The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Men's Hoops Opens Exhibition Play Thursday Night
11/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 2, 2011
Florida Tech Game Notes 
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team will open the 2011-12 campaign when it hosts Florida Tech on Thursday night at 8 p.m. at Bartow Arena. The contest will mark the exhibition opener for the Blazers.
Thursday's contest marks the first game of the 2011-12 campaign for UAB. Last season, the Blazers finished with a 22-9 record and a 12-4 mark in conference play as UAB captured its first outright regular season Conference USA championship in school history. As a result, the Blazers received an at-large berth to the 2011 NCAA Tournament, marking their first appearance in the "Big Dance" since the 2006 campaign and the 14th NCAA Tournament showing in program history.
Senior forward Cameron Moore, who was selected as the C-USA Preseason Player of the Year, is expected to lead UAB during the 2011-12 campaign. Moore is coming off a breakout season a year ago when he averaged 14.0 points and 9.3 rebounds per game on his way to second-team all-conference and all-district accolades. The San Antonio, Texas native ranked third in the league in rebounding average and double-doubles (13) and was 13th in scoring average.
Joining Moore in the frontcourt will be 6-8 junior forward Ovie Soko who is coming off a stellar sophomore season. Soko had a breakout season in 2010-11 and returns as the team's second-leading scorer (9.1 ppg) and rebounder (5.8 rpg). Over his last eight games a year ago, Soko averaged 10.9 ppg and a team-leading 6.1 rebounds per game.
UAB head coach Mike Davis, the 2011 C-USA Coach of the Year, owns a record of 107-56 (.656) during his five seasons at UAB, including an 92-40 (.698) mark over his last four years alone (including the 2010-11 season). He has a career mark of 222-135 (.622) in 11 seasons as a head coach at Indiana and UAB.
About Florida Tech
• Florida Tech, a Division II team out of Winter Park, Fla., was picked to finish fourth in the Sunshine State Conference this upcoming season, according to the league's preseason poll.
• Thursday's matchup at UAB will mark the Panthers second exhibition game of the season. Florida Tech dropped a 97-63 decision at Mississippi State on Oct. 29. The Panters were down by only seven points (40-33) at the half, but were outscored 57-30 over the final 20 minutes en route to the defeat.
• Florida Tech received a solid performance from Julius Reid, who scored 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds to go along with a team-leading four assists in the loss to the Bulldogs. Derek Hellemann added 17 points, while freshman Jermaine Jackson had 11 points. Edgars Eglitis pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.
• The Panthers welcome back 10 returners and five seniors from last season's 19-12 squad. Senior guard Anthony Jackson leads all returners with 13.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in 2010-11. Senior guard Simon Cummings, who missed the final 15 games due to injury, and junior guard Julius Reid also registered double figures in scoring at 12.3 and 12.2, respectively.
• Head coach Billy Mims is in his fourth season at the helm of the FIT program.
UAB Basketball Begins 34th Season
• The UAB men's basketball team is set to begin its 34th season with the 2011-12 campaign.
• The Blazers have been one of the more successful programs on the national scene. UAB boasts an overall record of 665-384 (.634) and has earned postseason berths in the NCAA Tournament (14) or NIT (11) in 25 of its 33 years in program history.
• UAB has made eight postseason appearances over the past nine years, including four NCAA Tournaments (2004, 2005, 2006, 2011) and four NITs (2003, 2008, 2009, 2010).
• The Blazers made a Sweet 16 appearance in 2004 after defeating the tournament's No. 1 overall seed, Kentucky, marking the third Sweet 16 appearance in school history.
• UAB has averaged of over 20 wins per season (20.1) and has recorded 21 20-win seasons.
Beating Final Four Teams
• In each of the last two seasons, UAB has accomplished a feat not many teams can claim. The Blazers have been victorious over an NCAA Final Four team in each year, defeating Butler during the 2009-10 season (67-57 on Dec. 22, 2009) and VCU during the 2010-11 campaign (68-65 on Dec. 21, 2010), winning with both contests at Bartow Arena.
