Samford Preview: Rivalry Renewed

Samford is the closest school geographically to Chattanooga. The Bulldogs should be the Mocs biggest rival.

The Mocs have played Samford 82 times, and the Mocs lead 47-34. This is just their thirteenth meeting since the Mocs went D1. The Mocs are 5-2 against Samford since the Bulldogs joined the SoCon, three years ago.

This game is a rivalry game for both teams. Sure- it does not get the excitement going like playing College of Charleston or Davidson (for some), but this is a nice rivalry game.

Samford has the lowest RPI of any team in the SoCon. But to say that is not to include how close they have been to winning plenty. For example, they took Mercer to overtime a couple of days before the Mocs were beaten by double digits by the Bears. Samford has not won a SoCon game yet, but they lost their two home games to Western Carolina and Appalachian State by an average of 4.5 points per game, and lost their two road games by an average of 8 points per game to Georgia Southern and The Citadel. The Mocs have not won a road game yet this year, so this is not as easy game for the Mocs at all. This, in fact, could be quite a challenge.

So, while the Bulldogs have been losing, they have been deceptively close to winning games this year. The Mocs, who have played a couple of close games in a row, will be in another battle with the Bulldogs. The Mocs will have to play well in order to win.

Samford is playing at a slightly faster pace this year. They still shoot a large number of threes- 48% of their shots come from behind the arc. Seven players average shooting two or more three pointers per game.

The best player is probably Jeffrey Merritt. He is averaging 8.9 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game. He also is averaging 2.8 assists per game. The 6-6 guard leads the team in rebounds and assists. He is third on the team in scoring. He is shooting 41% from three point range.

Drew Windler is averaging 11.9 points per game and is shooting 37.7% from three point range. He leads the team in scoring. He averaged 14.1 points per game after the first three games, after averaging just 3.3 points per game against Youngstown State, Jacksonville State, and Georgia State. In ten of the last twelve games, he has scored in double digits. Against Sam Houston State and UT-San Antonio, he scored in single digits. His high was against Spring Hill with 23 points, and 20 against Western Carolina. The 6-9 center will be matched up with Drazen Zlovaric. This will be a very interesting match-up.

Freshman Tyler Hood is second on the team in scoring. He is averaging 9.3 points per game. Hood has been a definite player that has really helped the Bulldogs.

This is a good passing team that runs their offense pretty efficiently. They play a little slow, and are 249th in the country in scoring. They are also 281st in the country.

The key for the Mocs may be their health. Will Omar Wattad look more like himself in this game? This could be an important part of the game. Another important part of the game is for the Mocs to be patient on defense. The Bulldogs try to play solid offense, waiting for the defense to make a mistake. The Mocs defense has been great this year, though.

KEYS TO THE GAME

--Rebounding. The Mocs dominate on the glass. To win this kind of game, the Mocs will need to be nearly perfect on the defensive glass and get some offensive rebounds and some second chance points to aid the effort.
--Defensive patience. The Mocs will need to play hard for the whole 35 second shot clock on the defensive end of the floor.
--Health of Ricky Taylor and Omar Wattad. Will they be healthy enough to be solid shooters and contribute heavily to the team?
--Windler vs. Zlovaric. Which big man plays the best and comes up with the best performance?
--Keegan Bell. He's been struggling with his shot. He needs to stop pressing so hard and start shooting better, while also making good decisions in the passing game.

LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG

--Another low scoring, tight battle in conference play for the Mocs.
--Z Mason and Jahmal Burroughs (unmentioned so far) will combine to be a powerful combination in this one, while Zlovaric will neutralize Windler.
--Just so everyone's clear- Windler will also neutralize Zlovaric.
--Samford will make some threes at a higher rate than they have been so far this year.
--Mocs 63, Samford 56. It will feel like a bigger blowout than this. The Mocs will feel like they are in control almost the whole night. Wattad, Taylor, and Bell will have decent games, but the difference will be Mason and Burroughs.

GO MOCS!