UAB Welcomes Tulane For Mid-Week C-USA Tussle

Feb. 13, 2006

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team hosts Tulane at 7:30 p.m. CT Wednesday in a mid-week Conference USA battle. The Blazers have won 13 of 15 but have beaten the Green Wave just twice in the last seven meetings between the programs.

"When you talk about Tulane, you talk about a team that has overcome a lot of adversity this season," UAB head coach Mike Anderson said. "That adversity creates a bond that ties them together. Until last weekend, they had won four in a row, so we know this is going to be a tough test for our basketball team and a good opportunity to see where we are."

Mike Anderson's club is coming off a 72-64 home win over East Carolina on Saturday. Marvett McDonald tossed in 18 points to lead four Blazers in double-figures. Wen Mukubu and Paul Delaney scored 12 each while Lawrence Kinnard added 10. McDonald's 14.1 points per game continues to lead Blazer scorers. Mukubu also scores in double-figures, averaging 10.3 points per contest.

Point guard Squeaky Johnson, a finalist for the 2006 Bob Cousy Award for the nation's top point guard, averages 7.7 points, 6.0 assists, 2.9 steals and 2.7 rebounds per game.

The Blazers are 11-1 in Bartow Arena this season and are unbeaten at home in league play.

Tulane is 9-13 overall and 4-5 in Conference USA play. Those numbers are quite misleading, however. The Green Wave have won four of their last five and five of their last seven games.

First-year head coach Dave Dickerson, once an assistant under Gary Williams at Maryland, has battled the normal circumstances of a program in transition, on top of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and its affect on the Tulane community, to have his club right in the thick of the C-USA race.

"Dave has done a tremendous job at Tulane," Anderson said. "He has his kids believing in his philosophy and buying into his system. They believe in him and what he is doing and that has made them play very well."

Tulane had a four-game win streak snapped at UCF Saturday, 72-51. The Green Wave shot just 36 percent from the field in the contest. David Gomes led Tulane with 13 points. Big man Quincy Davis is TU's leading scorer and rebounder at 12.2 points and 5.5 boards per contest.

UAB narrowly leads the all-time series between the programs, 12-11. The Blazers have only beaten Tulane twice in the last seven meetings, but won emphatically in the last clash, 87-58, on Feb. 26 of last year. Demario Eddins scored 25 points in that UAB win while Donell Taylor added 17. In the Jan. 19 meeting last season, Taylor Rochestie hit a three to send the game to overtime, then hit the game-winner as Tulane upended UAB, 76-73, in Fogelman Arena.

The radio broadcast of the game can be heard on the ISP/Blazer Sports Network found locally in Birmingham on WYDE, 101.1 FM. Tickets are available by calling the UAB ticket office at (205) 975-UAB1 or visiting the Blazers' athletic website at www.uabsports.com.

UAB Welcomes Tulane For Mid-Week C-USA Tussle

Players Mentioned

Paul Delaney III

Demario Eddins

Marvett McDonald

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics

UAB Welcomes Tulane For Mid-Week C-USA Tussle

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Players Mentioned

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Demario Eddins

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