Citadel Readies For Eighth All-Time Meeting Against Samford

Final	1	2	T
Citadel (6-13, 2-5 SoCon)	23	38	61
Samford (10-8, 2-4 SoCon)	31	19	50
Birmingham, Ala. (Pete Hanna Center)

Citadel	Samford
Pts: Cameron Wells - 22	Pts: KING, Andy - 18
Reb: Cameron Wells - 8	Reb: PETERSON, John - 6
Ast: Zach Urbanus - 3	Ast: BERMUDEZ, Gaby - 3

Team Statistics	Citadel	Samford
Field Goal %	46.7% (21-45 )	31.4% (16-51 )
Rebounds	35	30
Assists	9	11
Turnovers	9	8
Pts off Turnovers	10	7
2nd Chance Pts	8	9
Pts in the Paint	18	18
Fastbreak Pts	0	0
Bench Pts	9	34

full stats

CHARLESTON, S.C.- The Citadel Basketball team will look to end their second three-game in six-day stretch on a positive note when the Bulldogs head to Samford for an 8 p.m. game on Monday evening. The Cadets are 4-1 against Samford since the first Southern Conference meeting on Jan. 26, 2009. The two schools split a pair of meetings, in 1992 and 1993, prior to Samford's conference membership. The two teams met on three occasions last season, including a 55-43 victory in the opening round of the 2010 Southern Conference Tournament. That win completed a three-game sweep of an opponent for the first time since 1960, when they defeated in-state rival Furman.

"We will need to bounce back quickly after yesterday's loss and be ready to play Monday night at Samford," said Citadel Head Coach Chuck Driesell. "With little time to prepare we must be focused on coming out ready to play and be prepared to defend. We will have to be sound fundamentally and fight through fatigue, with it being our third game in six days, to come out with the win. It will be a great test for our team."

URBANUS JOINS ANOTHER TOP 10 LIST: The Citadel's all-time leading 3-point shooter, Zach Urbanus, recently tied Mikko Koivisto who played at UNC Greensboro from 2006-10 for 10th place on the Southern Conference all-time 3-point list. Urbanus, who entered the season with the most 3-pointers in Citadel history, is the only player in school history to convert 70 or more treys in each of his first three seasons. He is one of three active players, Andrew Goudelock (College of Charleston) and Donald Sims (Appalachian State) to rank among the Southern Conference list for most prolific 3-point shooters. The first Bulldog to join the list, Urbanus is now one 3-pointer from tying Wofford's Junior Salters and sits five behind Brendan Winters (Davidson) on the Southern Conference list.

ADVANTAGE DRIESELL: The meeting with Samford marks the third and final coach on the schedule that has gone head-to-head with both Citadel Head Coach Chuck Driesell and his Hall of Fame father Charles 'Lefty' Driesell. The Driesell's have both coached NCAA Division I contests against Cliff Ellis (currently at Coastal Carolina) and Bobby Cremins (currently at College of Charleston) prior to the meeting with Tillette. Tillette led Samford to a five wins over 'Lefty' during his six-year tenure at Georgia State. The two schools were both members of the Trans America Athletic Conference at that time. The following is a game-by-game breakdown of the meetings between Georgia State and Samford during that time.

CATCH-22: Senior point guard Cameron Wells has finished with 20 points or more against nine different Southern Conference institutions during his career in a Bulldogs uniform. His most recent conquest came when he scored 26 points against College of Charleston on Saturday afternoon. In total he has 34 games in which he has topped the mark, 22 of those coming against SoCon opposition.

CITADEL STARTING FIVE AGAINST SAMFORD: The Citadel lineup features 10 players that have seen action against Samford, including the 2007 and 2008 seasons when Belmont University transfer Mike Dejworek met the Bulldogs in consecutive seasons. The Citadel enters the game with a 4-1 record with Samford, since the first Southern Conference meeting between the two on Jan. 26, 2009. The projected starting five of Matt Clark, Austin Dahn, Mike Groselle, Zach Urbanus and Cameron Wells have combined for 15 career starts against Samford.

Wells leads the quartet of senior starters with 86 points, hitting 32-of-69 (46.4%) from the field in his career against the rival Bulldogs. In four of the five career meetings, Wells has finished with double-digit outings. Classmate Austin Dahn has also enjoyed success, netting 60 points on 16 3-pointers in head-to-head meetings with Samford. Dahn hit four treys on three separate occasions against the SoCon foes from Birmingham, including 4-10 (Jan. 26, 2009), 4-8 (Jan. 16, 2010) and 4-9 (Feb. 4, 2010). Fellow sharpshooter Zach Urbanus rounds out the top three scorers with 48 career points against Samford. Urbanus is 16-for-35 (45.7%) from the floor and has converted 10 3-pointers in five starts.

