The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Closes Out Road Swing At Rice
1/17/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2012
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team will close out its two-game road swing when it travels to Houston, Texas to take on the Rice Owls on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. CT.
The Blazers and Owls will meet for the eighth time in series history on Wednesday. The Blazers have never lost to the Owls, owning a 7-0 all-time lead in the series history, including a 3-0 mark in games played at Tudor Fieldhouse.
GAME INFORMATION
Jan. 18, 2012 • 7 pm CT • Houston, Texas • Tudor Fieldhouse (5,208)
UAB Game Notes vs Rice
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RADIO (Flagship: WUHT 107.7 FM): Blazer Sports Network
David Crane (play-by-play), Aaron Jordan (analyst) and Jon Gentile (Engineer)
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About UAB
• UAB (5-11, 0-3) has dropped its first three C-USA games by a total of nine points, falling to Memphis (62-59) on Jan. 7, Marshall (61-59) on Jan. 11 and at Southern Miss (59-55) last Saturday. The Blazers are off to their worst conference start since beginning the 1996-97 C-USA season at 0-3.
• Senior forward Cameron Moore, the C-USA Preseason Player of the Year, enters the contest leading UAB in scoring (15.3), rebounding (10.3) and blocked shots (2.9) a game. Nationally, he ranks 13th in blocked shots a contest and is 17th in rebounds a game (as of 1/17).
• Moore is just the second Blazer to earn the preseason player of the year honor, joining former standout Robert Vaden, who was tabbed with the accolade prior to the start of the 2008-09 campaign.
• Sophomore forward Jordan Swing, who has scored double figures in eight of his last nine contests coming into the Rice game, is second on the team with 11.4 points per game.
• Junior forward Ovie Soko is third in scoring (9.5 ppg) and is second in rebounding (7.5 rpg). Soko has recorded three double-doubles over his last five contests to lead the Blazers with five, while Moore is second on the team with four double-doubles on the year.
• UAB head coach Mike Davis, the 2011 C-USA Coach of the Year, owns a record of 112-68 (.622) during his five-plus seasons at UAB. He has a career mark of 227-147 (.607), now in his 12th season as a head coach. He now owns a record of 53-30 (.639) in conference play.
• 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.
About Rice
• Rice (11-7, 2-1) comes into Wednesday night's contest on a two-game winning streak following a 50-49 road win at Tulane last Saturday. Senior guard Connor Frizzelle hit his only three-pointer of the game as the buzzer sounded to lift the Owls to the one-point win on the road.
• As a team, Rice is outscoring the competition by an average of 8.5 points a game (73.1-64.6). The Owls also rank among the top rebounding teams in the league, boasting a plus-5.5 rebound advantage over the competition (39.2-33.7). Rice ranks fourth in the league in field goal percentage (45.3 percent) and also is third in the conference in field goal percentage defense (39.2). The Owls also ranks second in the league in assists per game (14.5) and third in scoring offense.
• Junior forward Arsalan Kazemi leads the league and ranks third in the nation with 12.0 rebounds per game and is ninth nationally in field goal percentage (64.4-percent). He also leads the Owls in scoring (14.3 ppg) and steals (2.1). Kazemi also leads the nation with 14 double-doubles on the year.
• Junior guard Tamir Jackson ranks second on the team in scoring (12.4 ppg), assists (2.9) and steals (1.0). Frizelle is averaging 9.1 points a contest to rank third on the team.
• Head coach Ben Braun, in his fourth season at the helm of the Rice program, owns a 43-70 (.381) record. Now in his 35th season as a head coach, Braun owns a career record of 595-460 (.564).
A Few Notes From Last Game
• Maurice Bolden's 3-pointer with 58.3 seconds to play gave Southern Miss the lead for good, and Neil Watson and Jonathan Mills each hit clutch free throws down the stretch as the Golden Eagles edged UAB 59-55 on Saturday.
• UAB guard Jordan Swing hit 5 of 9 3-point attempts and scored a game-high 17 points, while center Cameron Moore added 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
• The Blazers certainly had their chances in the contest that featured four ties and 10 lead changes. Trailing 44-40 at the 8:24 mark, UAB used a 13-3 run over the next 3:26 to take what looked to be a commanding 53-47 lead with 4:58 remaining.
• However, the Golden Eagles would answer, ending the contest on a decisive 12-2 spurt, including 4-of-4 free throws to seal the win.
UAB-Rice: The Series
• UAB and Rice will meet for the eighth time in series history on Wednesday. The Blazers have never lost to the Owls, owning a 7-0 all-time lead in the series history.
• UAB is a perfect 3-0 in Tudor Fieldhouse, including a 76-65 win in its last trip to Houston, which came on Feb, 6, 2010.
Slim Margins Of Defeat
• The UAB men's basketball team has begun league play with an 0-3 mark. However, the Blazers lost all three conference games by a combined nine points.
• The Blazers dropped games to Memphis (62-59), Marshall (61-59) and Southern Miss (59-55).
Tough Competition
• UAB's strength of schedule ranks as No. 22 in the country is certainly part of the reason why it has struggled this season through 16 games of the 2011-12 campaign.
• The Blazers have faced seven teams ranks among the top 50 RPI and nine teams in the top 100 already this season.
