The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts Saint Louis On Saturday Night
1/30/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2004
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB men's basketball team will play a crucial Conference USA contest when it hosts the Saint Louis Billikens on Saturday, January 31, at 7:30 p.m. The Blazers will honor former Blazer Oliver Robinson, as the first 1,500 fans in the doors ages 13 and older will receive an Oliver Robinson bobblehead doll.
Wednesday's game between the Blazers (12-5, 5-1) and Billikens (11-6, 4-2) will mark the 23rd meeting in series history. UAB leads the all-time series, 15-7, but the Billikens have won three of the last four contests. The lone win for UAB came last season, when UAB defeated SLU, 63-62, on March 14, 2003 in the C-USA tournament, propelling the Blazers to the C-USA championship game.
UAB is coming off its sixth win in its last seven contests, winning, 80-59, against Tulane last Wednesday. The Blazers have three players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Gabe Kennedy's 12.1 ppg. Mo Finley (11.6) and Ronell Taylor (10.8) also average double figures. Kennedy also leads the team with 5.6 rebounds a game, while Carldell Johnson continues to lead the team with 3.7 assists per game.
Saint Louis dropped a 68-62 decision at Charlotte last week. However, the loss marked just the second in SLU's last nine contests. The Billikens are led by junior guard Reggie Bryant's 18.1 ppg, which is the second-best in C-USA. Josh Fisher (12.1) and Chris Sloan (10.2) also average double figures. Former UAB player Tom Frericks leads the team with 6.1 rpg, while Fisher leads the team with 4.4 assists per contests.
The game can be heard locally on WYDE 101.1 FM with the pregame show beginning at 7 p.m. CST. It can also be followed live through Gametracker on the internet by accessing www.uabsports.com.
