The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Travels To Tulsa For Important Conference Contest
2/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2007
Tulsa Game Notes
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team will make the trip to Tulsa, Okla., where it will take on the Golden Hurricane of Tulsa on Wednesday, at 7 p.m. The Blazers and Golden Hurricane will meet for the seventh time in the series history, with each team capturing three victories. The radio broadcast can be heard on the Blazers ISP Sports Network, beginning with the pre-game show at 6:30 p.m. CT. Birmingham and Huntsville listeners can follow all the action on WYDE 101.1 FM. The broadcast can also be heard on WIQR 1410 AM in Montgomery/Prattville.
Neither team has won on the other's floor, with UAB holding a 3-0 record in Birmingham, and Tulsa going 2-0 on its home floor. The game marks just the second meeting between the two teams since the 1999 season.
Scouting Tulsa
Tulsa enters Wednesday night's contest sporting a 16-9 overall record, and is 6-6 in C-USA play. The Golden Hurricane enter the game having dropped two of its last three games, but is coming off a 66-51 win at UTEP last Saturday. Tulsa, which is 14-2 at home this season and 4-2 in home C-USA contests, prides itself on the boards this season. The Golden Hurricane enters the game ranking second in the league in rebound margin (+6.6) and rebounding offense (39.5). Tulsa is also one of the deeper teams in the conference, with 10 players averaging at least 14.0 minutes a game.
The Golden Hurricane is led on the year by junior guard Rod Earls' 12.2 ppg. Freshman guard Ben Uzoh is the only other player to average double figures on the year, collecting 10.2 points and a team-leading 5.4 rebounds per contest. Freshman guard Mark Hill is the team leader in assists (3.3 apg), while also contributing 4.3 ppg.
Head coach Doug Wojcik is in his second year at the helm of the Tulsa basketball program. Wojcik enters the game against UAB sporting a 27-26 (.509) record with the Golden Hurricane.
Scouting UAB
UAB will enter its contest at Tulsa with an overall record of 13-13, and a 5-7 mark in league play. The Blazers have won two of their last three games entering the game at Tulsa, but have dropped six of their last nine contests overall.
Junior guard Paul Delaney III, a two-time recipient of the Conference USA Player of the Week this season, leads the Blazers in points (16.2) and assists (5.3) per game, while also ranking third on the team with 5.0 boards a contest.
Along with Delaney, senior guard Wen Mukubu and sophomore forward Lawrence Kinnard are also threats on offense. Mukubu averages 14.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest, while also shooting 40.8 percent from beyond the arc. Kinnard ranks third on the team with 12.9 points per game, and also leads the team with 6.1 rebounds a game and a team-leading average of 42.2 percent from beyond the arc.
UAB head coach Mike Davis enters the game against Tulsa with an overall record of 128-92 (.582) in his seventh season as a head coach, and is 13-13 (.500) in his first season at UAB.
Last Time Out
Robert McKiver scored 18 points and Dion Dowell hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:23 left as Houston beat UAB 70-64. Jamar Thorpe scored 16 points and Oliver Lafayette added 11 points for Houston, who beat UAB for the first time in five meetings. Wen Mukubu scored a game-high 24 points for the Blazers. Paul Delaney III scored 13 points and Frank Holmes added 10 points and nine rebounds. The Blazers led the entire way until Dowdell's three pointer with just over two minutes remaining in the contest. UAB held a 12-point lead, 40-28, with 18 minutes left in regulation. However, the Cougars went on a 12-0 run to tie the game at 40-40 at the 12:14 mark. Dowell's go-ahead 3-pointer was his second from the same spot in as many possessions for the Cougars, giving Houston a 58-56 lead it would never relinquish. He finished with 9 points, all on 3s. UAB led by eight at halftime after shooting 50 percent in the first half. But the Blazers shot just 31 percent in the second half, including hitting just 1 of 12 3-pointers.
UAB-Tulsa A Year Ago
Carldell "Squeaky" Johnson had 13 points, five assists, and four steals to lead UAB to an 84-54 victory over Tulsa. UAB forced a school-record 39 turnovers and finished with 21 steals. It was the second game for the Blazers without their No. 2 scorer, Demario Eddins, who missed most of the season with a torn Achilles tendon. Lawrence Kinnard scored 10 points for the Blazers. Marvett McDonald, Wen Mukubu and Paul Delaney III each scored nine. Anthony Price had 14 points and seven rebounds to lead Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane outrebounded UAB 44-22 and shot 52.4 percent from the field for the game, but UAB's 39-8 advantage in turnovers made the difference. UAB started off slowly and fell behind 9-4, but a jump shot by Kinnard garnered a 12-11 lead and the Blazers never looked back. An 18-0 run late in the first half helped UAB to a 47-23 halftime lead. The Blazers lead by as many as 38 points in the second half.
"Frank"ly Speaking
Junior forward Frank Holmes has been a force to reckon with recently. For the first time in his career, the Somerville, Tenn. native recorded back-to-back double-double games, with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Memphis, followed by 13 points and 10 boards against UTEP. In fact, Holmes has been one of the top players in the league over his last seven contests. Over that stretch, Holmes is averaging 9.0 points and 6.9 rebounds a game, while also shooting a torrid 75.0 percent from the floor (27-of-36).
Can I Assist You?
In UAB's 84-73 win against Rice on Feb. 14, the Blazers collected 18 assists on 29 made field goals, marking their third-highest assist mark in a game this season. The season-high assist mark came with 20 helpers in the 76-63 win over Radford on Nov. 11. In fact, the Blazers improved to a perfect 9-0 when collected at least 13 assists in a contest this season.
Furthermore, in its 13 wins this season, UAB is averaging an impressive 14.1 assists per contest. However, that number drops significantly to 8.5 assists per game in the Blazers' 13 defeats this season.
One Of Only Two
Junior guard Paul Delaney III is quickly becoming one of the elite players in college basketball. Entering the Tulsa game, Delaney is one of only two players in Division I nationally to average over 15 points, five rebounds and five assists per game. Delaney, who enters the Tulsa game with an average of 16.2 points, 5.3 assists and 5.0 rebounds a game, joins Marist's Jared Jordan (18.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 8.6 apg) as the only players in college hoops to achieve the feat.
Warming Up
One of the reasons for the Blazers capturing two wins in their last three games has been the way they are shooting the ball. UAB has hit 50 percent or more of its field goals in five of its last six halves, winning two of those games. That is part of the reason the Blazers are shooting 49.7 percent from the floor and 73.7 points a game during the three-game stretch. UAB has now eclipsed the 50 percent mark for field goal percentage in a game on six occasions this season, usually a good thing. The Blazers are 5-1 on the year when connecting on at least half of their field goals in a game, with the lone loss coming at Wyoming on Nov. 18. In fact, the Blazers have an outstanding record of 38-2 since the 2001-02 campaign when shooting 50 percent or better from the floor in a contest.
