Meet Tim Williams and the New-Look Samford Bulldogs

College of Charleston (10-4, 2-0)

Samford (3-12, 1-1)

TD Arena

Tipoff at 7:30 on ESPN3

Looking to shake out of the Furman funk, the Cougars get to take on the Samford Bulldogs Saturday night in downtown Charleston. But this isn't your momma's Samford team. Gone are longtime head coach Jimmy Tillette and his-Princeton style offense. In are freshman sensation Tim Williams and new ball coach Bennie Seltzer. Both come with their fair share of accolades. The lanky and skilled Williams picked Samford over Virginia Tech and Seltzer comes back home to Birmingham after very successful stints as an assistant at Indiana and Marquette. 

With all the turnover one can expect some growing pains from the Bulldogs. They've played a murderers row of OOC opponents that include Louisville, Memphis and Kentucky. But in spite of the tough schedule, the Dogs have played well in conference. They defeated Georgia Southern in Birmingham and were one missed three-pointer away from defeating a very hot shooting Chattanooga. The Cougars will be the first conference road test for the Samford Bulldogs and according to Wojcik, CofC is anxious to show that the Furman game was just a bump in the road.

Williams is the player I'm most excited to watch, he leads the entire conference in a few statistical categories and his points (14.7) and rebounds (7.5) are impressive for any player. He was my pick for Freshman of the Year prior to conference play and, barring a catastrophe, he should walk away with the hardware. Aside from Williams there is also last year's All-Freshman team representative Raijon Kelly. He's the sharpshooter the Cougars need to stay on like glue. He's shooting almost 47% from three (those are Anthony Stitt-type numbers people) and can really put pressure on the defense to double him.

But back to those growing pains. With the addition of Seltzer, the Bulldog offense is no longer that disciplined Princeton style. There's more motion now and it seems as though this very young team still needs time to adjust. They may be the first opposing offense this season to average fewer points than the Cougars (59.5 per game) and really struggle to rebound the basketball at just 28 a game (but remember who they've played).

I can't help but get a SoCon surprise-esque vibe from just writing this preview, certainly not in playing styles but the whole played a tough schedule so far...young team...one sharpshooter capable of blowing up in a game...overlooked freshman. All the essential ingredients to an upset. Hopefully the guys are refocused after the Furman debacle and will keep the win streak up Thursday.