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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Samford University basketball team will face its first nationally-ranked opponent of the 2013-14 campaign Friday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs square off against the 23rd-ranked Indiana Hoosiers in a key non-conference matchup to be held at Assembly Hall.
 
Samford (1-1) heads into the contest looking to bounce back from an 88-75 road loss to UT Arlington on Tuesday. The Bulldogs are in the midst of a difficult six-game road stretch in which they will also head to Louisiana-Monroe, East Tennessee State, Western Kentucky and Stephen F. Austin.
 
On Tuesday, despite trailing by 14 points in the first half, Samford battled back to within 51-48 at the 15:31 mark in the second period to nearly take the lead from the UT Arlington Mavericks in front of 1,239 boisterous fans at the College Park Center.
 
The Bulldogs' All-Southern Conference performer Raijon Kelly scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, but UT Arlington closed out the game on a 37-27 run to earn an 88-75 win.
 
Samford's Kelly led the Bulldogs with 18 points Tuesday, while Tyler Hood and Connor Miller both finished with 12 points apiece. Tim Williams pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds, but failed to reach double figures in scoring for just the second time in 18 games.
 
Indiana (2-0) has opened the year with home wins against Chicago State and LIU Brooklyn. On Tuesday, the Hoosiers were nearly knocked off by LIU Brooklyn at Assembly Hall, but rallied back to claim a thrilling 73-72 victory.
 
Indiana, the 23rd-ranked team in nation, is averaging a staggering 86.5 points per game this season. Additionally, the Hoosiers boast an impressive 55 rebounds per contest and are out-rebounding their opponents by an average of 19.5 boards per game this season.
 
Indiana has five players averaging double figures in scoring and is led by Will Sheehey's 14.5 points per game. The Hoosiers' Noah Vonley and Yogi Ferrell are both scoring 14 points per outing this season, while Jeremy Hollowell and Troy Williams are averaging 11 points per contest.
 
Friday's game will mark Samford's first all-time meeting with Indiana, and only its fifth contest against a Big Ten opponent in school history. Of the current members of the Big Ten, the Bulldogs have only faced Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin. Samford is 0-2 against Ohio State and holds 0-1 all-time records against Purdue and Wisconsin.
 
Last season, the Bulldogs played at Wisconsin and suffered an 87-51 setback against the Badgers on Dec. 29 in a tough, physical matchup held in front of 16,376 fans at the Kohl Center.
 
Against Wisconsin, Samford couldn't overcome a cold 21.4 –percent shooting performance from the field in the first half of play. The Bulldogs trailed 47-19 at the half before playing much better in the final 20 minutes of action.
 
Samford shot 52.2 percent from the field and scored 32 points in the second half, but Wisconsin was able to continue its hot shooting in the final period. The Badgers closed out the contest shooting 52.5 percent from the field and a blazing 54.5 percent from long range in the second half.
 
Again this season, Samford will square off against some of the toughest teams in the nation, three of which advanced to the Sweet 16 in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. On Friday, Samford will travel to Bloomington, Ind., and face the 23rd-ranked Indiana Hoosiers.
 
Last season, Indiana advanced to the Sweet 16 in the East Region where it lost to Syracuse, 61-50. Samford head coach Bennie Seltzer, who worked under Indiana head coach Tom Crean for six years, will return to play at Indiana University where he spent four seasons as a key assistant coach.
 
On Dec. 14, Samford will embark upon a challenging three-game road stretch in which the Bulldogs play consecutive games at Florida Gulf Coast, Jacksonville University and Marquette.
 
Last season, Florida Gulf Coast proved to be the darling of the NCAA Tournament as the Eagles advanced all the way to the Sweet 16 where they were eventually knocked out by No. 3-seed Florida in the South Region.
 
Marquette advanced to the Elite 8 in last year's NCAA Tournament. After defeating Miami, 71-61, in the East Regional opener, the Golden Eagles were subdued by Syracuse's match-up zone,
55-39. Samford will face Marquette on Dec. 28, in Milwaukee, Wis.
 
Bulldog fans will notice a faster-paced offense this season. With plenty of depth and a roster chalk-full of talented guards, Samford will look to get up and down the court in 2013-14 and create easy buckets in transition. Last season, with only seven players in its rotation, Samford was forced to use the shot clock and walk the ball up the floor on its offensive possessions.
 
Samford's Tim Williams is averaging 14 points and 14 rebounds per game this year. Williams, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-9 forward from Chicago, Ill., was named to the Preseason All-SoCon Team and received Third-Team Preseason All-SoCon honors from College Sports Madness.
 
Against UT Arlington on Tuesday, Williams nearly tallied a double-double as he finished with nine points and 12 rebounds in 34 minutes of playing time. He also tallied a steal and a block.
 
At Samford's preseason Media Day, Seltzer mentioned that his players would have to be "Ultimate Road Warriors" during their current six-game road stretch. On Tuesday, Samford lost at UT Arlington, 88-75, and will now continue its arduous road trip with games at No. 23 Indiana, Louisiana-Monroe, East Tennessee State, Western Kentucky and Stephen F. Austin.
 
Following Friday's showdown at No. 23-ranked Indiana, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Monday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs travel to Monroe, La., for a non-conference contest against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks to be held at the Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

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