Box Score MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Samford University basketball team trailed the 16^th-ranked Memphis Tigers, 54-51, with 3:30 remaining in Saturday's game in an early-season showdown held at the FedExForum. The Bulldogs were poised for the upset victory in the second half, but Memphis closed out the contest on an 11-3 run to hang on for the 65-54 win.
 
“I'm not into moral victories, never have been and I never will be,” said Samford head coach Bennie Selzer. “Those guys in that locker room are very disappointed, and they should be. They are extremely disappointed because we feel like we let one slip away.”
 
Midway through the second half, Samford (1-3) used a 9-0 run to pull within three points, 54-51, of Memphis (2-0) with 3:30 remaining in the contest. During the Bulldogs' streak, Connor Miller scored on a runner and drained a deep 3-points basket. Additionally, true freshman Tim Williams looked dominant on a pair of driving layups en route to his game-high 21 points.
 
Williams, the Bulldogs' talented 6-foot-8 native of Chicago, Ill., finished with 21 points and six rebounds and turned in a solid 7-of-11 shooting percentage from the field. He logged a team-high 39 minutes and added an assist and a blocked shot.
 
Following a Memphis timeout at the 3:30 mark, the Tigers' Joe Jackson connected on a free throw to give his squad a 55-51 advantage. Memphis then held Samford on the other end and used a baseline jumper from Adonis Thomas to push its lead to 57-51.
 
On the ensuing possession the Bulldogs' Russell Wilson nearly connected on a 3-point basket from the right corner, but the shot rimmed out and Thomas knocked down a pair of free throws on the other end to make the score 59-51 with 56 seconds remaining.
 
Down the stretch, Samford received a trio of free throws from Raijon Kelly, while the Tigers went a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe to hold on for the 65-54 victory.
 
Memphis was paced offensively by Antonio Barton, Jackson and Thomas. The trio combined to score 43 of the Tigers' 65 points and was led by Thomas' 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field. Barton, Memphis' sharpshooting junior from Baltimore, Md., dropped in 14 points and knocked down a game-high four 3-pointers, while Jackson added 13.
 
Samford shot 52.9 percent from the field in the first half and turned in a 2-of-5 performance from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs played tough the entire game and only trailed Memphis 13-12 and the halfway point of the first half.
 
Despite committing 10 turnovers in the opening period, Samford only trailed the Tigers, 33-24, at the intermission.
 
“We thought there were three main keys to us having a victory tonight,” Seltzer said. “One was us being able to get defensive rebounds. This is a team that last time out, they had 20 offensive rebounds. They only had six tonight, so we had to keep off the boards, and we did that. They are also one of the fastest teams in America in terms of transition offense. They only had two fast-break points, so two-out-of-three will not get you anything, especially with a team that talented.”
 
Samford's Kelly finished with 12 points Saturday and grabbed three rebounds. The Bulldogs' sophomore point guard from St. Paul, Minn., added a game-high five assists, but committed six turnovers. Samford finished the contest with 16 turnovers, while Memphis only committed six as a team.
 
“The third thing that I stressed to these guys was not turning the ball over,” Seltzer said. “We had 16 turnovers, 10 in the first half, and I think they got 20 points off of our turnovers. That's the game. That's the game, so our guys are extremely disappointed. As coach, I'm proud of their effort, I thought we played hard, but that's what we're supposed to do. We should play hard every time we step on the court.”
 
Samford, which gave up 28 offensive rebounds versus No. 2-ranked Louisville on Thursday, out-rebounded the Tigers, 25-24, on Saturday.
 
“We have good players, good character players, and so when there is some teaching going on our guys do anything they possibly can to learn,” said Seltzer. “We have an unbelievable staff, so we did a good job of teaching the things that we wanted to do. Our guys did a good job of listening, and trying to execute the things that we wanted. The practice yesterday and today, I think we got through to them about our rebounding, and we just have to move forward, we have to continue to get better.”
 
Against North Florida on Monday, the Tigers out-rebounded the Ospreys, 47-31. With Thursday's nail-biting victory over Samford, Memphis remained undefeated on the young season and improved to 4-1 all-time against the Bulldogs. The Tigers will head to Nassau, The Bahamas, to face VCU on Thursday in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
 
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs square off against the Toledo Rockets in the opening round of the Atlantis on the Mainland Tournament hosted by Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Fla.