The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB And UTEP Square Off In Crucial C-USA Contest
2/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2008
UAB-UTEP Game Notes | Gametracker | Listen Live
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team will look to earn its 11th consecutive home victory this season when it squares off against the UTEP Miners on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Bartow Arena. The Blazers enter the game at 15-7 overall and 5-2 in Conference USA, a half game ahead of the Miners (14-7, 5-3) in the league standings.
UAB enters the game against UTEP in third place in the latest Conference USA standings despite dropping a double-overtime 93-85 decision at Southern Miss last Tuesday night. The Blazers battled back from a 12-point halftime deficit to tie the game late in regulation. UAB also held a three-point advantage in the first overtime with under two minutes left in the contest, but could not hang on for the win.
Junior guard/forward Robert Vaden currently leads the Blazers in scoring, averaging 21.0 points a game which rank third in Conference USA. He also leads the team in three-point shooting (97-of-229, 42.4 percent) and minutes played (34.8).
Junior guard Channing Toney, who had to sit during the first semester due to NCAA transfer rules, has played in five contests and is collecting an average of 12.2 points and 3.7 rebounds. He is shooting 60.0 percent from three-point range (12-of-20), which leads the league in C-USA contests only. Junior forward Lawrence Kinnard is the team's third-leading scorer at 10.0 points a game, and also leads the team in rebounding with 6.8 boards per contest.
Junior forward Reggie Huffman, who has played sparingly over the last three games due to an injury, is second on the team in rebounding (5.8 rpg) and is fourth in scoring (7.3 ppg).
As a team, the Blazers are leading the league in both field goal percentage, hitting 46.8 percent from the floor, and three-point field goal percentage, connecting on 38.2 percent from beyond the arc. Additionally, UAB ranks second in the league in three-point field goal percentage defense (30.7 percent) and scoring defense (63.6 ppg). The Blazers are outscoring their opponents by 6.4 points a game (73.0-63.6).
Head coach Mike Davis is in his second season at the helm of the UAB men's basketball program. Davis, who is in his eighth season as a head coach, boasts a career record of 145-102 (.587) and has made five postseason appearances, including the 2002 national championship game. He is now 30-23 (.567) at UAB.
Scouting UTEP
UTEP enters Saturday's contest with a 14-7 overall record and a 5-3 record in Conference USA following its two-point, 64-62, victory over Tulane last Wednesday. The win improved the Miners to 5-0 at home. However, they are still looking for their first conference road victory after an 0-3 mark in league road contests this season. UTEP holds a 2-6 record in eight road games this season.
Leading the way is junior guard Stefon Jackson, who leads Conference USA and ranks sixth in the country in scoring with 23.9 ppg. He also is the team leader in rebounds (5.3/game) and minutes per game (33.1).
Jackson is one of three Miners to average double-figure scoring. Senior guard Marvin Kilgore is second on the team with 12.5 points a game, while freshman guard Randy Culpepper is averaging 12.3 points a contest. Kilgore leads the team with 5.0 assists a game, and also contributes 4.3 rebounds per contest. Culpepper leads the team in steal, with 31.
As a team, the Miners are shooting 43.7 percent from the floor and 33.0 percent from behind the arc. They are also third in the league in scoring offense at 77.0 points a game; however, UTEP ranks last in scoring defense by allowing 70.9 points per contest. The Miners are also second in Conference USA in assists per game, averaging 15.13 per outing.
Head coach Tony Barbee is in his second season at the helm of the UTEP program and has compiled a record of 28-24 (.538).
UAB-UTEP: The Series
UAB and UTEP will face each other for the sixth time in series history on Saturday night, with the Miners holding a 3-2 advantage in the series history. This is the first of two meetings between the schools this season. Last season, the teams split a pair of games, with each team winning on its home floor. Despite trailing in the series, UAB enters the contest with a 1-0 mark against UTEP at home, and has captured wins in two of the last three games played between the teams.
UAB-UTEP: A Year Ago
UAB and UTEP split a pair of games a year ago, with each team claiming a victory on its home floor.
In head coach Mike Davis' first career Conference USA game, the Miners defeated the Blazers, 76-63, on Jan. 6, 2007. Malik Alvin led four UTEP players in double-digit scoring with 18 points in the contest. The Miners built a 21-9 margin on a layup by Alvin with 9:31 remaining in the half and held a 33-24 lead at the intermission. The Miners built leads of as many as 18 points in the second stanza. Paul Delaney III led the Blazers with 17 points, while Jeremy Mayfield had 14 points and seven boards. Lawrence Kinnard finished with 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
The Blazers avenged the loss with a with a 73-64 victory on Feb. 10, 2007 in Bartow Arena. Delaney scored 19 points and Kinnard added 15 in the victory. Frank Holmes also had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Stefon Jackson scored 22 points to lead UTEP, while Marvin Kilgore added 15. The Blazer led by as many as 26 points at 54-28. However, the game tightened down the stretch as Jackson and Kilgore heated up for UTEP and sparked a late rally. A driving basket by Jackson pulled the Miners to within 68-60 with 1:21 left. UAB contributed to the UTEP comeback with poor shooting from the free throw line. They at one point made just 3 of 10 and were 12-of-30 for the game.
