Jacksonville 60, Samford 49
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University basketball team committed a season-high 21 turnovers Wednesday in a 60-49 home loss against the Jacksonville Dolphins in a non-conference matchup held at the Pete Hanna Center. The meeting was the first between the old Trans America Athletic Conference rivals since 2003 and it was Jacksonville's first victory in the series since Feb. 8, 2001.
"The turnovers were obviously an issue for us tonight and that's just what I got done telling the team," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We made some defensive errors, but we also made a tremendous amount of mistakes on the offensive end of the floor. We didn't play well against their pressure and we finished with 21 turnovers, and they had 14 steals."
With Wednesday's loss, Samford (3-3) had its winning streak against Jacksonville (3-1) snapped at four games. The defeat was also the Bulldogs' first setback at home of the 2010-11 campaign.
The Dolphins extended their winning streak to three-consecutive games and will continue their Thanksgiving road trip with a 7 p.m. (CST) matchup at Auburn on Saturday.
Jacksonville used its full-court pressure defense to take an early lead of 10-4 with 12:36 to play in the first half. Samford then bounced back to lead by as many as three points, 25-22, with 1:23 remaining until the intermission.
The Bulldogs' Kaylin Johnson paced Samford with eight points in the first half and closed out the game with a career-high 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field. The Bulldogs' speedy guard from Baton Rouge, La., also knocked down a career-high four 3-point field goals and connected on three free throws.
Johnson's career-high scoring performance bested his previous high mark of 14 points scored against Georgia Southern on Feb. 22, 2010.
The Dolphins used a late jumper from Travis Cohn and a driving layup from Shamile Jeffers to take a slight 26-25 advantage into halftime. Jacksonville rallied to end the opening period by scoring eight of the final 12 points of the half.
Samford was outscored 34-24 in the second half and trailed by 10 points, 49-39, with 3:38 remaining in the game. Following a steal by Drew Windler and a running layup by Gregg Wooten, the Bulldogs were able to cut Jacksonville's lead down to 49-44 with 2:26 to play.
The Dolphins' Keith McDougald then knocked down a key jumper and Jacksonville made nine free throws down the stretch to hold on for the 60-49 victory.
Russell Powell paced Jacksonville with 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field. The Dolphins' 5-foot-9 sophomore from Newnan, Ga., also tallied two rebounds, two steals and an assist, but most importantly knocked down 7-of-8 of his free-throw attempts.
As a team, Jacksonville only shot 1-for-7 from 3-point range (14.3 percent) and 17-of-30 from the charity stripe (56.7 percent). Samford wasn't much better with an 18-of-28 outing from the free-throw line (64.3 percent).
The Dolphins' double-digit scoring performers were rounded out by 12 points from Huffman High School product Ayron Hardy and 10 points from Cohn.
Samford only shot 31.7 percent from the field (13-of-41) and 23.8 percent from 3-point range (5-of-21). After Johnson's four 3-point field goals, senior Andy King connected on the Bulldogs' fifth deep shot of the game. He finished with five points, two assists and a rebound.
Junior Jeffrey Merritt came one point shy of recording his third double-double this season. The Bulldogs' native of Oklahoma City, Okla., pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and finished with nine points, an assist and a steal. Merritt was also 5-of-6 from the free-throw line, but only 2-of-7 from the floor.
Samford's Wooten added a career-high 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field. The Bulldogs' native of Memphis, Tenn., grabbed four rebounds and scored on a number of acrobatic layups down the right side of the lane.
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Saturday at 6:30 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs travel to Atlanta, Ga., for a non-conference matchup versus the Georgia State Panthers to be held at the Georgia State Sports Arena (3,400).
Jackson State 87, Chattanooga 75
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team heads into Thanksgiving on a sour note losing 87-75 to Jackson State Wednesday night. Chattanooga is now 2-4 on the season, while the Tigers improve to 1-5.
DeAntre Jefferson and Ricky Taylor tied for team-high scoring honors with 18 apiece. Jefferson's came on a perfect shooting night hitting 8-8 from the field and 2-2 from the free throw line.
JSU's Jenirro Bush led all scorers with 31 points, while grabbing six rebounds. Three other Tigers joined him in double-digits including Rod Melvin who tallied 13 points and eight assists.
The Mocs led by 10 points twice in the first half. A three-point play by Jefferson on a tip-in made it 21-11 at 11:29. Leading 26-17 at 6:21, Chattanooga's offense went cold as the Tigers closed the half on a 19-5 run to take a 36-31 advantage into intermission.
