The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Set To Host Tulane On Saturday Night
2/17/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2012
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team will welcome Conference USA foe Tulane for a Saturday night showdown at Bartow Arena. The contest, which is the penultimate home game for the Blazers, is set to tip at 7 p.m. CT.
The contest can be heard live on the Blazers Sports Network, 107.7 FM.
Saturday's contest marks the 34th meeting between the two teams. UAB owns a 21-12 all-time advantage in games vs. the Green Wave, including wins in seven straight and 10 of the last 11 meetings.
The Blazers have also captured three consecutive wins in Bartow Arena over the Green Wave, including having won six of the last seven games, and own a record of 11-5 when playing Tulane in Birmingham.
GAME INFORMATION
Feb. 18, 2012 • 7 pm CT • Birmingham, Ala. • Bartow Arena (8,500)
UAB Game Notes vs. Tulane
| Gametracker | Watch
RADIO (Flagship: WUHT 107.7 FM): Blazer Sports Network
David Crane (play-by-play), Steve Mitchell (analyst) and Jon Gentile (Engineer)
TV:None
About UAB
• UAB (11-14, 6-6) won for the fourth time in five games when it defeated SMU, 47-28, in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday night. Freshman K.C. Whitaker came off the bench to record career highs in points (17) and rebounds (6) en route to the 19-point victory.
• Senior forward Cameron Moore, the C-USA Preseason Player of the Year, enters the Tulane contest leading UAB in scoring (15.7), rebounding (10.4) and blocked shots (2.6) a game. He ranks fifth in the league in scoring, is second in rebounding and leads the league in blocked shots. No C-USA player since Kenyon Martin has finished among the top two in the league in each of those categories.
• Moore, who is just the second Blazer to earn the preseason player of the year honor (Robert Vaden in 2008-09) also leads C-USA in league games only in rebounding (9.6 rpg) and is third in scoring (16.9 ppg) and blocked shots (1.9). Nationally, Moore ranks 15th in rebounds and 17th in blocks a game (as of 2/17).
• Sophomore guard Jordan Swing is second on the team with 10.9 points per game. Swing leads the team and ranks fifth in C-USA in three-point shooting at 38.4 percent and is third in free throw shooting percentage (83.9). Additionally, he is averaging 2.3 treys and shooting 43.9 percent from deep in league contests only, both of which rank third.
• Junior forward Ovie Soko is third in scoring (8.1 ppg) and is second in rebounding (7.0 rpg). Soko ranks second on the team with six double-double contests on the year. In fact, Moore (11) and Soko (6) have combined for 17 double-doubles on the year.
• UAB head coach Mike Davis, the 2011 C-USA Coach of the Year, owns a record of 118-71 (.624) during his five-plus seasons at UAB. He has a career mark of 233-150 (.608), now in his 12th season as a head coach. He now owns a record of 59-33 (.641) 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 Tulane
• Tulane (15-10, 3-8) enters its contest at UAB having lost four of its last five contests. Most recently, the Green Wave fell at home to Memphis, 82-64, on Wednesday. Tulane was led by freshman guard Ricky Tarrant's 20 points on the night
• Tarrant, a native of Pleasant Grove, Ala., has been sensational during his first season in New Orleans. A candidate for C-USA Freshman of the Year honors leads the team in scoring (14.6), assists (3.1) and three-point shooting (38.3 percent). He has nabbed six C-USA Freshman of the Week honors this season.
• Tarrant has been even more impressive in league play, leading the league in scoring in C-USA games only (18.2 ppg), ranks third in steals (2.2) and is fourth in three-point field goal percentage (41.4) and three-pointers made a game (2.2).
• Junior guard Jordan Callahan is the team's second-leading scorer at 12.2 points per game, while sophomore forward Josh Davis also averages double figures at 10.6 points per contest.
• Davis ranks fourth in the league with an average of 9.3 rebounds a game, while his 1.4 blocks per game leads the team and ranks eighth in league play.
