Feb. 1, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University basketball team will play its third Ohio Valley Conference game in five days Saturday as the Bulldogs return home to the Pete Hanna Center for a key matchup against the Eastern Illinois Panthers beginning at 7 p.m.

Saturday's game will be broadcast by Kevin Henslee on WVSU 91.1 FM and via the internet at www.samford.edu/groups/wvsu.

Samford (10-12, 7-7 OVC) heads into the contest looking to sustain its positive momentum from a hard-fought 65-59 victory on the road versus Tennessee State on Thursday.

In the win, senior Travis Peterson scored a season-high 21 points and exploded for 17 in the second half alone. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-10 center was 5-of-9 from the field and knocked down a career-high 10 free throws on 11 attempts.

Samford concluded its brief two-game road trip with a 1-1 record and now owns identical 5-6 records both at home and on the road.

Eastern Illinois (4-17, 3-10 OVC) enters Saturday's matchup in the midst of a two-game winning streak. The Panthers are coming off consecutive OVC victories against Morehead State 66-65 on Jan. 26 and Jacksonville State 72-67 on Thursday. The winning streak is Eastern Illinois' first of the 2007-08 campaign.

The Panthers were victorious in their first game of the season, an 85-63 win against Harris-Stowe, but then suffered losing streaks of 11 and six games, respectively. Sandwiched in between the losing streaks was an 83-80 overtime victory against Murray State on Jan. 3.

Samford owns a 6-2 all-time record against Eastern Illinois. The Bulldogs have been victorious in each of the previous four matchups between the teams and have not lost to the Panthers since Jan. 27, 2005.

Samford swept the annual home-and-home series' against Eastern Illinois in both 2005-06 and 2006-07. The Bulldogs are a perfect 4-0 at home against the Panthers.

Peterson, Samford's senior preseason All-OVC performer, only needs to score 16 points to reach the prestigious 1,000-point plateau. With the achievement, he would become the 21st Bulldog in school history to accomplish the feat.

Samford is ranked fourth in the nation in fewest personal fouls per game.

The Bulldogs are only averaging 14.3 fouls per contest and are not far behind the nation's top-ranked team in the category, UNC Asheville, which is only committing 14.0 personal fouls per game.

Samford is also ranked among the nation's leaders in scoring defense and 3-point field goals per game. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 15 in scoring defense (59.1 ppg) and No. 72 in 3-point field goals per game (7.9).

Samford has recently suffered a pair of injuries to key players, including a setback to one of its starting guards.

In practice Wednesday, redshirt freshman Gaby Bermudez suffered a dislocated shoulder to his non-shooting (left) arm. The injury occurred when the Bulldogs' 6-for-4 guard from Miami, Fla., was diving for a loose ball. Bermudez is most likely out for the season and was averaging 13.6 minutes and 1.7 points per game.

The following day, Samford's starting two-guard Josh Bedwell suffered a high-ankle sprain in a 65-59 victory against Tennessee State. The Bulldogs' 6-foot native of Hartselle, Ala., is expected to miss at least a week due to the injury. He started in 16 of the team's 22 games this year.

It is safe to say that Samford's offensive style is unique, especially in the OVC.

While most teams in the conference play pressure defense and tend to run the ball up the court, the Bulldogs use patience and precision cutting on offense to get either a back-door layup or a wide open look at a 3-point shot.

With that in mind, Samford's offense is hard to prepare for and often poses problems for the other coaches in the league to scout. Since head coach Jimmy Tillette incorporated the Princeton offense at Samford in 1997, the Bulldogs have reeled off a 67-36 record in games played against teams that have less than three days to prepare.

Nov. 15, 2007, marked the dawning of a new era for Samford as the Bulldogs began play in their brand-new 32-million-dollar Pete Hanna Center. The state-of-the-art 5,000-seat arena was completed prior to the season and features new locker rooms, a training room, a weight room and coaches offices.

The Pete Hanna Center, which replaced Samford's historic 45-year-old Seibert Hall, also houses the University's recreation center and workout facility.

Following Saturday's home matchup against Eastern Illinois, Samford will take a much-needed week off from competitive action before squaring off against the first-place Austin Peay Governors on Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m., in Clarksville, Tenn.

Samford Basketball Game Notes