The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Travels To Take On Southern Miss Saturday Night
2/6/2009 12:00:00β―AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2009
UAB-Southern Miss Game Notes | Gametracker | Watch
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team will travel to Hattiesburg, Miss. where it will take on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles on Saturday, Feb. 7, in Reed Green Coliseum. The tip is set for 5 p.m. CT and will be televised live on CSS.
UAB and Southern Miss will meet for the 29th time in series history, which marks the third-most times the Blazers have played any one opponent in school lore. UAB currently owns a 17-11 advantage in the all-time series, but the Golden Eagles have won three of the last four meetings between the two schools, two of which came in overtime contests. The Blazers are 5-8 in games played against Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Miss. The last time UAB won a game at Southern Miss came on Feb. 18, 2006 when the Blazers defeated the Golden Eagles, 87-50.
UAB enters its matchup at Southern Miss with a 15-8 overall mark and a 5-3 record in Conference USA play following an 81-61 victory over Tulane on Wednesday. Senior guard Paul Delaney III led UAB by recording the second triple-double in school history, collecting 16 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in the victory.
Senior guard/forward Robert Vaden, a Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy candidate and Preseason C-USA Player of the Year recipient, finished with 12 points in the win over the Herd and currently leads the team in scoring (18.4 ppg) and is second in rebounding (5.3 rpg). Vaden, who has scored at least 20 points in 12 of UAB's 23 games on the season, leads the league in three-pointer made (76) and ranks sixth in the league in scoring.
Delaney, 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 1.8 steals per game. Additionally, Delaney also leads the team and the conference in field goal percentage, connecting on 131-of-216 shots from the floor this season (.606). In addition to leading the league in field goal percentage, Delaney is also seventh in scoring.
Kinnard leads the team and the league with 9.1 rebounds a game and is third on the team in scoring with 14.9 points per game. He collected 24 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Tulane, which marked his league-leading 10th double-double of the season (17th in his career). In addition to leading C-USA in rebounds per game, Kinnard also ranks 13th in the league in scoring coming into the Southern Miss game.
Additionally, senior guard Channing Toney and junior forward Howard Crawford have played tremendously in UAB's last six contests. Over that span, Crawford is contributing 13.0 points and 5.3 rebounds a contest, while Toney is collecting 12.3 points and 4.2 rebounds a game.
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 34.6 percent from beyond the arc this season. UAB is averaging 7.0 three-point makes per game and is outscoring opponents by 7.0 points a game (73.3-66.3), despite having one of the toughest schedules in the nation (strength of schedule is No. 43 according to CBSSportsline.com rankings (as of Feb. 5).
Southern Miss comes into Saturday's contest sporting a 13-8 overall mark and a 3-4 record in league play. Most recently, the Golden Eagles dropped their second straight contest and third loss over their last five games in an 82-79 loss at East Carolina on Wednesday. Senior guard Courtney Beasley, the reigning C-USA Player of the Week, continued his excellent play, leading his team with 23 points and 13 rebounds on the night.
Junior guard Jeremy Wise leads Southern Miss with 16.1 points, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game. His five assists per game also ranks third in C-USA. Wise has made (122) and attempted (143) nearly twice as many free throws as his next closest teammate. His 85.3 percent free throw percentage ranks third in the conference.
Beasley is second on the team in scoring (15.6 ppg) and leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per contest coming into Saturday's game. Beasley has been red-hot over Southern Miss' last five contests, averaging 22.8 points and 7.2 rebounds a game over that span.
Two other players average double-figure scoring for the Golden Eagles. Sophomore guard R.L Horton collects 12.1 points a game, while senior guard Craig Craft averages 11.7 points per contest. Craft also leads the team in three-pointers made (34) and three-point percentage (.370).
As a team, the Golden Eagles are shooting 44.1 percent from the floor and 30.5 percent from beyond the arc. Southern Miss ranks third in the league in free throw percentage (72.2 percent) and outrebounding the opposition by 3.0 rebounds a game (35.8-32.7).
In addition to the contest being televised live on CSS, the game can also be heard on on the Blazers ISP Radio Network, 107.7 FM WUHT.
