The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
League Leaders Southern Miss Set To Invade Bartow Arena
2/7/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2012
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team will welcome Conference USA league leaders Southern Miss for a Wednesday night showdown at Bartow Arena. Tip is slated for 7 p.m. CT.
The contest can be heard live on the Blazers Sports Network, 107.7 FM.
UAB and Southern Miss will meet for the 38th time in series history on Wednesday and second time this season. Earlier this season, the Golden Eagles edged UAB 59-55 on Jan. 14 in Hattiesburg, Miss. The Blazers held a 53-47 lead with 4:58 remaining, but the Golden Eagles would answer, ending the contest on a decisive 12-2 spurt, including 4-of-4 free throws to seal the win.
The Blazers own a 23-14 lead in the previous 37 contests and have now won six of the last nine meetings between the two teams.
UAB owns a record of 13-4 when playing Southern Miss in Birmingham. The Golden Eagles beat the Blazers in Bartow Arena a year ago, pulling out a 75-71 win. It was the just the second Southern Miss victory in its last nine trips to the Blazers home venue.
GAME INFORMATION
Feb. 8, 2012 • 7 pm CT • Birmingham, Ala. • Bartow Arena (8,500)
UAB Game Notes - Southern Miss
| 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 (9-13, 4-5) captured its second straight win and fourth victory in the last six games with a narrow 61-60 victory at UTEP on Saturday night. Jordan Swing returned from a hand injury to account for 19 points off the bench en route to the big road win.
• Senior forward Cameron Moore, the C-USA Preseason Player of the Year, enters the Southern Miss contest leading UAB in scoring (15.9), rebounding (10.7) and blocked shots (2.9) a game. He ranks fifth in the league in scoring, second in rebounding and leads the league in blocked shots. Nationally, Moore ranks 10th in rebounds a contest and is 15th in blocks a game (as of 2/6).
• 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.
• Swing is second on the team with 11.5 points per game. Swing leads the team and ranks third in C-USA in three-point shooting at 41.7 percent. Additionally, he is averaging 3.3 treys and shooting 52.6 percent from deep in league contests only.
• Junior forward Ovie Soko is third in scoring (8.8 ppg) and is second in rebounding (7.5 rpg). Soko ranks second on the team with six double-double contests on the year. In fact, Moore (9) and Soko (6) have combined for 15 double-doubles on the year.
• UAB head coach Mike Davis, the 2011 C-USA Coach of the Year, owns a record of 116-70 (.624) during his five-plus seasons at UAB. He has a career mark of 231-149 (.608), now in his 12th season as a head coach. He now owns a record of 57-32 (.640) 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 Southern Miss
• Southern Miss (20-3, 7-1) is coming off an open date last weekend. USM comes into Wednesday's contest riding a five-game winning streak following last week's 75-72 victory over Memphis. The Golden Eagles' victory was the 16th win in their last 17 games.
• As a team, the Southern Miss is outscoring the competition by an average of 10.0 points a game (72.3-62.3). The Golden Eagles also rank among the top rebounding teams in the league, boasting a plus-5.8 rebound advantage over the competition (37.4-31.7). Southern Miss shoots the ball well from deep (37.2 percent) but also ranks as the top free throw shooting team in the league with an average of 75.4-percent from the charity stripe.
• Senior guard Darnell Dodson, who has seen action in 13 games since regaining eligibility, leads four Southern Miss players in double figures with 13.3 points a game, while also pulling down 5.6 rebounds per contest.
• Junior guard LaShay Page is second on the team with 12.8 points per game. He also is the team's most dangerous three-point threat. His 62 treys and 2.7 threes made per game rank second in Conference USA, while his three-point field goal percentage (37.3 percent) ranks sixth-best in the league.
• Sophomore guard Neil Watson (11.5 ppg) is third on the team in scoring, but leads Southern Miss in points per game during conference play (13.9 ppg). Meanwhile, Watson also leads the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.5), while also ranking third in assists per game (4.5).
• Senior forward Maurice Bolden is fourth in scoring (10.6) and leads the team in rebounding (5.8 rpg), blocked shots (1.3) and three-point field goal percentage (41.7-percent).
• Head coach Larry Eustachy, in his eighth season at the helm of the Southern Miss program, owns a 137-107 (.561) record. Now in his 21st season as a head coach with stops at three previous schools (Idaho, Utah State and Iowa State), Eustachy owns a career record of 397-252 (.612).
A Few Notes From Last Game
• Jordan Swing scored 19 points and Preston Purifoy hit a go-ahead jumper with 51 seconds remaining as UAB edged UTEP 61-60 Saturday.
• Purifoy's basket put the Blazers ahead 61-59. He was also fouled on the play but missed the free throw. Gabriel McCulley got the rebound for UTEP and was fouled but made just 1-of-2 free throws. He had tied the game at 59 on a pair of free throws with 1:02 remaining.
• A missed jump shot by Swing with 9 seconds left gave the Miners one more chance, but Michael Perez's 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark.
• Cameron Moore added 11 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks. Purifoy finished with 12 points for the Blazers, who were 9 for 21 on 3-point attempts.
• UTEP got 22 points, eight rebounds and four blocks from John Bohannon, and 16 points from Julian Washburn.
UAB-Southern Miss: Round One
• 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 Jan. 14 in Hattiesburg, Miss.
• 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-Southern Miss: The Series
• UAB and Southern Miss will meet for the 38th time in series history on Wednesday. The Blazers own a 23-14 lead in the previous 37 contests and have now won six of the last nine meetings between the two teams.
