The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Faces Marquette In Key C-USA Contest
2/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB travels to Milwaukee, Wisc., to face Marquette at 7 p.m. CT Wednesday night in a key Conference USA match up. The Blazers (15-5, 5-2 C-USA) have won two straight and three of their last four in league play. Marquette (15-5, 3-4 C-USA) snapped a three-game league skid Saturday with a double-overtime win at Saint Louis.
The question mark for Marquette will be whether or not leading scorer Travis Diener will return. The conference's leading scorer at 20.2 points per game, Diener has missed two straight games with an ankle injury. His playing status for the UAB game is still up in the air.
"We prepare as if everyone is playing anyway," UAB head coach Mike Anderson said. "He's a competitor. If he can play, he will, so we have to prepare for that."
While UAB beat USF Saturday, 85-71, the Blazers committed a season-high 25 turnovers in the contest. They countered by forcing a season-high 28 miscues from the Bulls in the win.
Ronell Taylor scored a season-high 19 points for UAB against USF. Twin brother Donell Taylor added 15 points. He leads UAB in scoring with an average of 15.2 points per game. Marques Lewis, a Milwaukee native who will be playing in his hometown for the first time as a Blazer on Wednesday, followed his first career double-double in the Memphis win (10 points, 10 rebounds) with 10 points and nine boards in the USF win.
Marquette got 23 points on five-of-10 three-point shooting from Steve Novak in the Saint Louis victory. Joe Chapman, Diener's starting lineup replacement, scored 14 and Dameon Mason added 12. Marquette struggled against the Billikens, shooting just 23.1-percent in the second half, but out-rebounded SLU, 45-39, and hit five more three-pointers in the double-OT win.
Aside from Diener, Mason leads the Golden Eagles with 13.3 points per game while Novak chips in with 12.6. Marcus Jackson is a dangerous rebounder inside, pulling in 9.1 boards per contest. He scores just 3.7 points per game, however.
"Marquette is a very good basketball team and they play exceptionally well at home," Anderson said. "You look at their guys - Diener, Novak, Mason and the rest - they have a very good team and several weapons. They are tough at home and we will have to play exceptional basketball to win."
UAB will also have to fight the temptation to look ahead to Saturday. The Blazers return home to welcome No. 9 Louisville to Bartow Arena in a 7 p.m. CT, nationally televised game on ESPN2.
Both the Marquette and Louisville games air on the Blazer Sports Network which airs in Birmingham on WYDE, 101.1 FM. Due to President Bush's State of the Union Address, however, the Marquette game will air live on WYDE's sister stations, WXJC AM and FM, which are found on 92.5 FM and 850 AM in Birmingham. The game will also air on a tape delay basis on 101.1 FM, WYDE. The Louisville game will air live on 101.1 FM.
UAB Men's Basketball Game Notes in PDF Format
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