The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Ready For NIT Showdown At Notre Dame
3/16/2009 12:00:00β―AM | Men's Basketball
March 16, 2009
UAB-Notre Dame Game Notes | NIT Bracket (PDF)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team is making final preparations for the opening round of 2009 National Invitation Tournament when the Blazers travel to South Bend, Ind. to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Tuesday night. The contest, which will mark the first meeting on the hardwood between the two teams, will be televised nationally on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. ET (8 p.m. CT).
Notre Dame finished with an 18-14 overall record and an 8-10 mark in Big East play. The Fighting Irish are led by junior All-American Luke Harangody, who leads the team with 23.2 points and 12.0 rebounds per game. Harangody's scoring average is ninth-best in the country, while his rebounding ranks sixth in the nation.
Harangody is one of four Fighting Irish to average double-figure scoring. Senior Kyle McAlarney averages 15.4 points and has made 115 threes on the season. Senior guard Ryan Ayers (11.4 ppg) and junior guard Tory Jackson (10.4 ppg) also collect double digit points a game.
As a team, Notre Dame is averaging 76.6 points a game, while shooting 43.7 percent from the floor and a conference-leading 40.2 percent from the beyond the arc on the year. Additionally, the Fighting Irish rank third in the league and eighth in the nation with 17.2 assists per game, while their 9.6 turnovers per contest leads the nation.
A trio of All-Conference USA seniors -- all career 1,000-point scorers -- lead the way for UAB (22-11). Guard/forward Robert Vaden, a second-team all-league selection, averaged 17.5 points this season while fellow second-team choice Paul Delaney III averaged 16.0 points per contest. Forward Lawrence Kinnard averaged 14.2 points and paced the team in rebounding at 9.0 boards.
As a team, the Blazers are leading Conference USA in field goal percentage, connecting on 45.6 percent of their shots from the floor, while also hitting 33.7 percent from beyond the arc this season. UAB is averaging 6.7 three-point makes per game and is outscoring opponents by 6.8 points a game (72.6-65.9).
With this year's invitation, UAB is making its second straight National Invitation Tournament appearance and 10th showing in school history.
The winner between No. 7 seed UAB and No. 2 Notre Dame contest will take on the winner of No. 3 seed New Mexico and No. 6 seed Nebraska in the round of 32 at a time and date to be determined.
The Blazers will be making their 10th appearance in the NIT and will be playing in the tournament for the second consecutive season. Last year as a No. 5 seed, UAB reached the second round knocking off VCU (80-77) on the road in first round play before losing at Virginia Tech (75-49) in the second round.
UAB has reached the NIT Final Four on two occasions, both under coach Gene Bartow. In 1989, UAB advanced to the semifinals in New York where it lost to St. John's (76-65) before coming back to defeat Michigan State (78-76) in the third place game.
The Blazers also reached the NIT semifinals in the 1993 tournament, falling to Georgetown (45-41). Again, UAB rebounded to win the third place contest, defeating Providence by a 55-52 score. UAB has an all-time record in the NIT of 12-9.
UAB has participated in 13 NCAA Tournaments, making this the Blazers' 23rd overall postseason appearance.
The contest will air live on the Blazers ISP Radio Network, 107.7 FM WUHT, with the pregame show beginning at 7:30 p.m. CT.
