The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Hosts DePaul In Final Regular Season Home Contest
3/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 1, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB welcomes DePaul at 7:30 p.m. CT Wednesday night in the final regular season home contest of the 2004-05 season. The game will be the last regular season appearance in Bartow Arena for seniors Donell and Ronell Taylor and Marques Lewis. The contest will also be televised by Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS).
UAB got back on defensive track in Saturday night's win over Tulane. The Blazers parted the Green Wave to the tune of 29 turnovers, 20 of them also amounting to steals for UAB. The end result was an 87-58 victory for the Blazers - their second-largest margin of victory for the year.
Junior Demario Eddins scored a season-high 25 points and eclipsed 1,000 career points in the win. Donell Taylor notched 17 while Derrick Broom tacked on 10.
"That win was more like it," UAB head coach Mike Anderson said. "We dictated the tempo, forced turnovers and played our brand of basketball. We played Blazer basketball. Momentum is big at this point and time in the season, so it was a good sign to get back to our style after a couple of games where we didn't put together two halves."
DePaul, which knocked UAB out of last year's Conference USA Tournament semifinals with a 75-74 overtime win in the last meeting between the schools, has won two straight after back-to-back losses at Charlotte and Marquette. Dave Leitao's club is 18-7 overall, 10-4 in league play and is tied for third in Conference USA with Cincinnati coming into the contest.
Quemont Greer leads the way for the Blue Demons, averaging 18.8 points and 7.4 rebounds. Drake Diener (13.0 ppg.) and Sammy Mejia (11.2 ppg.) also score in double-figures for DePaul.
"This is a huge basketball game for us, there's no question," Anderson said. "DePaul has been playing good basketball and I think they're in the hunt and still in contention for the championship. They are playing for a lot and there's a lot a stake for us as well. We're going to have our hands full with a team that is playing awfully well."
Donell Taylor paces UAB with an average of 15.8 points per game while Eddins contributes 12.3 and sharp-shooting guard Marvett McDonald scores 10.4 points per contest. Ronell Taylor, who continues to rehabilitate a broken left foot and is out indefinitely, averages 12.3 for the Blazers as well.
Senior forward Marques Lewis, who went down with a left ankle sprain against Cincinnati and missed the Saint Louis game, played 10 minutes against Tulane and scored four points.
While Lewis could re-enter the starting lineup against DePaul, the Blazers have received a needed lift from the bench during his time nursing the injury. Sophomore Ernest Little scored six points with a career-high eight rebounds and the game-saving block at Saint Louis. He added seven points and six rebounds in the win over Tulane.
In addition to the televised version on CSS, the game will air live on the Blazer Sports Network which can be found in Birmingham on WYDE, 101.1 FM.
UAB Men's Basketball Game Notes in PDF Format
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