The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Hopes To Rebound At TCU
2/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 11, 2005
FORT WORTH, Texas - UAB returns to action Saturday night at TCU in hopes of rebounding from last Saturday's 77-73 loss to No. 9 Louisville. The Blazers travel to battle the Horned Frogs in a 7:05 p.m. CT tip-off Saturday night.
A late possession arrow favoring the Cards and clutch free throw shooting in the final minute helped Louisville to the win last weekend, but the game showed the nationwide viewing audience that UAB was a team to watch. Demario Eddins paced UAB's efforts with 18 points. Larry O'Bannon scored 21 and Francisco Garcia added 19 as Louisville won its ninth straight game.
The Blazers also lost senior guard Ronell Taylor in the Louisville game. The Montgomery, Ala., native is out indefinitely with a broken left foot. That means the Blazer bench will have to fill the void left by Taylor's 12.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. Taylor is expected to be out at least four weeks and could return in time for the Conference USA tournament March 9-12 in Memphis, Tenn.
"Injuries are a part of basketball," UAB head coach Mike Anderson said. "We will work with our athletic trainer and team physicians and hope for a speedy recovery for Ronell, but in the meantime, our team has to play basketball. We have some guys who now have to step up and make sure we continue to play Blazer basketball. That is the challenge to my basketball team: Who is ready to step up?"
Eddins has been hot of late, scoring 23 and 18 in his last two outings. The talented junior forward stands just 50 points from become the 16th member of UAB's 1,000-point club. Donell Taylor, who scored 16 in the loss to Louisville, averages 15.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Point guard Squeaky Johnson is coming off a season-high nine assist performance against the Cardinals as well.
TCU is 12-2 at home and has won two straight heading into the UAB game, including a narrow, 63-62 win over Marquette at home Wednesday night. Marcus Shropshire hit a three-pointer with :08 left to cap off a 10-point come-from-behind victory for TCU. Shropshire scored 17 points behind four-of-eight three-point shooting, Nile Murry added 15 and Corey Santee had 12 with six assists in the win. Travis Diener led the Golden Eagles with 19 points.
"Winning on the road is tough, especially in this league," said Anderson, whose team sports a 3-1 road record in Conference USA play this year. "TCU is a dangerous team that is tough to beat at home. I expect it to be a battle and I expect them to come ready to play. We're still the defending co-champions in the conference, so that bull's eye is still on our backs."
UAB, which has not lost back-to-back games this season, needs a win to stay with the front-running pack in the Conference USA race. TCU, at 5-5 in league play, could vault itself closer to the front-running group with a victory. Heading into the weekend, only a game and a half separate league-leading Louisville and UAB and Cincinnati, which are tied for fifth.
The game will air live on the Blazer Sports Network which can be found in Birmingham on WYDE, 101.1 FM. UAB next returns to Bartow Arena Wednesday night to face East Carolina at 7:30 p.m. CT.
UAB Men's Basketball Game Notes in PDF Format
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