Last Time Out
Craig Craft scored a career-high 27 points and helped Southern Mississippi to a 93-85 double-overtime win over UAB last Tuesday. Craft hit a quick jumper to open the second overtime and give the Golden Eagles the lead for good. Jeremy Wise sank all eight of his free throws in the second overtime and the Golden Eagles outscored UAB 15-7 in the final session. Wise added 19 points for Southern Miss and Andre Stephens chipped in 14 and had a game-high nine rebounds. Robert Vaden led UAB with 26 points, while Channing Toney added 17 and Lawrence Kinnard put 16 on the board. The Golden Eagles led by as much as 14 on two different occasions in the first half, thanks mostly to the shooting of Craft and some solid rebounding. The Golden Eagles led 37-25 at halftime. Vaden and Toney combined for 26 points in the second half.Vaden's shot inside the lane with 21 seconds to go in regulation tied the game at 72-72 and sent it into overtime. The Blazers led by as much as three in the first overtime, but it took a free throw with 24 seconds left by Blazer guard Aaron Johnson to send the game into the second extra session at 78-78.
Vaden Having One Of Best Seasons In School History
Junior guard/forward Robert Vaden is in the midst of one of the best seasons ever by a UAB player. He is poised to break or threaten nearly every single-season school record. To the right is a list of each category in which Vaden is on pace to capture or threaten.
Record-Setting Streak
This year's men's basketball team has done something no other UAB team had ever done. The Blazers are off to the best home start at Bartow Arena in school history, boasting a perfect 10-0 record entering Saturday's game against UTEP. The best previous start since Bartow Arena opened during the 1987-88 season was 9-0 set during the 1989-90 and 1999-2000 campaigns. In fact, with a win over UTEP, UAB would match its best home record since winning its first 11 games at the BJCC during the 1983-84 campaign.
Tough At Home
This season, UAB has been a very tough team to play at Bartow Arena. When the Blazers face UTEP on Feb. 9, they will be sporting a perfect 10-0 record in home games this season. In fact, of the 10 games played at Bartow Arena, UAB has only trailed in one game (Stetson) for a total of 7 minutes, 50 seconds throughout the entire home slate. Furthermore, the Blazers have beaten opponents on their home floor by an average of 21.3 points a game (76.4-55.1).
Board Work
A key in the outcome of a game for this year's UAB squad is the work on the glass. When the Blazers outrebound an opponent this season, they are a perfect 13-0. In fact, in UAB's 15 wins this season, it owns a +6.3 advantage on the boards (37.1-30.7). However, in the Blazers' seven losses, they have been outworked on the glass, 40.7-34.9, for a -5.9 disadvantage.
Deja Vu
UAB's double-overtime 93-85 loss at Southern Miss last Tuesday may seem like deja vu to some Blazers fans. It was the second time the Blazers have fallen in double overtime in Hattiesburg, Miss. UAB dropped an 82-80 double overtime game at Southern Miss on Feb. 4, 2003. Last Tuesday's game marked the second consecutive season the Blazers have played a double-overtime contest. Last year, it took UAB two extra periods to defeat Minnesota, 88-81, on Dec. 5, 2006. UAB drops to 1-1 in overtime games this season and is 4-2 in extra period games during the Mike Davis era.
Toney Does It Again
Junior guard Channing Toney continues to make a solid contribution since his return to the lineup. Toney, who was forced to sit the first half of the season due to NCAA transfer rules, collected 17 points and four rebounds in 37 minutes of action in the double overtime loss at Southern Miss last Tuesday. He is now averaging 12.2 points and 3.7 rebounds a game in his six games back. Furthermore, in the latest Conference USA stats (league games only), Toney is leading the league in three-point shooting (60.0 percent) and ranks fourth in free throw shooting (87.5 percent) and 20th in scoring. Over his last three contests alone, each of which were UAB victories, Toney has averaged 15.0 points and 4.0 rebounds a game, while shooting 53.1 percent from the floor (17-of-32) and 69.2 percent from beyond the arc (9-of-12).
Loe-vin' It
Junior forward Lawrence Kinnard has been a force to reckon with over UAB's last three contests. After going through a tough shooting slump, Kinnard seems to have snapped out of it in a big way. In the Blazers' 88-81 victory at UCF on Jan. 30, Kinnard hit 10-of-14 shots en route to a career-high tying 25 points to go along with seven rebounds in 28 minutes of action off the bench. Following that contest, Kinnard came off the bench to lead UAB to a 74-55 win over Marshall. He hit 7-of-10 shots from the floor on his way earning his third double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. In the double overtime loss at Southern Miss last Tuesday, Kinnard struck for 16 points and seven boards before fouling out. Over the span, the Memphis, Tenn. native is averaging 18.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 30.7 minutes per contest. He also connected on 22-of-33 shots from the floor (66.7 percent) throughout the week.
Bench Depth
One of the main reasons for the Blazers' victory over Marshall last Saturday was the play of the reserves. The Blazers' bench outscored its counterpart by a score of 33-8. It marked the 10th time UAB's bench has outscored its opponent on the season. When that happens, it is usually a good thing. The Blazers hold a 8-2 record when UAB reserves outscore its counterparts.
