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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Samford University basketball team will look to win its first road game of the 2013-14 season Friday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs face the Jacksonville University Dolphins in a key non-conference matchup to be held at Veterans Memorial Arena.
 
Samford (4-8) has struggled on the road this season and enters Friday's game with an 0-7 record when playing away from the friendly confines of the Pete Hanna Center. On Saturday, the Bulldogs squared off against Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Fla., and dropped an 83-51 decision to the Eagles.
 
Samford has been defeated in nine straight road games since winning at Furman for the first time in school history on Feb. 16, 2013.
 
Against FGCU on Saturday, the Bulldogs committed 18 turnovers, 12 of which occurred in the second half. Tim Williams, Samford's leading scorer on the season with an average of 15.4 points per game, did not play due to a hip contusion. He is currently listed as probable for Friday's game.
 
The Bulldogs only committed six turnovers in the first half, but suffered 12 costly miscues in the final 20 minutes of action. FGCU outscored Samford, 25-8, in points-off turnovers and parlayed the Bulldogs' errors into a 45-27 scoring disparity in the second half.
 
Tyler Hood, Samford's junior forward from Lenoir City, Tenn., paced the Bulldogs with 11 points in 30 minutes of playing time. He also added four rebounds and finished a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Junior Raijon Kelly and sophomore Chris Longoria both added eight points apiece.
 
FGCU finished with four players scoring in double figures and was led by Brett Comer's 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field. Comer tallied 12 of his 18 points in the second period and added two assists and a blocked shot. The Eagles' Bernard Thompson scored 15 points Saturday and moved to within just eight points of reaching the prestigious 1,000-point plateau.
 
Samford out-rebounded the Eagles, 14-11, on the offensive end of the court, but FGCU ended up winning the total rebounding battle, 42-35. Russell Wilson pulled down a career-high eight rebounds and handed out a team-high three assists. He also finished with five points, a rebound and a steal. Junior center Michael Bradley grabbed six rebounds and added three points.
 
Jacksonville (3-6) owns a 3-1 record at home this season, but holds an 0-5 record when playing on the road. On Tuesday, the Dolphins traveled to UCF and dropped a 104-64 decision to the Knights. Jacksonville is allowing opponents to score an average of 84.4 points per game this year and is being led offensively by sophomore guard Jarvis Haywood with 16 points per contest.
 
The all-time series between Samford and Jacksonville began Nov. 29, 1974, as the Dolphins claimed a 102-72 home victory. Jacksonville won the first five games of the series, but then the Bulldogs earned four straight victories from March 1, 2001 to Feb. 8, 2003. The Dolphins own a 9-7 record in the all-time series and have won the previous two meetings.
 
Samford has not been victorious in Jacksonville, Fla., since Jan. 7, 2002.
 
The Bulldogs' Connor Miller has started in 44 straight games dating back to Nov. 9, 2012. Miller, Samford's 6-foot-4 sharpshooter from Stanley, Wis., is averaging 6.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game this season and has been listed in the starting lineup in every matchup since the beginning of his sophomore season.
 
Samford placed a pair of Bulldogs on the Preseason All-Southern Conference Team as Kelly and Williams were both named to the prestigious 10-player squad, which was released on Oct. 17.
 
Last year, Kelly earned all-league honors, while 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.
 
So far this season, Williams has scored in double figures in nine-consecutive games and is averaging team-highs with 15.4 points per contest and 7.1 rebounds per outing.
 
Samford is undefeated this season when attempting more free throws than the opponent. The Bulldogs have attempted more free throws in three games this season and have compiled a perfect 3-0 record.
 
In their last seven outings, the Bulldogs are averaging a stellar 15.3 layups per game.
 
From Nov. 12-26, Samford embarked upon an arduous road trip that featured consecutive away games against UT Arlington, No. 23-ranked Indiana, Louisiana-Monroe, East Tennessee State, Western Kentucky and Stephen F. Austin.
 
The exhaustive stretch included six games in 15 days and encompassed five different states as well as 5,050 miles of travel. The road streak proved to be the Bulldogs' longest since a similar six-game road stretch that spanned from Jan. 28 - Feb. 8, 1988.
 
Following Friday's game at Jacksonville, the Samford University basketball team will break for the Christmas Holidays and return to action Dec. 28 at 1 p.m. (CST) on the road against the Marquette Golden Eagles. The post-Christmas, non-conference contest will be held at the Bradley Center in downtown Milwaukee, Wis.

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