The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Meets UTEP In C-USA Semifinals
3/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2006
UAB Men's Basketball Semifinals Game Notes in PDF Format
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Second-seeded UAB will meet No.3 seed UTEP in Friday's Conference USA Tournament semifinals at the FedExForum. The 24th-ranked Blazers earned a spot with a 69-55 win over SMU in Thursday's quarterfinals. UTEP beat Southern Miss in its quarterfinal contest, 66-47.
The matchup, which tips at 6 p.m. CT and will be televised live by CSTV, gives the Blazers a chance at revenge for one of their five losses on the season. UTEP bounced UAB, 65-37, on Feb. 8 in the Don Haskins Center. First-team all-conference center John Tofi had 14 points and 15 rebounds in the win over the Blazers, but is out for the season with a torn knee ligament this time around.
"In terms of the last time we played UAB and won, it won't have anything to do in what happens tomorrow," UTEP head coach Doc Sadler said. "UTEP has a great home court advantage, maybe the best in Texas and in college basketball, but UAB has been in so many big ball games. Emotions will be out the window in the first two minutes and then the play will really start."
UAB has won seven straight games since the UTEP loss and entered both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls as a result. At 23-5, UAB has more wins than any other Blazer team since 1985-86.
Second team all-conference guard Marvett McDonald leads UAB in scoring at 15.3 points per game. He had 11 points in Thursday's win over SMU. Richard Jones and Memphis product Lawrence Kinnard scored 12 each for the Blazers against the Mustangs. First- team All-C-USA pick Squeaky Johnson had six assists and two seals to go with three points in UAB's first tournament game.
"We are playing some of our better basketball right now," UAB head coach Mike Anderson said. "When you get to tournament play, it is always about surviving and advancing. As the tournament progresses we have to play at a different level for the full 40 minutes."
Mike Anderson's club is looking to make just its second C-USA Tournament final. The only other appearance was in the 2002-03. With Thursday's win, UAB is now 11-10 all-time in Conference USA tournament play.
UTEP is 20-8 overall after Thursday's 66-47 quarterfinal win over Southern Miss. The Miners would have been the second seed in this tournament had they not dropped the final regular season game at UCF on March 4. At 11-3, they fell just a game behind UAB and in third place in the final regular season standings.
Jason Williams is the go-to-guy for UTEP with Tofi out for the year. Williams leads the team with a 14.5 points per game average. He was a second team All-C-USA pick this season and scored 14 in UTEP's win on Thursday.
This will UAB's seventh C-USA semifinal appearance, but the Blazers have only left one of those with a win which was over No. 4 seed Saint Louis in the 2003 C-USA Tournament, 63-62.
In addition to the CSTV broadcast, the radio broadcast of the game can be heard on the ISP/Blazer Sports Network found locally in Birmingham on WYDE, 101.1 FM.
