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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The Samford University basketball team will renew its Southern Rail Rivalry against the Chattanooga Mocs Thursday at 6 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs continue their brief two-game Southern Conference road stretch at McKenzie Arena in downtown Chattanooga.
 
Samford (6-11, 0-2 SoCon) heads into the showdown with aspirations of bouncing back from a hard-fought 80-78 road loss to Georgia Southern on Saturday. The Bulldogs finished the game with five players scoring in double figures and were led by Tim Williams' 23 points and eight rebounds.
 
Samford outscored Georgia Southern, 45-40, in the second half, but the Eagles were able to use a 33-25 edge in rebounding to hang on for the two-point victory. With its win, Georgia Southern improved to 5-1 at home this season, while the Bulldogs dropped to 1-9 when playing away from the friendly confines of the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Samford's starting five comprised of Williams, Isaiah Williams, Connor Miller, Chris Longoria and Tyler Hood accounted for 73 of Samford's 78 points against Georgia Southern.
 
Chattanooga (8-8, 2-0 SoCon) enters Thursday's game with a full head of steam after earning back-to-back SoCon road wins at Furman,72-63, and The Citadel, 82-78. The Mocs are in the midst of a four-game winning streak and have not been defeated since Dec. 18 at UAB, 67-52.
 
At home at McKenzie Arena this season, Chattanooga has compiled a near-perfect 5-1 record. The Mocs' lone loss at home this year was a 73-69 setback against Kennesaw State on Nov. 19.
 
Chattanooga heads into the contest ranked No. 26 in the nation in steals. Already this season, the Mocs, under first-year head coach Will Wade, have utilized a full-court pressure defense into gathering a total of 132 takeaways. Sophomore guard Gee McGhee leads the team with 22 steals this year, while Z. Mason paces Chattanooga with a stellar 19.1 scoring average.
 
Since joining the SoCon in 2008-09, the Bulldogs own a 3-8 record against Chattanooga. The Mocs have been victorious in three-consecutive games versus Samford, including 21 of the last 25 meetings between the teams. All-time, Chattanooga holds a 51-36 advantage in the series, as well as a 33-12 lead when playing in Chattanooga, Tenn.
 
Samford's Tim Williams was officially named the SoCon's Player of the Month Tuesday as the Bulldogs' hoops star averaged 19.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in the month of December, it was announced by the league office.
 
Williams led the Bulldogs to a 4-3 record last month and turned in a phenomenal 71.6-percent shooting performance in six games. Samford's 6-foot-8 sophomore forward also added 14 steals and 11 blocked shots. With his stellar shooting percentage, Williams is currently ranked No. 7 nationally in the category.
 
Against Presbyterian on Dec. 30, Williams' career-high 31 points proved to be Samford's best single-game scoring performance since Randall Gulina dropped in 38 against Tennessee Temple on Nov. 14, 2006.
 
In mid-October, the SoCon released its annual preseason rankings and Samford was projected to finish fourth in the conference by both the league's head coaches and media. Elon was tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the SoCon title in 2013-14.
 
Samford's fourth-place preseason ranking proved to be its best since joining the SoCon and its highest tally since 2006-07 when the Bulldogs were predicted to win the Ohio Valley Conference.
 
Samford and Appalachian State tied for fourth place in the preseason poll with 67 points apiece. The Bulldogs return four starters from last season's team that registered a 9-9 mark in SoCon play. In just Head Coach Bennie Seltzer's second year at the helm, Samford's fourth-place preseason ranking is its highest in SoCon history.
 
Against SoCon opponents last season, 13 of the Bulldogs' 19 games were decided by five points or less.
 
In the final weekend of the 2012-13 regular season, Samford played back-to-back overtime road games at Appalachian State and Western Carolina. It marked the first time in over 16 years that the Bulldogs competed in consecutive overtime contests, dating all the way back to Jan. 23 and 25, 1997, against Georgia State and Mercer.
 
The Bulldogs' 2013-14 roster is comprised of eight newcomers, six true freshmen, three sophomores and five juniors. Samford's lone seniors on the team this season are walk-ons Hamilton Bailey and Tony Thompson. Seltzer has quickly changed the makeup of the Bulldogs' roster and nine of the team's extremely talented 16 players are underclassmen.
 
Following Thursday's road game at Chattanooga, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs return home to Birmingham, Ala., for another key SoCon contest against the Furman Paladins to be held in the Pete Hanna Center.

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