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MONROE, La. -- The Samford University basketball team will play its third road game in seven days Monday as the Bulldogs meet the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks at 7 p.m. (CT) in Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
The contest will be Samford's third road game of its current six-game stretch. Since earning a season-opening victory against Martin Methodist at home on Nov. 8, the Bulldogs have dropped tough road contests at UT Arlington, 88-75, and No. 23-ranked Indiana on Friday, 105-59.
Against Indiana,
Samford (1-2) head coach Bennie Seltzer returned to Bloomington, Ind., where he was a key assistant coach under the Hoosiers' Tom Crean for four seasons. In the Bulldogs' first game against a ranked opponent in 2013-14, Samford dropped a 105-59 decision to the No. 23-ranked Indiana Hoosiers in an early-season matchup held at Assembly Hall.
Samford finished Friday's game with four players scoring in double-figures, but couldn't overcome a 54-25 halftime deficit. The Bulldogs'
Tyler Hood paced the team with 15 points on a 5-of-11 shooting from the field and knocked down a trio of 3-point baskets.
Raijon Kelly, Samford's Preseason All-Southern Conference selection, also connected on three 3-point baskets and finished with 10 points, three assists and a pair of rebounds.
The Bulldogs'
Tim Williams nearly tallied the eighth double-double of his young career at Indiana, as he posted 10 points and nine rebounds. On Tuesday, Williams finished just one point short of a double-double in a nine-point, 12-rebound performance at UT Arlington.
Samford true freshman
Isaiah Williams turned in another solid outing Friday as the Bulldogs' native of Buford, Ga., tallied 10 points, two assists and a pair of steals in 24 minutes of playing time.
The Bulldogs enter Monday's contest having played two road games in four days. Conversely,
Louisiana-Monroe (0-1) hasn't played a single game in the last 10 days. The Warhawks opened their season on Nov. 8 with an 80-63 loss at No. 5-ranked Kansas.
On the road at Kansas, Louisiana-Monroe junior Marvin Williams notched a game-high 19 points as the Warhawks hung around with the No. 5 Jayhawks for much of an 80-63 defeat held at historic Allen Fieldhouse.
Williams, from Memphis, Tenn., drained a game-high eight field goals on 13 attempts as he stood his ground inside for Louisiana-Monroe. He also grabbed a team-high six rebounds in 24 minutes.
Senior Amos Olatayo pitched in with 11 points on 5-for-10 shooting against Kansas. It marked his ninth-consecutive game reaching double-figures dating back to last season. Olatayo and senior Jayon James played 33 minutes each to lead the Warhawks.
In his first collegiate game, freshman Nick Coppola registered 10 points and took it to the hole strong. He was one of three newcomers to earn the start along with Williams and junior Tylor Ongwae.
Louisiana-Monroe will be playing its first home game of the 2013-14 season Monday. Last year, the Warhawks finished 4-23 overall and 3-9 at home. Offensively this season, Louisiana-Monroe is being paced by Williams' 19 points and six rebounds per game. Olatayo and Coppola are averaging 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Warhawks this season.
The Bulldogs trail Louisiana-Monroe in the all-time series by a tally of 5-7. In 2004, the teams squared off in a home-and-home series that included two games in eight days. On Nov. 27, Samford earned a 76-62 victory in Birmingham, Ala., but then suffered a 63-56 setback on the road in Monroe on Dec. 3. The Bulldogs are 2-4 when playing in Monroe.
Samford placed a pair of Bulldogs on the Preseason All-SoCon Team, which was released on Oct. 17. Last year, Kelly earned all-league honors, while teammate
Tim Williams was named the league's Freshman of the Year.
In 2012-13, Kelly became Samford's all-time, single-season leader in assists as he set the school record with 151 and surpassed former Bulldog-great Ervin Terry's previous-best total of 140. Kelly finished the campaign ranked 12th in the SoCon in scoring at 14.1 points per game and was ranked second in the SoCon with 151 assists for an average of 4.7 per game.
Williams, the Bulldogs' talented 6-foot-8 sophomore from Chicago, Ill., is coming off a stellar freshman campaign at Samford. In 2012-13, he led all conference freshmen in both scoring (14.2 ppg) and rebounding (7.1 pg). Overall, he finished the season ranked sixth in the league in rebounding and 11th in scoring.
Already this season, Williams is averaging a double-double with 12.7 points and 12.3 rebounds per contest.
The Bulldogs have made at least one 3-point field goal in 660-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 864-straight games dating back to the 1986-87 season. Vanderbilt (858) and Kentucky (856) 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.
A key mantra in Seltzer's philosophy is Intensity. The Bulldogs' second-year head coach always played with Intensity throughout his illustrious playing career at Washington State, and he brings that same mindset to Samford University and his Bulldog players.
This season, Samford's practice shorts have INTENSITY prominently featured on the backside, because Seltzer wants his players to always be reminded about what it takes to win games.
Following Monday's matchup at Louisiana-Monroe, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 7 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs continue play in their current six-game road trip against future Southern Conference-opponent East Tennessee State at the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Center.
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