Jackson State built its lead to nine, 51-42 on a Grant Maxey three-point play at 14:58. But the Mocs stormed back.
A 10-0 run gave Chattanooga the lead, 52-51, on a Jefferson layup with 12:38 remaining. Jefferson had six points in the run with the other four coming on one play as Omar Wattad (Johnson City, Tenn.) was fouled shooting a three-pointer and made the free throw.
Bush quickly answered hitting a three-pointer at 11:53 to give the Tigers the lead for good at 54-52. The Mocs got as close as seven, 63-56, when JSU went on a 12-3 run to take its largest lead of the game, 75-59, on a Bush layup.
Bush scored 20 of his 31 points in the second half. The Tigers scored 51 after intermission shooting 69.2 percent (18-26) from the field.
Offense was not a problem for Chattanooga. It scored 44 in the second half and 75 is its highest output of the young season. Four Mocs ended up in double figures as Chris Early (Huntington, W. Va.) had 11 and Wattad scored 10.
Keegan Bell had a season-high 10 assists with just two turnovers as Chattanooga accumulated 23 assists on the evening against just 11 turnovers.
Defense was the concern for the Mocs tonight. Leading 57-53 with 9:44 to play, the Tigers scored on eight straight possessions to put the game away.
Tyrone Hanson had a strong all-around effort for JSU. He posted eight points, eight boards and eight assists. Grant Maxey came off the bench to add 12 points and five rebounds, while De'Suan Dixon chipped in 11 points and five assists.
JSU led the battle on the boards 34-31 behind Hanson's eight. Jefferson and Early tied for Chattanooga's high of seven.
It's back to the road for the Mocs after Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Chattanooga travels to Mimi to face FIU at 7:30 p.m.
Air Force 72, Wofford 66 (OT)
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - For the second straight game the Wofford College men's basketball team went to overtime, however Air Force defeated the Terriers 72-66 in Benjamin Johnson Arena on Wednesday night. Wofford tied the game with 13 seconds left in regulation, but the Falcons outscored the Terriers 16-10 in overtime.
Wofford is 2-4 on the season and Air Force is 3-1. The Terriers were led by Jamar Diggs with 20 points, while Noah Dahlman and Cameron Rundles added 13 each. Tim Johnson had 14 rebounds. The Falcons were led by Tom Fow and Michael Lyons with 18 points each and Evan Washington with 14 points and six rebounds.
The Terriers scored first, but the Falcons went on a 9-0 run to take a 9-2 lead at the 15:53 mark. Wofford slowly chipped away at the lead and after back-to-back threes by Cameron Rundles and Brad Loesing the score was 14-13 for Air Force with 9:12 on the clock. Jamar Diggs tied the game on the next possession for Wofford at 15 and a three by Brad Loesing with 6:45 left in the first half gave the Terriers an 18-17 lead. Air Force answered with an 8-0 run that included two three pointers by Tom Fow. At the half, the Falcons led 32-26.
To open the second half, Noah Dahlman hit a lay-up and free throw to cut the lead to 33-29. The Falcons were able to push the advantage back to eight points after a three by Derek Brooks at 14:14 for a 34-42 score. Wofford would make it a three-point game twice, but Air Force responded with threes.
With 4:42 left in the second half, Jamar Diggs hit a jumper, followed by a bucket from Cameron Rundles to make it a 52-50 game. It was a one-point advantage for the Falcons with 2:01 on the clock after two free throws by Jamar Diggs. Evan Washington made one of two free throws with 24 seconds left for a 56-54 lead, but Jamar Diggs hit a jumper with 16 seconds on the clock to tie the game. A final shot by Air Force was blocked by Diggs, sending the game to overtime.
In overtime, Wofford scored first with a three by Jamar Diggs for the lead. The Falcons would then score the next eight points for a 64-59 lead with 1:48 left on the clock. Wofford was able to cut the lead to three, but Air Force hit enough free throws down the stretch to secure the 72-66 win. The Terriers were only 3-of-12 in the overtime period, while Air Force was 4-of-4.
Wofford shot 33.8% from the floor and were 32.0% from three. From the free throw line, the Terriers were 57.1%. Air Force was 51.1% overall and were 50.0% from behind the arc. They were 62.1% from the line. The Terriers had a 50 to 27 advantage on the boards, but Wofford committed 19 turnovers.
Wofford will return to the road on Saturday, November 27 for a game at Xavier. The SoCon schedule begins on December 2 when the Terriers host UNC Greensboro at 7:00 pm.