• As a team, the Green Wave is outscoring the opposition by an average of 6.9 points a game (65.8-58.9), while shooting 43.2 percent from the floor and 35.8 percent from deep. However, Tulane has struggled in conference play. The Green Wave is being outscored by 3.2 points a contest (61.7-64.9).
• Head coach Ed Conroy is in his second season at the helm of the Tulane program and owns a record of 28-27 (.509). Now in his ninth season as a head coach, Conroy owns a record of 118-159 (.426).
A Few Notes From Last Game
• UAB freshman guard K.C. Whitaker scored a career-high 17 points off the bench, as the Blazers cruised past the SMU Mustangs, 47-28, on Wednesday night at Moody Coliseum.
• Cameron Moore recorded his 11th double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 boards to go along with a career-high four assists in the win. Sophomore Jordan Swing also pulled down a career-best 11 boards, which helped the Blazers to a huge 46-27 advantage on the boards.
• The Mustangs failed to put a single player in double figures in the meeting, as Robert Nyakundi came the closest with nine points on 3-of-9 shooting from the floor before fouling out in the team's second straight loss and the seventh n eight games.
• The Mustangs led by three points early in the first half, but the Blazers used a 10-0 run midway through the opening stanza to take the lead for good. SMU ended up shooting a woeful 4-of-26 from the floor, including 1-of-15 behind the three-point line, as they fell behind 17-12 at the break. UAB was only marginally better from the floor at only 27.8 percent.
UAB-Tulane: A Year Ago
• Cameron Moore scored 14 points and pulled down 16 rebounds to lead UAB past Tulane 47-39 on Feb. 5, 2011 in New Orleans.
• The Blazers led 19-12 at halftime after shooting 27.6 percent from the floor (8 of 29) in the first half. UAB led 28-12 with 15:28 remaining after Tulane made just 4 of its first 33 shot attempts (12.1 percent).
• UAB improved to 5-0 under Mike Davis in games against Tulane at Fogelman Arena. The Blazers have won 8-of-9 over the Green Wave overall since Davis became head coach.
• Aaron Johnson added 11 points and Ovie Soko grabbed 11 rebounds for the Blazers.
• The Green Wave tied a school record for fewest field goals in a game (14) and their 39-point output is the third-lowest since 1949.
UAB-Tulane: The Series
• Saturday's contest marks the 34th meeting between the two teams. UAB owns a 21-12 all-time advantage in games vs. the Green Wave, including wins in seven straight and 10 of the last 11 meetings.
• The Blazers have also captured three consecutive wins in Bartow Arena over the Green Wave, including having won six of the last seven games, and own a record of 11-5 when playing Tulane in Birmingham.
• UAB claimed a 76-55 victory over Tulane on Feb. 27, 2010 in the last meeting between the two teams in Bartow Arena.
Historic Game For Blazers' D
• Last Wednesday's contest at SMU set all kinds of records for offensive futility in the 47-28 Blazer victory.
• The 28 points scored by the Mustangs were the lowest ever scored by any C-USA team, topping the 36 points scored by UAB against Southern Miss (1/12/02). It also marked the second-fewest points the Blazers have allowed in program history, only bettered by the 27 points they allowed to Samford on Feb. 23, 1982.
• The 17.4 percent SMU shot from the floor is the lowest field goal percentage any team in conference play and the poorest any NCAA Division I team has shot this season.
• SMU finished with more free throws (nine) than it had field goals (eight). The Mustangs were 8-of-46 from the field overall and 3-of-29 on 3-pointers.
• UAB led 17-12 at halftime and the combined 29 points were one point shy of tying the NCAA mark for fewest points in a half since 1986.
• SMU's total was the second-lowest of the season for any Division I program, after Towson and Arkansas State put up a mere 27 versus Drexel and Louisville, respectively.
Fun Times In February
• The UAB men's basketball team has been playing some of its best basketball in the month of February.
• The Blazers own a record of 4-1 thus far, with the lone loss coming to league-leading Memphis at the FedExForum.
• Below is a breakdown of the numbers by UAB and the opposition during the five-game stretch.