The tandem of Wells and Bryan Streeter, with 36 and 20 rebounds respectively, top The Citadel on the glass. Wells has grabbed 30 defensive rebounds for the Cadets, while Streeter has cleared the offensive glass with four boards. Streeter also has the only blocked shot against Samford of any current Citadel player. Reserve center Mike Dejworek twice played Samford while with Belmont, totaling two points and two rebounds in 10 minutes of action. Sophomore center Mike Groselle has no career appearances against Samford and probable starter Matt Clark last saw game action on March 7, 2009 in the SoCon Tournament. Bo Holston is the only remaining Bulldog reserve with points against Samford, scoring two points in the 2010 conference tournament at Bojangles Arena. 

PREVIEWING SAMFORD (10-7 Overall, 2-3 SoCon)

LATE SAMFORD CHARGE NOT ENOUGH TO DOWN UTC (Jan. 15): The Samford University basketball team nearly extended its winning streak against the Chattanooga Mocs to three-consecutive games Saturday as the Bulldogs almost overcame an early 13-point deficit at The McKenzie Arena. Despite Samford's rally, Chattanooga was able to remain undefeated in Southern Conference play and win its sixth straight league contest, 65-60.

With the loss, Samford fell short against Chattanooga for the first time since the semifinal round of the 2009 SoCon Tournament. Last season, the Bulldogs swept the season series between the teams, 78-54, in Chattanooga, Tenn., and 60-54 in Birmingham, Ala.

Samford finished Saturday's game with three players scoring in double figures. Senior Josh Bedwell led the Bulldogs' offense by tying his season-high of 21 points. Bedwell, a senior guard from Hartselle, Ala., finished 6-of-11 from the field and 5-of-10 from 3-point range. Samford sharpshooter was also a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.

The Bulldogs' Josh Davis and Jeffrey Merritt both chipped in with 10 points apiece. Merritt tallied his third double-double of the season as he also pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds. Merritt entered Saturday's game ranked second in the SoCon with an average of 7.2 boards per game. Davis grabbed a season-high eight rebounds and knocked down a pair of key 3-point baskets.

Chattanooga was paced offensively Saturday by Chris Early and Omar Wattad. Both players finished with 17 points and combined to knock down eight of the Mocs' 11 3-pointers in the game. Wattad registered a 5-of-11 performance from beyond the arc, while Early went 3-of-6 from long range.

Ricky Taylor, Chattanooga's junior guard from Brownsville, Tenn., tallied a double-double for the Mocs as he finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Taylor also handed out a pair of assists and went 6-of-7 from the free-throw line.

Samford overcame its slow start to take a 46-45 lead in the game with 8:59 left to play. Andy King, the Bulldogs' senior center from Omaha, Neb., knocked down the basket to give his squad the lead with just under nine minutes to play in Saturday's contest. King finished with nine points and three assists as he knocked down a trio of 3-point baskets.

Following King's 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs the lead, Chattanooga's Wattad answered with a 3-point basket of his own to give the Mocs at 48-46 advantage.

Shortly after Wattad's 3-pointer, Samford's Merritt drove down the court on a fast break and was intentionally fouled by Chattanooga's Taylor with 8:15 to play. Merritt was unable to connect on either of the free throws and the Bulldogs forced up an errant 3-point basket on the accompanying possession.

With 2:50 left to play in the game, King knocked down another critical 3-point basket to trim the Mocs' lead to 54-53. Chattanooga's Early then responded with a 3-pointer on its next time down the court to make the score 57-53 with 2:26 remaining.
Samford wouldn't get any closer than three points down the stretch as the Mocs knocked down 8-of-9 free-throw attempts in the final 1:05 to play to hold on for the 65-60 victory.

The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 38.8 percent from the field, but only 31.6 percent from beyond the arc. Samford missed its first 13 attempts from 3-point range in Saturday's game, but knocked down 12-of-25 (48 percent) to close out the contest.

Chattanooga, the SoCon leader in rebounding, only out-rebounded the Bulldogs by five, 39-34, but outscored Samford 25-8 in points off turnovers. The Bulldogs committed 15 turnovers, while the Mocs finished with only 10 miscues.
Samford's bench outscored Chattanooga's bench, 15-4.

At the half, Chattanooga held a 30-25 lead in Saturday's game. Despite not hitting its first field goal until the 12:19 mark in the opening period, Samford fought back to only a five-point deficit at the intermission.

The Mocs opened the game with an early 13-0 lead as the Bulldogs didn't connect on their first 3-point basket until Bedwell drained a deep shot from the top of the key at 7:19 in the first half. Bedwell paced Samford in scoring in the opening period with 12 points. All four of his baskets came from beyond the arc in the first half.

Chattanooga was paced in scoring by Early's 10 points in the opening 20 minutes of play. Taylor added eight points for the Mocs as Wattad chipped in with six.

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