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SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- For the second time in eight days, the Samford University basketball team will square off against the first-place Wofford Terriers in Southern Conference play. Saturday's contest versus the defending SoCon Tournament champions will be held at Benjamin Johnson Arena and is slated to begin at 6 p.m. (CT).
 
Samford (7-11, 0-5 SoCon) heads into the matchup with aspirations of snapping its three-game losing streak. Since rattling off four-consecutive victories against Presbyterian, Louisiana-Monroe, Campbell and Auburn-Montgomery from Dec. 16-30, the Bulldogs have suffered three straight losses to Wofford (12-4, 3-0 SoCon), ETSU and The Citadel.
 
With 3:50 remaining in Thursday's contest at The Citadel, Samford's Tyler Hood drained a clutch 3-point basket from the top of the key to even the score at 66-66. The basket occurred on a historic night for the Bulldogs' senior sharpshooter as he earlier became just the 24^th player in 113 years of Samford basketball to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
 
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, The Citadel outscored Samford, 11-1, in the final 2:32 of the game to register a 77-67 league victory.
 
Hood, Samford's 6-foot-6 forward from Lenoir City, Tennessee, connected on his second shot of the game Thursday to reach the historic 1,000-point plateau. He entered the night needing just two points to achieve the mark and knocked down a 3-point basket at 15:59 in the first half to accomplish the feat.
 
Hood finished the contest with six points and upped his career total to 1,004. He is currently Samford's leading scorer at 10.5 points per game this season and could finish ranked as high as No. 16 on the Bulldogs' all-time scoring list.
 
Samford turned in a solid 45.8-percent shooting mark from the field Thursday, but The Citadel finished at 51 percent from the field, including a sizzling 63.6-percent outing from 3-point range.
 
The Cadets' Ashton Moore, who entered as the league's third leading scorer at 17.9 points per outing this season, tallied a game-high 20 points and finished 9-of-9 from the free-throw line. Moore scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half, nine of which occurred during The Citadel's late 11-1 run.
 
The Bulldogs' Darius Jones-Gibson tied his career-high of 18 points and turned in a 7-of-12 performance of the field. Jones-Gibson, Samford's lithe 6-foot-1 guard from Lexington, Kentucky, was nearly unstoppable on his penetrating drives to the goal and also helped lead the Bulldogs with four rebounds.
 
Samford's Jones-Gibson is averaging 14 points and 3.4 rebounds per game in the Bulldogs' last five outings. The talented 6-foot-1 guard is now second on the team with an average of 10.3 points per contest this season.
 
Wofford enters Saturday's showdown as the hottest team in the SoCon. The Terriers have tallied three-consecutive wins and have been victorious in 12 of their last 15 outings.
 
Wofford enters Saturday's game as the top defensive team in the conference. The Terriers are only allowing opponents to score an average of 62.4 points per contest this season and boast a perfect 6-0 record at home this season.
 
Additionally, Wofford leads the SoCon in 3-point field-goal percentage defense and are only limiting opponents to shoot 29.9 percent from beyond the arc.
 
The Terriers' offense is being paced this season by SoCon Preseason Player of the Year Karl Cochran, who is averaging team-highs in both points (15.0) and rebounds (6.2).
 
The Bulldogs and Terriers have met on the hardwood a total of 13 times, including just seven days ago when Wofford eked out a 68-65 road win in Birmingham, Ala. Samford trails in the all-time series between the teams, 4-9, and has lost three-consecutive games to the Terriers dating back to Feb. 14, 2013, when the Bulldogs earned a 40-33 home win.
 
So far this season, Samford has been shooting the ball significantly better at home in the friendly confines of the Pete Hanna Center.
 
The Bulldogs are shooting 47.8 percent from the field at home this year, but only 37.2 percent from the floor when playing on the road. Additionally, Samford is shooting 7.7 percentage points better at home from 3-point range; 37.4 at home versus 29.7 on the road.
 
The Bulldogs have made at least one 3-point field goal in 708-consecutive games. The last time that Samford did not make a 3-point basket was on Jan. 19, 1991, against UTSA.
 
With such a young team this season, the Bulldogs' senior class comprised of Michael Bradley, Brandon Hayman and Hood will need to take a key leadership role, both on and off the court.
 
Samford's Bradley and Hood have been listed in the team's starting lineup in 11 of the team's 18 games this season, while Hayman has been coming off the bench to provide a key spark for the Bulldogs. All three Samford seniors have earned playing time in every game this season.
 
Following Saturday's road test at Wofford, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Thursday at 7 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs return home to Birmingham, Alabama, to welcome the Chattanooga Mocs to the Pete Hanna Center for a key Southern Rail Rivalry matchup.

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