• Of the Blazers' 11 losses, three have come against teams ranked in the top 25 (No. 10 Murray State, No. 14 Florida and No. 19 Creighton).
• The record of the 11 teams who have beaten UAB is a combined 142-52 (.732) (as of Jan. 17).
• UAB has not received any breaks in league play. The three teams the Blazers have faced thus far in C-USA play are Memphis, Marshall and Southern Miss who have a combined record of 41-12 (.774).
The Countdown Is On
• Senior forward Cameron Moore comes into Wedensday's contest at Rice with 587 career rebounds, which ranks eighth among the list of the school's all-time rebounding leaders.
• Moore needs 13 rebounds to become only the eighth player in program history to reach 600 rebounds in his career.
• The San Antonio, Texas native needs 17 more rebounds to eclipse Larry Rembert (1986-90) for seventh on the school's all-time rebounding leaders.
Giving Away Points
• UAB has struggled all season with turning the ball over, ranking last in Conference USA with an average of 16.1 miscues per game.
• The Blazers' turnover problems all season have led to a lopsided advantage for the opposition in points off turnovers.
• UAB, which also ranks last in Conference USA in turnover margin (-3.3) and assist/to ratio (0.7), is allowing opponents to score an average of 16.1 points a game off turnovers.
Getting Into The "Swing" Of Things
• After sitting out the 2010-11 season due to NCAA transfer rules, sophomore Jordan Swing played his first regular-season contest in a year-and-a-half in UAB's season opener against Creighton (11/16).
• Swing is averaging 15.7 points a game in conference play, which ranks fifth in the league. Additionally, Swing leads the league with 4.0 threes made a game in C-USA play, while his three-point field goal percentage of 48.0-percent (12-of-25) against league competition is fourth-best in the conference.
• Swing scored a career-high 19 points, including hitting 5-of-8 three-pointers, in the loss to Memphis (1/7) and had 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting from deep at Southern Miss (1/14).
• Swing comes into the Rice game having reached double figures in eight of his last nine games. Over that span, he is averaging 13.2 points and 4.4 rebounds a contest
• Through 16 contests, the Western Kentucky transfer and Birmingham, Ala. native is second on the team in scoring (11.4 ppg), third in minutes (30.4 mpg) and fourth in rebounds (3. rpg).
"Founding Father Of UAB Athletics" Dies
• Former UAB head coach and College Basketball Hall of Famer Gene Bartow passed away on Jan. 3, 2012 after a nearly three-year bout with stomach cancer.
• As the UAB Director of Athletics from 1977 until his retirement in 2000, Bartow developed an intercollegiate sports program from its infancy into one that featured 17 sports.
• He was at the helm of the UAB Men's Basketball program for 18 seasons, 1978 to 1996, compiling a record of 366-203 (.643).
• He led the Blazers to the NIT in the program's second year of existence and followed that up with seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including trips to the Sweet 16 in 1981 and the Elite Eight in 1982.
• In all, he led UAB to 14 postseason appearances, 10 of which were NCAA Tournaments.
• In 1997, UAB renamed its basketball venue, Bartow Arena, in his honor.
"GB" = Gene Bartow
• The men's basketball team is sporting a new logo on its uniform. The student-athletes will sport the "GB" initials over a basketball to honor the Father of UAB Athletics, Gene Bartow, who passed away on Jan. 3 after a nearly three-year battle with stomach cancer.
• All UAB teams for the remainder of the academic year will wear the commemorative patch on their uniforms to honor Bartow.
Awesome Ovie
• Junior forward Ovie Soko has stepped his game up recently, recording three double-doubles in his last five contests.
• During the four-game stretch, the London, England native is averaging 11.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.
• Soko currently leads UAB and ranks sixth in Conference USA with five double-doubles on the season.
Tale Of Two Seasons
• Through 16 games, the Blazers have had two different seasons.
• After beginning the year 1-6 through the opening seven games, UAB has a 4-5 mark over its last nine contests.
• Below is a look at a breakdown of the UAB numbers during the first seven games compared to the last six contests:
FG% 3-pt FG% Reb. Pts.
UAB First 7 .380 .246 35.0 54.4
UAB Last 9 .452 .402 35.3 63.0
Making His Case
• All season, senior forward Cameron Moore has been showing why he was chosen as the Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year. But he has stepped his game up even more over the last seven contests.
• Moore, who leads the league in scoring average in C-USA games only (18.3 ppg), is averaging 17.6 points and 10.9 rebounds a game, while shooting over 56 percent from the field (50-of-89).
Nine-Game Numbers
• When breaking down the Blazers' last nine games even further, it is easy to why they have improved.
• Below is a look at a breakdown of the numbers as a team vs. the opposition during the seven-game stretch:
FG% 3-pt FG% Reb. Pts.
UAB .452 .402 35.3 63.0
Opp .418 .346 30.2 61.9
Q-School
• Point guard Quincy Taylor has certainly stepped up his game over UAB's last five contests.
• Over that span, Taylor is averaging 8.4 points and 3.8 assists a contest, while shooting 62.5 percent (15-of-24) from the floor and 50.0 percent (6-of-12) from beyond the arc.
• Taylor has set a new career high in two of the last four contests. He had 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting against Alabama A&M (12/31) and followed that with a career-best 16 points vs. No. 13 Florida (1/3).