• UAB is one of only five teams in the nation that has defeated a Final Four team in each of the last two seasons. Also joining the Blazers in the accomplishment are North Carolina (defeated Michigan State in 2009 and Kentucky in 2010), Pitt (defeated West Virginia in 2009 and UConn in 2010), Notre Dame (defeated West Virginia in 2009 and UConn in 2010) and Syracuse (defeated West Virginia in 2009 and UConn in 2010).
One Of The Winningest Programs Since 2002-03
• Dating back to the 2002-03 campaign, UAB ranks as one of the winningest programs in the nation.
• Over that nine-year span, the Blazers have totalled 196 victories, which averages out to 21.8 wins per season. That number ranks 26th in the country in terms of total victories.
• Kansas tops the list with 267, followed by Duke (263), Memphis (258), North Carolina (244) and Pittsburgh (244).
• The Tigers and the Blazers are the only two Conference USA teams to appear on the top-50 list of teams.
Blazers Will Need To Make Up For Key Personnel Losses
• Despite returning seven letterwinners from last season's NCAA Tournament team, UAB head coach Mike Davis and his staff will have to replace a pair of senior leaders in point guard Aaron Johnson and shooting guard Jamarr Sanders.
• Both Johnson and Sanders were first-team all-conference performers in 2010-11, with Johnson also earning the Conference USA Player of the Year.
• Combined, the duo averaged 29.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 9.6 assists per contest a year ago. That equates to approximately 43 percent of the scoring, 21 percent of the rebounding and 71 percent of the assists of UAB's total output last season.
Four-Year Success Story
• UAB head coach Mike Davis has led UAB to one of the program's best four-year stretches in terms of number of wins in school history.
• Over the past four seasons, the Blazers have compiled a record of 92-41 (.692). It ranks second in program history in terms of wins over a four-year period. The school record for wins in a four-year stretch is 94, set during the 1983-87 seasons.
• Over the past four seasons, the Blazers have had at least 20 wins overall and 11 wins in C-USA play in each campaign. UAB also recorded 20 regular-season wins for a fourth straight season, marking the first time in school history the Blazers have achieved that feat.
• Point guard Aaron Johnson was the only Blazer associated with all 92 victories over the four-year stretch, which ranks as the second-most wins by a single-player in school history. Former UAB great Archie Johnson, who played from 1983-87, leads all UAB players with 94 victories during his four-year career at UAB.
• With 34 true road wins since 2007, Davis has led the Blazers to the most road victories of any four-year stretch in school history. He is also the first coach to record at least 11 wins in conference play in four consecutive year.
We Are The Champions!
• With the 66-48 win over East Carolina on March 5th in the regular-season finale, UAB clinched the program's first-ever outright Conference USA regular season title. It marked just the second championship since the formation of the league in 1995-96 (the Blazers were co-champions in 2003-04).
• The last time a UAB team captured an outright conference title came during the 1989-90 season. That year, the Blazers finished 12-2 in the Sun Belt Conference to claim the outright regular-season championship.
Waiting In The Wings
• After sitting out the 2010-11 campaign due to NCAA transfer rules, Jordan Swing is prepared to begin his UAB career in 2011-12. The 6-6, 200-pound guard transferred to UAB from Western Kentucky.
• Swing, who was able to participate in all team activities but couldn't dress out for games a year ago, played in 22 contests in 2009-10 as a true freshman at Western Kentucky. While there, he averaged 2.3 points and 1.1 rebounds in 7.6 minutes per contest.
• During his prep career, Swing played under head coach George Hatchett at Vestavia Hills High School. He was selected as the Gatorade Alabama Player of the Year, while The Birmingham News also pegged Swing as its Player of the Year. As a senior at VHHS, Swing led his team to the 2009 6A state championship, averaging 19.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game.
