosive junior guard from Briarwood, N.Y., also knocked down a game-high four 3-point baskets and tallied two steals.
 
“I thought that we were going to compete a little bit harder than we did in the first half,” said Seltzer. “That part of it was disappointing, but for the most part I was pleased with our effort in the second half and we'll get better.”
 
Samford came out strong in the second half of play and used four quick 3-point baskets to trim Louisville's hefty lead to 49-25 with 15 minutes left to play. During the Bulldogs' rally, sophomore guard Connor Miller drained a pair of 3-pointers, while fellow sophomores Tyler Hood and Kelly connected on one apiece.
 
Midway through the second half, Samford used a deep 3-point field goal from Kelly, a smooth jumper from Hood in transition and a long 3-point basket from Levi Barnes in the corner to again cut Louisville's advantage to 24 points, 58-34.
 
The Bulldogs shot 39.1 percent from the field Thursday and 45 percent from 3-point range. Samford's outing against Louisville marked its best 3-point shooting performance of the season.
 
Offensively, the Bulldogs received eight points apiece from Hood and Clide Geffrard, Jr. In his most significant playing time of the 2012-13 season, true freshman Geffrard, Jr., came off the bench to add three rebounds and an assist. He also finished 3-of-4 from the free-throw line.
 
“Clide is coming off a leg injury to where he is about 85 to 90 percent right now, but I think that the longer he played tonight, the better he got,” Seltzer said.
 
No. 2 Louisville marked Samford's highest-ranked opponent since Nov. 10, 2006, when the Bulldogs played at the No. 1-ranked and defending national champion Florida at the O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla. Samford was defeated by No. 1 Florida, 79-54, and the Gators went on to win the 2007 national championship.
 
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs travel to Memphis, Tenn., for another difficult early-season showdown against the 16^th-ranked Memphis Tigers at the FedExForum.