The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Opens Home Stand With Virginia Commonwealth
1/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 1, 2006
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB returns to Bartow Arena Monday night to face the Rams of Virginia Commonwealth in a 7:30 p.m. CT tip-off. The Blazers (8-3) have won four in a row and four straight at home, including victories over mid-major power Old Dominion and Big 12 member Oklahoma State.
Third year coach Jeff Capel has Virginia Commonwealth playing some strong basketball entering Monday night's contest. VCU is 8-2 overall and has won six straight contests.
"They play a lot of people and have balanced scoring," UAB head coach Mike Anderson said of VCU. "Coach Capel has an experienced team. Jeff has done a very good job of keeping guys and they are more acclimated to his system. They're playing well and with a lot of confidence."
The Rams have already knocked off a C-USA contender this year, winning at Houston, 62-61 on Nov. 26. They also have key non-conference victories over cross-town rival Richmond, the College of Charleston and Georgia State. Seniors B.A. Walker (12.7 ppg.) and Nick George (12.3 ppg.) lead the way. The Rams are holding opponents to just 57.1 points per game, 37.9 percent shooting and 25.9 percent accuracy from three-point range.
Mike Anderson's club is coming off a 59-47 road win at USF on Friday. Demario Eddins and Lawrence Kinnard each scored 13 points in the victory. That win came on the heels of perhaps UAB's most impressive game this season - a 90-71 spanking of 2005 Sweet 16 team Oklahoma State.
Marvett McDonald scored a career-high 27 points behind seven three-pointers against the Cowboys. He leads UAB with a 14.7 points per game average. Demario Eddins chips in 13.7 points per contest for the Blazers while Wen Mukubu, who also had a career-high with 16 against OSU, averages 10.8 points per game.
UAB has gotten off to a fast start in each of its last two home contests, opening with a 14-0 run against Old Dominion and a 22-7 start against Oklahoma State. Anderson hopes that continues against VCU.
"We've just got to come out and play defense," he said. "We've got to come with the energy. The way we play, it requires you to play with energy. We'll need our bench to come in and keep us going as well. The constant has been our defense, though, so we've got to have that in place early on."
As former Sun Belt Conference rivals, UAB and VCU have faced a number of times. The Blazers have a 19-15 all-time lead in the series which dates back to the 1979-80 season. UAB won its season-opener over VCU last year, 79-55, in Bartow Arena. The Blazers have won two straight and four of five in the series.
Donell Taylor led UAB with 20 points and the Blazers forced 25 VCU turnovers in last year's contest. Alexander Harper led the Rams with 12 points. Demario Eddins had 16 and Ronell Taylor 13 for UAB.
"One thing you can't do is compare scores," Anderson cautioned. "We played them early last year. He wanted to schedule us a little later in the season so his team would be more seasoned and more ready. I expect a team that's going to come out and really compete. We're going to have to play some of our better basketball."
The game can be heard on the ISP/Blazer Sports Network found locally in Birmingham on WYDE, 101.1 FM.
UAB Men's Basketball Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
