Game Notes
SoCon Release
Samford Media Guide

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University basketball team will play its third home game in eight days Thursday as the Bulldogs welcome the Wofford Terriers to the Pete Hanna Center for a key Southern Conference matchup slated to begin at 7 p.m. (CST).
 
Fans unable to attend the game in person can follow along via Samford's free Live-stream. The contest will also be broadcast locally on 97.3 FM The Zone and Live Stats will be provided on SamfordSports.com.
 
Samford (8-17, 6-6 SoCon) heads into Thursday's contest looking to bounce back from a tough
62-59 overtime loss at Chattanooga on Monday. With their defeat, the Bulldogs dropped to 3-10 in road games this season. Samford, which has recently played host to SoCon-rivals College of Charleston and The Citadel last week, owns a 5-5 record at home in 2012-13.                       
 
Three of the Bulldogs' five home victories have come against conference opponents this year in wins over Western Carolina, 64-60, Appalachian State, 72-68, and The Citadel, 79-67.
 
Samford nearly pulled out a huge SoCon road victory at Chattanooga on Monday despite shooting only 19 percent from 3-point range. The Bulldogs, who entered the game averaging 37.7 percent from long range, finished 4-of-21 from beyond the arc against the Mocs.
 
The 3-point shooting performance was Samford's second worst of the 2012-13 campaign, only topping a 2-of-24 outing (8.3 percent) at Austin Peay in the season opener Nov. 9.
 
Chattanooga also struggled from 3-point range as the Mocs turned in a season-low 7.1 shooting percentage against the Bulldogs. Chattanooga concluded the contest 1-of-14 from beyond the arc, but out-rebounded Samford, 43-22, including 17-4 on the offensive end of the court.
 
Samford's Raijon Kelly led all scorers versus Chattanooga with 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and handed out a team-high six assists. The Bulldogs' All-SoCon Freshman Team member from last season also finished with three rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot. Kelly, a native of St. Paul, Minn., went a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
 
Wofford (10-16, 4-9 SoCon) is also looking to rebound from a hard-fought loss Monday. On the road at Western Carolina, the Terriers dropped a 57-56 buzzer-beating decision to the Catamounts. With the defeat, Wofford moved to 2-13 when playing on the road this season. The Terriers' 2012-13 road wins have come against Jacksonville, 94-52, and Xavier, 56-55.
 
Wofford heads into Thursday's game as the No. 44-ranked team in the nation in scoring defense. The Terriers are only allowing opponents to score a SoCon-low 60.3 points per game and have held opponents to under 60 points 13 times this season.
 
Offensively, Wofford's top scorers this year have been sophomore guard Karl Cochran (15.5 ppg), true freshman guard Spencer Collins (13.1 ppg) and sophomore forward Lee Skinner (10.1 ppg).
 
The Terriers' Collins and Samford's Kelly were both teammates for three seasons at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, Minn. Kelly graduated in 2011, while Collins finished high school one year later in 2012.
 
Since Samford joined the SoCon in 2008, Wofford holds a 5-1 advantage in the all-time series, but the Bulldogs are coming off a thrilling 66-61 overtime win held in Spartanburg, S.C., last season. Samford's comeback victory in 2012 snapped the Terriers' five-game winning streak. All-time, Wofford owns a 6-3 record in the series, dating back to 1924.
 
In the last meeting between the teams held Feb. 4, 2012, the Bulldogs earned a nail-biting 66-61 overtime triumph against the Terriers in front of 2,012 raucous fans at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
 
Samford scored the final seven points of regulation last season to force overtime. The Bulldogs then outscored the Terriers 12-7 in overtime to tally the five-point victory. Samford never trailed in the extra period and received four points from Kelly.
 
Samford's stellar underclassman duo comprised of sophomore Kelly and true freshman Tim Williams has scored in double figures in 24 of the Bulldogs' 25 games this season.
 
Both players are averaging exactly 14.5 points in 2012-13 and Kelly's lone outing in which he did not reach double-figures was a five-point performance at Elon on Feb. 2. Williams' only appearance in which he didn't score at least 10 points came against College of Charleston on Jan. 10, as the Bulldogs' talented frosh tallied eight points and four rebounds.
 
Including Kelly and Williams, Samford's top-five scorers this season are all underclassmen. The Bulldogs' true freshman Clide Geffrard, Jr., is averaging 10.6 points per game, while sophomores Tyler Hood and Connor Miller are respectively scoring 8.4 and 6.9 points per outing this season.
 
The Bulldogs' Williams is ranked No. 33 in the nation in field-goal percentage (54.9), and is also ranked No. 177 in the nation in blocked shots per game (1.3). Samford's talented 6-foot-8 forward enters the week ranked No. 152 in the nation with four double-doubles.
 
Already this season, the Bulldogs' highly-touted true freshman from Chicago, Ill., has registered double-double performances against Austin Peay (23/10), Martin Methodist (13/10), Alcorn State (10/14) and Western Carolina (16/10) on Jan. 17.
 
Samford has already faced one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the nation. Four of the Bulldogs' 13 out-of-conference games have been against opponents ranked in the top-25, and Wisconsin opened the season ranked as the No. 17 team in the nation. Two of Samford's 2012-13 opponents started the year ranked in the top 10.
 
On Nov. 15, the Bulldogs played in Louisville, Ky., and were defeated by the No. 2-ranked Louisville Cardinals, 80-54. Just two days later, Samford squared off against the 16th-ranked Memphis Tigers at the FedExForum and nearly pulled off the upset, 65-54.
 
On Dec. 4, Samford played at then No. 19-ranked Kentucky and suffered an 88-56 defeat in front of 21,221 fans against the defending national champions at Rupp Arena. On Dec. 29, the Bulldogs were defeated at Wisconsin, 87-51. The Badgers are currently ranked No. 19 in the nation.
 
Following Thursday's key home game against Wofford, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 3 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs travel to Greenville, S.C., for another important cross-divisional contest with the Furman Paladins. Saturday's game will be held at Furman's Timmons Arena (3,000).

Game Notes
SoCon Release
Samford Media Guide