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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The Samford University basketball team will play its third road game in four outings Saturday as the Bulldogs square off against the surging Chattanooga Mocs at 5 p.m. (CT) in a key Southern Conference contest to be held at The McKenzie Arena (10,928).   
 
Samford (12-15, 5-9 SoCon) heads into the matchup with aspirations of bouncing back from a heartbreaking 66-65 setback against The Citadel on Thursday, in which the Cadets' Ashton Moore knocked down the game-winning basket at the buzzer. The Bulldogs' loss snapped their season-long, five-game winning streak.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT
Samford's winning streak came to an abrupt end Thursday as The Citadel's Moore bounced home a 19-foot jumper at the final buzzer to topple the Bulldogs, 66-65, in a back-and-forth contest held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
With 4.2 seconds remaining on the clock, Samford held a 65-64 advantage over The Citadel following a free throw from senior center Michael Bradley.
 
After a timeout, the Cadets inbounded the ball from the right sideline and eventually found Moore near midcourt. Moore, The Citadel's top offensive player and fourth leading scorer in the SoCon, gathered the pass and took four three quick dribbles down the right flank.
 
Samford's defense retreated on the play and Moore pulled up for a wide-open jumper from just inside the 3-point line.
 
In the air, Moore's shot was on line, but it hit the front rim. The Bulldogs' fans began to cheer in excitement, but then the ball inexplicably bounced forward and up into the air and eventually hit the top right portion of the rim. At the point, the ball's backspin carried it into the cylinder and through the net for the game-winning shot.
 
Moore's bucket proved to be his seventh of the game as he finished with 17 points and six assists in 34 minutes of playing time.
 
Chattanooga (17-9, 10-3 SoCon) enters Saturday's showdown as the hottest team in the conference. The Mocs have compiled a stellar 11-3 record since Dec. 19 and defeated first-place Wofford, 56-46, on the road Thursday in the SoCon Game of the Night.
 
Chattanooga is ranked first in the conference in scoring margin (+5.8) and boasts an impressive 12-2 record at home this season.
 
The Mocs have won four straight games at home and have not been defeated at The McKenzie Arena since Jan. 5. Chattanooga has been victorious in eight of its last 10 games and currently sits in second place in the SoCon standings. The Mocs boast four players averaging double figures in scoring this season and are being led by Casey Jones' 14.2 points per contest.
 
The Bulldogs' all-time rivalry with Chattanooga is its third longest in school history. The Southern Rail Rivalry is over 89 years old and dates all the way back to Feb. 12, 1926, when the Mocs registered a 23-12 victory held at the Birmingham Athletic Club. Samford trails in the all-time series, 53-37, and lost to Chattanooga earlier this season, 82-76.
 
IN THE LAST MEETING
Samford jumped out to a 10-point lead, held a three-point advantage at the intermission, but misfired from the free-throw line down the stretch as the Bulldogs dropped an 82-76 SoCon decision to Chattanooga at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Samford earned a total of 42 trips to the charity stripe in the game, but only connected on 26 for a lackluster 61.9 percentage from the free-throw line.
 
Despite their shooting struggles, the Bulldogs only trailed Chattanooga, 78-74, with 29 seconds left.
 
After Samford's Jones-Gibson scored a layup to trim the Mocs' advantage to four points, Chattanooga's Greg Pryor connected on a trio of free throws in the ensuing 10 seconds of play. During the stretch, Jones-Gibson also connected on a free throw of his own.
 
Samford's Jones-Gibson, who finished the contest with a season-high 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field, made his sixth free throw of the game with 12 seconds left to play to make the score 81-76 in favor of the Mocs.
 
The Bulldogs were forced to foul Chattanooga's Ronrico White in the last 10 seconds of action as he then connected on a free throw to make the final score, 82-76.
 
WHAT'S TRENDING . . .
• On Tuesday, Samford's Cunningham was named the SoCon's Freshman of the Week for a league-best FOURTH time this season. Last week, Cunningham averaged 11.5 points, 5.0 assists, 2.5 steals and 2.0 rebounds per game at Western Carolina and ETSU.
• Samford's Jones-Gibson has scored in double-figures in 18 of the last 21 games.
• In SoCon play, Jones-Gibson is averaging 16.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per contest.
 
CUNNINGHAM CHASING HISTORY
Samford's Cunningham has already handed out a freshman-record 112 assists this season and recently surpassed Isaiah Williams' record of 103, which was achieved last year.
 
The Bulldogs' all-time record for single-season assists is 151 and is held by Raijon Kelly and was reached during the 2012-13 campaign. At his current rate of 4.1 assists per game, Cunningham is on pace to record 128 in 2014-15.
 
THE SAMFORD YOUTH MOVEMENT
Nine of the Bulldogs' 15 members of the 2014-15 roster are underclassmen. Samford boasts four true freshmen this season in Cunningham, Alex Peters, Gerald Smith and Evan Taylor, while Eric Adams, Ryan Dickey, Nnamdi Enechionyia, Emeka Ikezu and Brandon Roberts comprise the Bulldogs' sophomore class.
 
SWEET HOME ALABAMA
Since taking over in June, Head Coach Scott Padgett has taken a committed, uber-active approach to recruiting the state of Alabama. Padgett, who boasts a majority of his coaching ties and recruiting roots in the South, already has five players on his roster from Alabama ... by far the most since John Brady roamed the sideline in Seibert Hall during the mid-90s.
 
717-STRAIGHT AND STILL COUNTING
The Bulldogs have made at least one 3-point field goal in 717-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 933-straight games dating back to the 1986-87 season. Kentucky (926) and Vanderbilt (922) 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.
 
WHAT'S NEXT?
Following Saturday's SoCon contest at Chattanooga, the Samford University basketball team will next be in action Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs welcome the Mercer Bears to the Pete Hanna Center for a huge late-season conference test.
 
Prior to next week's Senior Night game against Mercer, Samford's senior class comprised of Bradley, Brandon Hayman and Tyler Hood will be honored with a special presentation for all of their hard work and dedication over the years.
 
The Bulldogs' game with Mercer next week will also be Samford's annual Red-Out Game to honor former player Jim Griffin and in conjunction with the American Heart Association's Heart Month, which continues throughout the month of February.
 
In September of 2009, fifth-year senior forward Griffin passed away in his sleep of a heart condition that had previously gone undetected.
 
Samford retired Griffin's No. 3 jersey and hosted its first "Red Out" game on Feb. 11, 2010, against Elon. The game was the second-highest attended contest in Samford men's basketball history and the team was able to collect over $2,200 to be donated to the American Heart Association.

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