Elon In Search of First-Ever Win at Samford on Saturday

ELON, N.C. — Elon will look to rebound from Thursday’s loss at Chattanooga when the Phoenix visits the Pete Hanna Center for a date with the Samford Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon. Tip time is scheduled for 4 p.m. (CST). Elon will be aiming to split the season series with the Bulldogs and earn its first-ever victory at Samford.

Site: Birmingham, Ala.
Arena: Pete Hanna Center
Series: Samford leads, 6-1
Streak: Samford has won two
Radio: WPCM 920 AM — Taylor Durham and Dick Stewart will call the action
Twittter: @elonscores

FREE THROWS
• The Phoenix is currently tied with UNCG for first place in the Southern Conference North Division. A loss at Chattanooga snapped a three-game winning streak for the Phoenix.
• A win against Samford would match Elon’s win total for all of last season (14).
• In the last two contests, Elon has recorded 42 assists on 57 baskets. Jack Isenbarger, filling in for the ill Austin Hamilton, matched his career high with eight assists on Thursday at UTC.
• The Phoenix has grabbed 28 offensive boards over the last two games, scoring 36 second-chance points (18 ppg).
• Isenbarger is the reigning SoCon Player of the Week after a career week that saw him average 23.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg and 5.6 apg over three Phoenix victories.
• Elon is 3-3 on the road against league foes this year. The Phoenix has never won four SoCon games on the road since joining the league in 2003-04.
• Elon’s eight SoCon victories are the most during the Matt Matheny era and most since a nine-win campaign in 2007-08.
• Elon is 10-2 when scoring 70 or more points and 3-9 when scoring 69 or less points.
• Elon has held opponents to under 40 percent shooting in nine of 13 wins this year — but opponents have shot 40 percent or better in all but one of the 11 losses.
• Lucas Troutman moved into Elon’s all-time career blocks list with two swats against South Carolina. The sophomore now has 80 blocks and is in seventh place all-time at Elon.
• The Phoenix has shot better than its opponent in 11 of its 13 wins this year.

LAST TIME OUT
• Elon split the season series with Chattanooga after suffering an 83-75 loss to the Mocs on Thursday night. The Phoenix held a three-point halftime edge, but the Mocs used a 25-10 run that spanned 10 minutes of the second half to earn the victory.
• All five Phoenix starters scored in double figures led by Sebastian Koch who reached the 20-point mark for the second consecutive game.
• Jack Isenbarger and Koch combined for nine of Elon’s 10 three-pointers.

ELON VS. SAMFORD
• Elon will be looking to split the season series with the Bulldogs after dropping an 86-80 decision to Samford in Alumni Gym on January 19.
• The Phoenix has never won at the Pete Hanna Center with an 0-3 mark. Last year the Bulldogs pulled out a 69-67 victory over Elon on their home court.
• Elon will be wearing white on the road for the first time this year as Samford will be in red to raise money for the American Heart Association.
• Samford’s last seven games have been decided by a total of 18 points. The Bulldogs have not won or lost by more than four points in that stretch and have a record of 3-4.
• Elon is 6-1 this year in games decided by five points or less.