FG% 3-pt FG% Reb. Pts.
UAB .443 .398 34.0 60.8
Opponents .403 .312 30.2 59.4
Blowing Up After Letting Down
• When recording a season-low four points in the Blazers' loss at Memphis on Feb. 11, senior forward Cameron Moore recorded just his third single-digit game of the season. However, if history repeats itself, Moore will have a good next couple of games.
• Against SMU last Wednesday, the first game following the contest at Memphis, Moore collected his 11th double-double of the year with 12 points and 11 rebounds in the win.
• In the two games following each of his previous single-digit performances, Moore has erupted for big numbers. In those four contests, the San Antonio, Texas native is averaging 18.5 points and 17.0 rebounds a game.
• More importantly, UAB is now 4-1 in those contests.
That's What You Call Stepping Up
• With the hand injury to Jordan Swing, UAB's second-leading scorer, someone had to step up and fill in on the offensive end. That person ended up being a trio of UAB guards in Preston Purifoy, Quincy Taylor and Jekore Tyler.
• Over the last seven contests (the three games Swing has missed and three games since his return), the trio of Purifoy (11.4), Taylor (9.1) and Tyler (5.7) have combined to average 26.2 of the 60.9 points a game - approximately 43 percent of the team's total output.
• During that seven-game span, the trio is shooting a combined 45.0 percent from the floor (63-of-140) and 42.7 percent from beyond the arc (35-of-82).
Making His Case
• All season, Cameron Moore has been showing why he was chosen as the C-USA Preseason Player of the Year. But he has stepped his game up even more during C-USA play.
• Against league competition, Moore is the tops C-USA in rebounding (9.6 rpg), is third in scoring (16.9 ppg) and blocked shots (1.9 bpg) and eighth in field goal percentage (.512).
• For the year, Moore leads C-USA in blocked shots (2.6), is second in rebounds (10.4) and fifth in scoring (15.7). No C-USA player has finished among the top two in all three of those categories since Cincinnati's Kenyon Martin in 1999-2000.
Top Rebounding Game In Nation
• Cameron Moore recorded a career-best 24 rebounds in the victory at George Washington on Dec. 28.
• Not only was his mark a career-best, but it was also a school record. Furthermore, it is the most rebounds by any player in Division I in a game this season.
• Moore, who had 19 points in the victory, was one point shy of becoming the first 20-20 game in program history.
Road Warriors
• After getting off to a 0-3 start in league play, the Blazers have rebounded nicely with wins in six of their last nine games. That includes a record of 4-1 in the four road games over the nine-game span.
• During the Mike Davis era, the Blazers have played well in road C-USA contests. Including a 4-2 record this season, over the last five years, the Blazers own a record of 25-13 (.658) in conference road contests, which includes a mark of 16-6 (.727) over the past three season alone.
Moore Named C-USA POW...Again
• For the second time this season, UAB senior forward Cameron Moore has been selected as the Conference USA Player of the Week. He also earned the feat for the week of Jan. 2 and now has three such honors in his career.
• Moore earned the recognition after leading UAB to a pair of wins over Houston (2/1) and at UTEP (2/4). During the week, Moore collected a pair of double-doubles and averaged 18.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 5.5 blocks per game in the two Blazer victories.
• Moore earned his first weekly honor of the year after an outstanding week in wins over George Washington and Alabama A&M. That week, he connected on 15-of-20 shots from the floor (.750) and averaged 17.5 points and 16.5 rebounds.
Mr. Double-Double
• Senior Cameron Moore has recorded a double-double in five of his last six contests and seven of his last nine games coming into the Tulane matchup on Saturday.
• Over the nine-game stretch, Moore is averaging an impressive 16.4 points and 10.6 rebounds a game.
• Moore has 11 double-doubles this season which is good for second in Conference USA. He now has 25 double-doubles in his career, which places him in second overall on the program's all-time list.
• Carlos Williams is the school's all-time leader in double-doubles with 35 throughout his career.
