The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Hopes To Continue Winning Ways At Tulane
2/17/2009 12:00:00β―AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2009
UAB-Tulane Game Notes (PDF) | Gametracker | Watch
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team will travel to New Orleans, La. where it will take on the Tulane Green Wave on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Fogelman Arena. The Blazers enter the contest having won four straight and have been victorious in seven of their last eight games coming into Wednesday night's matchup.
UAB enters its matchup at Tulane with a 17-8 overall mark and a 7-3 record in Conference USA play following a 78-75 victory over SMU last Saturday. Senior forward Lawrence Kinnard led the Blazers with 22 points and four steals, as the win propelled UAB into a tie with Houston for second place overall in the C-USA standings.
The Blazers are led by senior guard/forward Robert Vaden, who currently leads the team in scoring (18.2 ppg) and is second in rebounding (5.0 rpg). Vaden also leads the league in three-pointers made (81) and ranks fifth in the league in scoring. He has now scored in double figures in 24 consecutive contests.
Senior guard Paul Delaney III, who has scored double figures in all but one game he has played this season, is second on the team with 16.8 ppg, to go along with 4.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Additionally, Delaney also leads the team and the conference in field goal percentage, connecting on 141-of-237 shots from the floor this season (.595).
Kinnard leads the team and is second in the league with 9.1 rebounds a game and is third on the team in scoring with 15.1 points per game. He collected 12 points and 12 rebounds in the win over Southern Miss (2/7), which marked his league-leading 11th double-double of the season (18th in his career).
As a team, the Blazers are leading Conference USA in field goal percentage, connecting on 46.7 percent of their shots from the floor, while also hitting 34.1 percent from beyond the arc this season. UAB is averaging 6.8 three-point makes per game and is outscoring opponents by 7.2 points a game (73.2-66.0), despite having one of the toughest schedules in the nation (strength of schedule is No. 54 according to CBSSportsline.com rankings (as of Feb. 19).
Tulane comes into Wednesday's contest with a 10-14 overall mark and a 4-7 record in C-USA play. The Green Wave most recently lost for the fourth time in its last five games with an 83-64 defeat at Houston on Saturday. Kris Richard led Tulane with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor in a losing effort.
Kevin Sims leads the team in scoring with 12.2 points a game and is one of three Tulane players to average double-figure scoring on the season. Sims also leads the team in assists (3.8), minutes played (34.0), three-point shooting (37-of-102; 39.5 percent) and free throw shooting (81.7 percent).
Following his 20-point output at Houston, Richard now averages 10.8 points a game and leads the team with 12.8 ppg during league play. He also averages a team-leading 2.0 steals per contest, to go along with 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists a game.
Center Robinson Louisme, who had 15 points and six rebounds in the loss at UAB on Feb. 4, is third on the team with 10.1 ppg and a team-high 6.7 rpg. Over his last four contests, Louisme has been tough to stop, averaging 13.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest.
As a team, the Green Wave ranks last in the league in field goal percentage, shooting 41.7 percent from the floor and 32.3 percent from beyond the arc. However, Tulane allows the opposition to shoot 45.0 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from three-point range. The Wave is third in the conference in steals per game (7.54). Tulane is being outscored by 1.4 points on the season (67.0-65.6) and by 3.9 points (70.4-66.5) in league play.
UAB and Tulane will meet for the 30th time in series history, with the Blazers owning a 17-12 lead in the previous 29 contests. UAB enters the contest having won three straight and six of the last seven games played between the two teams, following an 81-61 victory at Bartow Arena back on Feb. 4.
The Blazers have also won their last two games at Fogelman Arena, the last one coming in a 62-61 victory on Jan. 9, 2008. In that contest, senior Ed Berrios connected on three free throws with 0.8 seconds remaining to pull out the win. UAB head coach Mike Davis is a perfect 2-0 when his team plays at Tulane.
The contest can be heard live on the Blazers ISP Radio Network, 107.7 FM WUHT, with the pregame show beginning at 6:30 p.m. CT.
