TUSCON, Ariz. - The Samford men's basketball team went out west tonight as they took on Arizona on the road. The Bulldogs were unable to keep up with the Wildcats, as the home side won the uptempo game 96-64. The Bulldog's record falls to 9-3 overall with the defeat while the Wildcats move to 5-5.

The Bulldogs were able to use the three-ball early on to keep them in the game as they hit on five of their first ten attempts from deep. Trey Fort was able to connect on two from behind the arc, while Julian Brown provided an offensive spark off the bench with nine points, 3-of-3 from deep. 

The offensive side wasn't the biggest issue for the Dogs, but the defensive end, where they gave up 61 percent shooting to the Wildcats in the first half. Arizona was able to handle the Samford full-court press as they scored 26 fast break points and dominated the paint 26-5 with breakout layups and offensive rebounds.

16 of Samford's 28 shots in the first half were from three along with Arizona's size led to a 18-2 free throw disparity in the first half. The home side got a good night from streaky guard Caleb Love who scored 18 of his game-high 23 in the first half and led Samford 56-33.

The Bulldogs showed some fight out of the half, cutting the deficit to 14 on multiple occasions behind the two-man play of Rylan Jones and Jaden Brownell. However, Samford was never able to sustain a run as Arizona pulled away in the closing minutes. 

Samford shot 37 percent on the night on the offensive end, led by Fort, Brownell, and Brown who all finished with 11 points. The Dogs hit above their season average from three with 12 but it took 35 attempts. The home side won the points in the paint battle by 28, fast break points by 25, and was plus 19 on the glass.

Tonight was the final regular-season power four test for the Bulldogs, as up next they head to Alabama A&M on Saturday before moving into conference play in the new year. Tip in Huntsville will be at 3 p.m. on Saturday against an Alabama A&M side that is 4-7 on the season.

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