Hot shooting helps surprising Samford reach top of standings

With one of the deepest and most athletic men's basketball teams in the Ohio Valley Conference, it's not really a surprise that Tennessee Tech was off to a 6-0 league start prior to Tuesday night's game at Austin Peay, although the Eagles finally suffered their first loss, 79-77 in overtime

But Samford, on the other hand ... well, the Bulldogs stunned many OVC observers in matching Tennessee Tech's perfect run through six games of the conference schedule.

The Bulldogs (11-6, 6-0) lost three starters from last season's squad that went 12-16 overall and tied for fifth place in the 11-team league at 7-9. They were predicted to finish 10th in the OVC's preseason poll based on voting by the conference's coaches and sports information directors.

"I'd like to say I was clairvoyant and knew all this stuff, but I had no clue," Samford coach Jimmy Tillette said. "What I did like was their competitive spirit. It's probably as tough a group as I've had since we went to the NCAA tournament back-to-back years [in 1999 and 2000 as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference]."

Deliberate approach

Samford, in its second season in the OVC, can be difficult to play because it employs the unorthodox Princeton-style offense that generally utilizes most of the shot clock and features plenty of screening and cutting -- and often leads to either layups or open 3-pointers.

The Bulldogs are first in the OVC in overall field-goal percentage (.500) and 3-point field-goal percentage (.430), and in conference games only, Samford is even better at .518 and .459.

Samford has already beaten the top three teams in the league's preseason poll, downing No. 1 Murray State and No. 2 Tennessee State at home, and Saturday night winning at No. 3 Eastern Kentucky.

Samford trailed Eastern Kentucky 30-17 at halftime, before rallying for a 67-61 victory. The Bulldogs shot 70 percent in the second half (14 of 20), when they hit eight of nine 3-pointers.

"Samford just played superior the second half. I have never seen a team shoot like that period," Eastern Kentucky coach Travis Ford said. "For somebody who loves shooting ... it wasn't fun watching, but I can tell you, I appreciate it.

"And they weren't 19-9 threes, some were from 25 feet out, and when they went through the net they hit you in the head, because many hit nothing but net. It's tough to lose, but you have to appreciate their basketball."

Tillette, whose squad visits Eastern Illinois on Thursday and Southeast Missouri State on Saturday, said a matchup zone has helped the Bulldogs get off to their fast start -- but the bottom line has been shooting.

"Last year we used a man to man and we couldn't guard anyone. It [the matchup zone] is not like a perfect storm, but it's helped us tremendously," Tillette said. "But the bottom line is shooting the basketball. That's probably the biggest surprise to this point, that collectively we've been able to shoot 43 percent from behind the arc."

Winning the close ones

And it's not as if Samford has been blowing away it's OVC competition. The Bulldogs have a conference scoring margin of 64.5 to 58.3. Only one of their league wins has been by more than eight points.

"I think our competitive spirit has been a big part of it," Tillette said.

Like Ford, the other OVC coaches have come away impressed by the Bulldogs

"I'm surprised certainly, but having watched them on tape, the thing that stands out is just their chemistry," Eastern Illinois coach Rick Samuels said. "They really have a feel for playing with one another, and of course they play that system that's foreign to everybody in our league, and they do it very well."

Said Jacksonville State's Mike LaPlante: "Their system is so different, and they've got good players working the system. It's just a very different style. They're very efficient at running it. If you overplay, they'll back cut you for a layup. If you lay off, they'll shoot the three. It's pick your poison."

Of course, the conference season has not even reached its halfway point, which was not lost on Tennessee Tech coach Mike Sutton.

"It's still very early in the season," Sutton said. "There's still a lot of basketball to be played."