The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Announces 2010-11 Men's Basketball Slate
9/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sept. 8, 2010
Click Here To View 2010-11 Schedule
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Conference USA officials released the 2010-11 men's basketball conference schedule on Wednesday, as UAB opens the conference season by hosting four if its first six league opponents at Bartow Arena. The Blazers, which released their non-conference schedule in mid-August, have a total of 29 games on this year's slate.
UAB head coach Mike Davis and his UAB team will open the conference season at home against defending league champion UTEP on Saturday, Jan. 8. Last season, the teams played two of the more entertaining games during conference play. The Miners won both contests, capturing a 74-65, double-overtime win at Bartow Arena (Jan. 30) and a 52-50 victory on a last-second slam dunk in El Paso in the regular-season finale (March 6).
The Blazers' 2010 league slate features home-and-home series coming against East Carolina (Jan. 12 in Greenville, N.C. and March 5 at Bartow Arena), Memphis (Jan. 22 at Bartow Arena and Feb. 16 in Memphis, Tenn.), Marshall (Jan. 26 in Bartow Arena and Feb. 9 in Huntington, W. Va.), UCF (Jan. 29 in Orlando, Fla. and Feb. 19 at Bartow Arena) and Southern Miss (Feb. 2 at Bartow Arena and March 2 in Hattiesburg, Miss.).
UAB's other home conference games include SMU (Jan. 19) and Rice (Feb. 12). The Blazers will play Tulsa (Jan. 15), Tulane (Feb. 5) and Houston (Feb. 26) in road contests.
"Conference USA is a league that keeps getting better and better," Davis said. "I expect it to be an even more improved league this season. We host the defending league champion on our home court to start the conference season, so we are going to be tested from start to finish. This conference is always a fight, so we have to make sure to defend our home court."
The non-conference slate, announced back on Aug. 19, is highlighted by a showdown at national champion Duke, along with games against Arizona State, Georgia and Arkansas.
"I am really excited about this year's non-conference schedule," Davis said. "We have some terrific home games and some tough tests on the road. This is the type of schedule that will certainly prepare us for the rigors of Conference USA play."
The Blazers and Blue Devils will square off on Wednesday, Jan. 5 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, which will mark UAB's final non-conference game of the 2010-11 season. It marks the second-straight year, and the fourth time in school history, that the Blazers will play the reigning NCAA men's basketball champion.
The rest of UAB's non-conference slate includes seven home contests, in addition to playing road games against foes such as Arizona State (Nov. 20), Arkansas (Nov. 26 in Little Rock, Ark.) and Georgia (Dec. 3).
The Blazers tip off the 2010-11 regular season against Southeast Missouri State on Nov. 13. It will mark the only time in Davis' five-year tenure, and the first time since the 2004-05 campaign, that UAB will open its regular season in Bartow Arena.
Following a road contest at Middle Tennessee on Nov. 17, the Blazers will make the trek to Tempe, Ariz. for the first-ever meeting against the Sun Devils on the hardwood.
UAB will return to Bartow Arena on Nov. 23 for the only other home game in the month of November when it takes on instate rival South Alabama.
Following that contest, the Blazers will take on the Razorbacks for a second straight season. Arkansas will be looking to avenge a dramatic 73-72 defeat to the Blazers in Bud Walton Arena last January.
The Blazers will next meet in-state foes Troy (Nov. 29 at Troy) and Jacksonville State (Dec. 1 in Bartow Arena) in back-to-back contests. UAB will then make its lone road December trip when it travels to Athens, Ga. to take on the Bulldogs.
Following the Georgia game, the Blazers will welcome Kent State to Bartow Arena on Dec. 5, which begins a season-long, four-game homestand. Following a two-week layoff, UAB will return to action with three home games in the next eight days against Alabama A&M (Dec. 19), VCU (Dec. 21) and George Washington (Dec. 27).
The Blazers will host West Alabama on Nov. 5 in their first and only exhibition contest.
