The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Men's Basketball Plays at C-USA Leader Memphis
1/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2002
Game 19
January 23, 2002, 7:00 p.m. CST UAB (8-10, 1-4) vs. Memphis (15-4, 5-0) The Pyramid / Memphis, Tenn. CSS ?TV
RADIO Blazer Sports Radio Network WAPI-AM 1070 in Birmingham Garry Sanders, Play by Play Matt Coulter, Color Analyst John Gentile, Producer/Host
TELEVISION CSS-TV Chris Stewart, Play-by-Play Kevin Henslee, Color Analyst
SERIES Memphis leads 16-7
LAST MEETING Memphis 86, UAB 69 The Pyramid, Memphis, Tenn. Feb. 19, 2001
NEXT GAME Jan. 26, vs. Tulane, 7:30 p.m. Bartow Arena, Birmingham, Ala.
UAB BLAZERS UAB is 8-10 overall and 1-4 in C-USA Play. The Blazers are in fifth place in the National Division of the league. UAB has lost three straight. The Blazers are 7-3 in Birmingham this season. They lost 80-71 to Houston this past Saturday.
The Blazers continue to be one of the top defensive teams in the conference, allowing opponents to shoot just 40 percent from the field. They are also allowing just 65.6 points per game. UAB is also the top three-point shooting team in the league, making 38 percent from long range, and hitting 8.0 per game.
P.J. Arnold is averaging 13.5 points per game. Mo Finley is scoring 12.1 per contest. Finley and Arnold have both scored in double figures in 13 of the team's 18 games. Will Campbell matched his career high with 19 points against Houston. He is scoring 10.7 points per game and leads the team in rebounding with 7.7 a contest. Point guard Eric Bush is in the top five in the league in assists, 5.3 and steals 2.1.
Head Coach Murry Bartow is in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach with a record of 98-76 (.563). He has a C-USA record of 43-39 and has taken UAB to three post-season appearances, including an NCAA appearance in 1999.
MEMPHIS TIGERS Memphis was the pre-season favorite to win the league and is 5-0 in league play and 15-4 overall. The Tigers lead the National Division and are tied with Cincinnati for the overall league lead.
The Tigers are averaging 81.9 points per game and allowing just 67.3. They are 11-1 in the Pyramid this season. They are allowing opponents to shoot just 37.5 percent from the field and outrebounding the opposition by 9.5 boards per game.
Forward Kelly Wise is among the nation's leaders in rebounding, pulling down 11.7 per game. He is averaging 12.7 points and is C-USA's all-time leader in double-doubles with 38 for his career. Freshman guard Dajuan Wagner is averaging 21.3 points per game, second in C-USA. Forward Scotter McFadgon is averaging 11.4 points per game.
Memphis coach John Calipari is 36-19 in his second season as head coach at Memphis. He is 229-90 in his 10th year as a collegiate head coach. Calipari was head coach at Memphis for eight years. He served for just over two seasons as head coach of the New Jersey Nets in the NBA.
Memphis plays at Houston, Saturday night.
LAST TIME OUT Houston 80, UAB 71 Houston scored the first seven points of the second half and later scored went on an 8-0 run to take the lead for good in pulling away from the Blazers for the win. The first run gave the Cougars a 41-37 lead. UAB scored five straight to back ahead 42-41. The Blazers then led 45-43 when Houston put up its 8-0 run and led 51-45. UAB never led again. Houston shot 56.5 percent from the field in the second half and held the Blazers to just 37 percent shooting in that second period. Houston shot 52 percent for the game to 40 percent for the Blazers. UAB had been allowing its opponents to shoot just 39.8 percent from the field. Houston also outrebounded the Blazers 24-14 in the second half. UAB started the game strong, taking 14-4 lead and later lead 23-15 before Houston rallied for a 26-26 tie. The Cougars won their 10th game of the season, one more than last year. Houston guard Dominic Smith was 6-of-8 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range, finishing the game with 20 points. His biggest basket was a trey with 3:03 to go that gave the Cougars its biggest lead of the game 70-59. Will Campbell was 6-of-8 from the field for UAB and finished the game matching his career high with 19 points.
THE MEMPHIS SERIES Memphis leads 16-7 and won both meetings last year. In the game in Bartow Arena the Tigers hit a late shot to send the game into overtime where they pulled out a 76-73 win. The two teams met in 1985 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Houston, Texas. Memphis won the first six meetings.
MURRY BARTOW VS. MEMPHIS Murry Bartow is 4-6 against Memphis with all games coming while the two teams were members of C-USA. He is 0-2 against John Calipari, falling in overtime last year in Birmingham.
ON THE ROAD The road has been a very unkind place to the Blazers this season. UAB is 1-7 away from Birmingham. It is 0-5 on the opposition's home court. The Blazers were 1-2 on the neutral courts at the Paradise Jam Tournament. UAB is currently in a stretch of five of seven games on the road.
DEFENSE SOLID UAB has played very solid defense this season. The Blazers are fourth in C-USA, allowing just 65.6 points per game. They are also fourth in opponents' field goal percentage as the opposition is hitting 41 percent from the field. Marquette and Houston are the only teams to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor this season. Prior to the Marquette game, UAB had held five of the last seven opponents under 40 percent. The Blazers have given up 70 or more points just five times this year. They have held opponents to under 60 points five times. Seven teams have shot under 40 percent this year.
THREE BLAZERS OUT Junior forward Sidney Ball, sophomore center Tom Frericks and junior guard Tony Johnson are all out for the season. Frericks had surgery for a groin injury. Tony Johnson had surgery on his broken. Ball is suffering from a stress fracture in is back and has been fitted for a brace. All three will receive a medical redshirt.
