The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Hosts Louisville Saturday at Noon in Bartow Arena
1/4/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2002
Game 14 January 5, 2002, 12:00 p.m. CST Louisville (9-2) vs. UAB (7-6) Bartow Arena (8,500) / Birmingham, Ala. ESPN
-Tickets are $12 reserved and $8 general admission -Tickets are available at the Bartow Arena ticket office at 975-UAB1 or through SouthTix at 933-1280. Tickets are also available on the web at www.uabsports.com.
UAB vs. Louisville RADIO: Blazer Sports Radio Network (WAPI-AM 1070 in Birmingham) Garry Sanders, Play by Play Matt Coulter, Color Analyst John Gentile, Producer/Host
TV: ESPN Bob Carpenter, Play-by-Play Jimmy Dykes, Color Analyst
SERIES: Louisville leads 6-4 LAST MEETING: UAB 74, Louisville 61 Freedom Hall, Louisville, Ky.
UAB BLAZERS UAB is 7-6, winning six straight in Birmingham and five straight in Bartow Arena. The Blazers have won three of their last four games.
This is the third of four straight home games and is the first Conference USA game
P.J. Arnold leads the team in scoring, averaging 15 points per game. He has averaged 21.6 points over the last five games in Birmingham. Mo Finley is second in scoring, averaging 11.6 points per game. Center Will Campbell leads the team in rebounding with 7.9 per game and scores 10.6 points. Forward Myron Ransom averages 10.1 points per game.
The Blazers are holding the opposition to just 39.9 percent shooting from the field, They lead C-USA in 3-point percentage, making 39 percent.
Head Coach Murry Bartow is in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach with a record of 97-72 (.571). He has led the Blazers to a 42-36 C-USA record the past five years, and to three post-season appearances.
UP NEXT FOR THE BLAZERS UAB hosts East Carolina, Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Bartow Arena. LOUISVILLE The Cardinals are 9-2 heading into C-USA play. They lost last Saturday at Kentucky 82-62. Louisville is 9-0 at home, but 0-2 on the road. They have home wins over Ohio State and Tennessee.
Guard Reece Gaines is scoring 19.1 points pe game and leads the team with 3.4 assists per game and 20 total steals. Forward Ellis Myles is second in C-USA in rebounding, averaging 10.2 per game and is scoring 10.5 points a contest. Forward Luke Whitehead is scoring 10.8 points and wing Erik Brown is scoring 10.4 points.
Louisville has forced its opponents into an average of 20 turnovers per game. The Cardinals are holding their opponents to 40,6 percent shooting from the field.
Head Coach Rick Pitino is 9-2 in his first year with the Carindals. He is 361-126 in his 16th year as a collegiate head coach. Pitino has also coached at Boston University, Providence and Kentucky. He was head coach of the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics of the NBA.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISVILLE Louisville hosts Marquette, Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. CST.
LAST TIME OUT UAB 67, Florida A&M 48 UAB's defense held Florida A&M to 31 percent shooting from the field and forced 27 turnovers in winning the defensive battle. The Blazers did not fare much better in the shooting category, also making just 31 percent from the field. However, they committed just 14 turnovers. UAB shot better from behind the arc than inside it, making 11-of-32 three-point attempts. The Rattlers made just 21 percent, 5-of-24, from three-point range. P.J. Arnold led the Blazers with 18 points, but made just 5-of-18 shots from the field, hitting four 3-pointers. Mo Finley also made four treys, scoring 16 points. UAB trailed 11-7 at the 14:41 mark of the first half. The Blazers went on an 8-0 run to take a 15-11 lead and never trailed again. Leading 19-16, the Blazers scored 13 straight points to take a 32-16 lead on the way to a 36-24 halftime score. Florida A&M did cut the margin back to nine points at 38-29 prior to UAB outscoring the Rattlers 19-6 to extend the lead to 22. UAB's biggest lead was 26 points at 64-38. The Blazers scored just seven points over the last 8:51 of the game after building a comfortable lead. Dominique Jackson was the only Rattler to score in double figures with 11 points. Will Campbell just missed a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds.
THE LOUISVILLE SERIES Louisville leads the series 6-4. However, UAB has won the last three games, including two late last season. The Blazers ended Louisville's season and Denny Crum's coaching career with a 74-61 victory in Freedom Hall in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament. The Blazers also won 74-57 in Louisville. UAB won the last meeting in Bartow Arena 56-50 in 2000. Louisville's last win was a 77-68 decision in the 1999 Conference USA Semi-finals in the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Complex. The first meeting was in 1982 with Louisville winning 75-68. All the other games have been since the founding of Conference USA in 1996.
UAB VS. LOUISVILLE 3/19/82 L 68-75 BJCC 1/17/96 L 70-78 Bartow Arena 2/10/96 L 66-81 Louisville, Ky. 1/3/97 L 79-83 Bartow Arena 1/15/98 W 55-53 Bartow Arena 2/25/99 L 60-91 Louisville, Ky. 3/5/99 L 68-77 BJCC 1/12/00 W 56-50 Bartow Arena 2/27/01 W 74-57 Louisville, Ky. 3/7/01 W 74-61 Louisville, Ky.
MURRY BARTOW VS. LOUISVILLE Murray Bartow is 4-4 against Louisville, winning the last three games.
LAST TIME VS. LOUISVILLE UAB had five players score in double figures as the Blazers pulled away in the second half for a 74-61 win in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament in Louisville's Freedom Hall. The win advanced the Blazers to the second round of the Tournament. It was the final game of Denny Crum's career as Louisville's head coach. The Blazers shot 55 percent from the field and held the Cardinals to just 31 percent shooting. UAB led by just four, 27-23 at the half before pulling away. LeAndrew Bass led the Blazers with 16 points and Will Campbell had 13 points and eight rebounds.
C-USA PLAY This is the Conference USA opener for both UAB and Louisville. UAB is 48-44 all-time in C-USA's previous six-year existence. The Blazers have finished second in their division three times (1996, 97 and 98), first once (1999), third once (2000) and fourth (2001).
THE C-USA SEASONS 1995-96 16-14 6-8 (2nd Red Div.) 1996-97 18-14 7-7 (2nd Red Div.) 1997-98 21-12 10-6 (2nd Red Div.) 1998-99 20-12 10-6 (1st National Div.) 1999-2000 14-14 7-9 (3rd National Div.) 2000-01 17-14 8-8 (4th National Div.)
C-USA OPENERS UAB is 3-3 in Conference USA opening games. Ironically UAB opened C-USA play with Louisville in 1997 in Bartow Arena. It was Murry Bartow's first C-USA game as head coach of the Blazers. Louisville won 93-79. This year it is Rick Pitino's first C-USA game as head coach of Louisville.
1995-96 W, at Southern Miss 61-78 1996-97 L, LOUISVILLE 79-93 1997-98 W, at South Florida 62-48 1998-99 W, at Tulane 88-78 1999-2000 L, at South Florida 69-88 2000-01 W, TULANE 98-76
