The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Set Sights On Another Sweet 16 Trip
3/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 18, 2005
BOISE, Idaho - The UAB men's basketball team is a victory away from a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 after Thursday's 82-68 first round dismantling of No. 6 seed LSU.
Reaching Chicago, the site of next week's regional semifinals, won't be easy for the Blazers (22-10) as their next obstacle comes here Saturday in the form of the third-seeded Arizona Wildcats. Tip-off Saturday at Boise State's Taco Bell Arena will be approximately 3:50 p.m. MT, or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the other second round game set in Boise between Washington and Pacific.
UAB went through a closed practice Friday afternoon, working out for 90 minutes. Prior to their practice, the Blazers went through the NCAA's required interview sessions.
UAB head coach Mike Anderson was asked if last year's tournament experience of reaching the Sweet 16 aided his team's effort Thursday night against favored LSU.
"I thought our guys drew off the experience of being in the tournament last year," said Anderson. "Defensively, we were reckless, we were going after it. There's something about being in this event that lends itself, especially that first game. It's the most important game. So, I thought we came out and really got after it. Our guys fed off of the defense, and before you know it good things were taking place for the Blazers."
UAB was dominant against the Tigers for most of the game, stretching a second half lead to as many as 26 points (61-35) at one point.
One of the Blazers' advantages against LSU was their depth as the UAB bench outscored the LSU bench by a 21-0 count. In Arizona (28-6), the Blazers will be going against a Pac 10 team that features a longer bench as well as two of the top individual performers in the country in center Channing Frye and guard Salim Stoudemire, both seniors.
Frye, a 6-11 senior, averages 15.9 points and 7.4 rebounds for the Wildcats while Stoudemire, also a senior, is scoring at a team-leading 18.4 points per game clip. In addition, Stoudemire is one of the country's top three-point shooters as he has hit 52 percent of his three-pointers this season, hitting 110-of-213 during the season.
"Arizona is a tremendous basketball team," said Anderson. "They're averaging more points than we are. So that tells you that there's no question they can play up-tempo basketball. They have all the ingredients and all the parts. Hopefully, we can get the game going the way we want to."
UAB, which has never met Arizona, is led by senior guard Donell Taylor who averages 15.6 points per game. Demario Eddins averages 12.5 points, Ronell Taylor scores 11.3 a game, with Marvett McDonald closes out the Blazers' double-figure scorers at 11.0 points per outing. It was McDonald who led the Blazers Thursday vs. LSU as he scored a team-high 21 points, hitting 5-of-8 from three-point range. UAB forced the Tigers into 21 turnovers.
Last season, the Blazers defeated a team from the Pac 10 (Washington) in first round play before eliminating a Southeastern Conference team (Kentucky) in the second round. This time around, UAB is hoping to reverse that order to gain a trip to the Sweet 16 as the Blazers have already taken care of the SEC foe in LSU with the Pac 10's Arizona now standing in their way.
