Feb. 22, 2012

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team will begin play in its final week of the 2011-12 regular season Thursday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs square off against the Western Carolina Catamounts in a critical North Division showdown to be held at the Ramsey Center (7,826) in Cullowhee, N.C.

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

Samford (11-16, 8-8 SoCon) heads into the contest with a full head of steam after earning a hard-fought 55-49 Senior Day victory against Furman on Saturday. In the home win, the Bulldogs were paced offensively by sophomore Drew Windler who scored a game-high 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field.

Samford also received 11 points and a career-high eight rebounds from Raijon Kelly in the key cross-divisional victory.

The Bulldogs led by as many as 13 points against Furman and only trailed once in the second half as the Paladins' Charlie Reddick knocked down a 3-point basket from the right flank to give Furman a 49-48 lead with 1:36 left to play in the game.

Reddick's basket capped off a 16-2 Furman run which helped the Paladins erase a 46-33 Samford lead at the 7:54 mark in the second half. On the ensuing possession, the Bulldogs ran the game clock down to 1:13 before Jeffrey Merritt drained a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Merritt's crucial basket gave Samford a 51-49 advantage and eventually led to the victory as the Bulldogs knocked down four free throws in the final 37 seconds of play.

Merritt only scored seven points Saturday, but finished with a game-high 10 rebounds. The Bulldogs' native of Oklahoma City, Okla., played in the final home contest of his Samford career and was one of four seniors to be honored on Senior Day. Merritt also finished with three assists and logged a game-high 39 minutes of playing time.

Western Carolina (12-17, 6-10 SoCon), which is in the midst of a two-game winning streak, heads into Thursday's game as the fifth-place team in the North Division.

The Catamounts recently snapped a three-game losing streak by tallying back-to-back conference victories against The Citadel 70-53 and Elon 78-76. Western Carolina's key overtime win at Elon ended an eight-game road losing streak for the Catamounts. Western Carolina has earned seven of its 12 wins at home this season and is7-4 at the Ramsey Center.

Earlier this season, Western Carolina received national media attention for earning a lopsided 141-39 home victory against Toccoa Falls. The win occurred on Jan. 17, and was only the fourth time in history that a Division I team has beaten an opponent by 100 points or more.

Since Jan. 17, the Catamounts have turned in a lackluster 3-7 record, but are in the midst of a two-game winning streak. Last week, Western Carolina tallied back-to-back SoCon victories against The Citadel and Elon, which snapped a three-match losing streak against Georgia Southern, College of Charleston and Furman.

The Bulldogs have never been victorious at Western Carolina and own an 0-4 record when playing in the Ramsey Center. In the all-time series between the teams, Samford trails the Catamounts, 6-2. Western Carolina has won five of the last six meetings between the teams. On Dec. 1, the Catamounts earned a 75-71 victory over Samford at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham.

In the first meeting between the teams, the Bulldogs trailed by as many as eight points in their SoCon opener, but battled back to take a five-point lead with 9:17 to play in the game, 50-45, before coming up short in a 75-71 decision.

On Dec. 1, Samford was buoyed by then career-high performances from Windler and true freshman guard Devin McNeil. The pair combined to score 39 points as 64 of Samford's 71 total points were scored by underclassmen.

Windler used an impressive array of post moves to score 20 points. He also grabbed a career-high seven rebounds and added two 3-point baskets, a pair of blocked shots and a steal. Windler proved to be a key contributor for Samford in the first half and led the team with 12 points at the intermission.

McNeil, a member of the Bulldogs' up-and-coming freshman class and home-grown native of Birmingham, finished the game with a career-high 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor. McNeil came off the bench to play a team-high 31 minutes and tallied three rebounds, three assists and a trio of 3-point baskets.

Western Carolina used a balanced attack in the first meeting to register its victory. The Catamounts finished the SoCon opener with four players scoring in double figures and were paced by 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting from senior guard Harouna Mutombo.

Mutombo, who is the nephew of former NBA great Dikembe Mutombo, played 36 minutes and added five rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. He scored 11 of his 18 points down the stretch in the second half to spark Western Carolina's comeback.

A key matchup in Thursday's game will be Western Carolina's backcourt against Samford's Kelly. Kelly, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-4 true freshman guard, only played 19 minutes in the teams' first meeting Dec. 1, and finished with two points and an assist.

Kelly has been playing at a higher level as of late and is averaging 11.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 33.2 minutes of action since moving into the starting lineup for good against The Citadel on Jan. 7.

Thursday's game will determine if Samford can take one step closer to securing a first-round bye in the upcoming SoCon Tournament. With two games remaining in the regular season, the Bulldogs find themselves tied with Elon for second place in the SoCon North Division. The top-two teams in each division will garner a first-round bye in the tournament and Samford owns the tiebreaker against Elon.

Samford is currently ranked No. 16 in the nation in 3-point field goals per game. The Bulldogs are averaging 8.4 3-point field goals per contest this season and are shooting 33.4 percent from beyond the arc.

The Bulldogs are also nationally ranked in both assists per game (No. 82 - 14 apg.) and assist/turnover ratio (No. 106 - 1.04). Samford's Merritt leads the team with 91 assists this year with an average of 3.5 assists per contest.

Merritt is also ranked among the league's leaders in a number of statistical categories. The Bulldogs' senior guard from Oklahoma City, Okla., is currently ranked third in defensive rebounds (5.5 pg.), fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.9), fifth in rebounding (6.7 pg.) and seventh in assists (3.5 pg.).

With Samford's 55-49 victory against Furman on Saturday, the Bulldogs' head coach Jimmy Tillette earned the 100th home conference win of his illustrious career. Over the years, Samford has excelled under the tutelage of Tillette and with his guidance the Bulldogs own a stellar 100-54 record against conference opponents at home.

Tillette has pointed out on a number of occasions that he is pleased with the depth of the team's center, or "P" position this season. Windler, the Bulldogs' talented 6-foot-9 native of South Milwaukee, Wis., has started in nearly every game this season, while senior Matthew Friday and sophomore Levi Barnes have both seen significant playing time off the bench.

The Bulldogs have made at least one 3-point field goal in 622-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 840-straight games dating back to the 1986-87 season. Vanderbilt (830) and Kentucky (821) 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.

Following Thursday's contest at Western Carolina, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs close out their regular-season schedule with a key road contest at the Chattanooga Mocs. Saturday's SoCon finale will be held at The McKenzie Arena in downtown Chattanooga, Tenn.

GameTracker - Samford at Western Carolina
Samford Basketball Game Notes