Jan. 19, 2003

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TIPOFF: Monday, Jan. 20, 2003, 7 p.m. Seibert Hall; Birmingham, Ala.

AIR: The game can be heard on WVSU 91.1-FM and the internet at www.samfordsports.com.

SAMFORD: Samford is looking to win its second straight conference game after shooting a season high 71 percent from the floor in an 80-78 victory over Georgia State on Saturday. Tyson Dorsey led four Bulldogs in double figures with 17 points against the Panthers. Dorsey is chasing Jonathan Pixley's single-season three-point record. Pixley made 84 three pointers during the 1995-96 season. Dorsey is halfway there at 42-88 (47.7%) from 3-point range this season with 12 games to play. Phillip Ramelli leads Samford averaging 11.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Ramelli is 5th in the A-Sun in FG percentage at 59 percent. The Samford record for best FG percentage over one season is 60.5 percent by Randy Morgan in 1974-75. Head coach Jimmy Tillette is five wins away from becoming the first Samford head coach to reach 100 wins.

JACKSONVILLE STATE: The Gamecocks saw their four-game conference winning streak come to an end in Nashville on Saturday. JSU shot 34 percent from the floor and only 17 percent from behind the arc while Belmont shot 50 percent from the floor. Jay Heard led JSU with 19 points against Belmont. Omar Bartlett leads the Gamecocks on the season at 16.9 ppg. He averages 7.5 rpg and shoots 54 percent from the floor and scored 14.5 points in two games against Samford last season. Poonie Richardson is averaging 14.8 points while Heard is scoring 13 points per game. JSU leads the A-Sun in shooting percent at 47 percent and is second in the conference in scoring at 77.3 points per game.

INSIDE STUFF: Samford leads the all-time series 42-34. The Bulldogs are 28-12 against the Gamecocks in Birmingham. JSU sweep the season series last season for the first time since 1968-69. JSU's two victories last season were by a combined five points. The Gamecocks have not beaten Samford three-straight times in 33 years. The series dates back to Jan. 20, 1921 when JSU took a 28-11 victory.

NEXT: Samford wraps up its three-game home stand against Mercer on Thursday, Jan. 23. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. in Seibert Hall.