• UAB owns a record of 13-4 when playing Southern Miss in Birmingham. The Golden Eagles beat the Blazers in Bartow Arena a year ago, pulling out a 75-71 win. It was the just the second Southern Miss victory in its last nine trips to the Blazers home venue.
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 earns 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 three straight contests and five of his last six games coming into the Southern Miss matchup on Wednesday.
• Over the five-game stretch, Moore is averaging an impressive 17.5 points and 11.8 rebounds a game.
• Moore has nine double-doubles this season which is tied for fourth in Conference USA. He now has 23 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.
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 UAB sophomore guard Preston Purifoy.
• Over his last three contests, Purifoy has been impressive, averaging 14.7 points a game while shooting 52.6 percent from beyond the arc (10-of-19) and averaging over three treys per game.
Back In The Swing Of Things
• Jordan Swing returned from a hand injury in a big way when the Blazers won at UTEP.
• Swing, who had miss the previous three games, came off the bench against the Miners and went for a career-high tying 19 points, knocking down 5-of-8 three-point shots in 31 minutes of action.
• Swing has been a solid player for UAB throughout the year, but has stepped up even more so in conference play.
• Against league competition, the sophomore from Birmingham, Ala. is averaging 13.8 points a game. Had he played in 75% of UAB's C-USA contests, he would be leading the conference in three-point field goal percentage (52.6 on 20-of38 shooting) and threes made per game (3.3).
• Swing had reached double figures in nine of his last 11 games he has suited up.
• In the 19 contests he has played, the Western Kentucky transfer and Birmingham, Ala. native is second on the team in scoring (11.5 ppg), third in minutes (31.1 mpg) and fourth in rebounds (3.7 rpg).
Sharp-Shooters
• As a team, UAB has certainly improved on his accuracy from beyond the arc.
• The Blazers currently lead C-USA in three-point field goal percentage in league games only. Coming into the Southern Miss game, UAB is shooting 41.7 percent (60-of-144) of its three-point shots.
• During non-conference play, the Blazers ranked near the bottom among league opponents, shooting 30.7 percent in their 13 games against non-conference opposition.
Countdown To 1,000-Point Club
• With seven regular season contests remaining, UAB senior Cameron Moore has a chance to become the 20th member to reach 1,000 points in his Blazer career.
• Moore currently has 912 points and is 88 points shy of joining the elite group. He needs to average 12.6 points a game to reach the achievement by the end of the regular season.
UAB Trends
• There are a few game trends to watch out for when UAB takes the court. The Blazers are:
- 6-2 when shooting 45% or better
- 7-3 when scoring more than 60 points
- 4-0 when scoring 70 or more points
- 3-11 when shooting less than 45%
- 2-9 when trailing at the half
- 1-7 when outrebounded
- 2-10 when scoring less than 60 points
Tough Competition
• UAB's strength of schedule ranks as No. 54 in the country (Warrennolan.com) and is certainly part of the reason why it has struggled this season through 22 games of the 2011-12 campaign.
• Eleven of the Blazers' 22 opponents are ranked among the top 100 RPI according to WarrenNolan.com (as of Feb. 6). Of those 11 teams, seven are ranked in the top 50 RPI and four are ranked among the top-25.
• Of the Blazers' 13 losses, four have come against teams ranked in the top 20 (No. 8 Southern Miss, No. 14 Florida, No. 16 Creighton and No. 19 Memphis).
• The record of the 13 teams who have beaten UAB is a combined 203-89 (.695) (as of Feb. 6).
Lock Down Defense
• UAB has held seven of its last nine opponents to under 61 points entering the Southern Miss game, while only seven of 22 opponents have scored 65 or more points in a game this season.
• As a team, the Blazers have held the opposition to an average of 61.2 points a game, which ranks third in C-USA. The Blazers are fifth in the league in field goal percentage defense, allowing the competition to shoot just 41.2 percent from the floor.
• Against league competition, the Blazers are giving up an average of 60.1 points a game, which ranks second in the conference, while the 43.1 percent UAB allows opponents to shoot from the floor ranks fifth-best in the league.
• Only three teams have reached 70 points in a game against UAB this season (No. 13 Creighton, No. 12 Florida and East Carolina).
• The Blazers have held all but five opponents (VCU, Florida, Memphis, East Carolina and UTEP) to under 45-percent shooting.
Slim Margins In League Play
• UAB has now played nine games in conference play, with all nine contests being decided by a total of 43 points (an average of 4.8 points per game).
• The Blazers' five league losses have come by a combined total of 23 points (4.6 points a game).
• UAB is being outscored by 0.3 points a game against league competition (59.8-60.1).
50 Points Or Fewer
• For the third time this season, UAB has held a team to 50 points or below with the 56-49 victory at Marshall on Jan. 25.
• Historically, when UAB holds opponents to 50 or fewer points, it is usually a good thing. The Blazers have an overall record of 66-6 when it happens. Furthermore, UAB head coach Mike Davis is 20-1 in his six seasons at UAB when holding the opposition to 50 or fewer points in a game.
• For the first time since Jan. 12, 2002, the Blazers lost a game when allowing the opposition to score 50 or fewer points in the 48-41 loss to UCF on Jan. 21. The last time that happened came with a 50-36 loss at Southern Miss.
That's 600 If You're Counting
• With 15 rebounds at Rice on Jan. 18, senior forward Cameron Moore became only the eighth player in program history to reach 600 rebounds in his career.
• The San Antonio, Texas native comes into the Southern Miss game with 658 rebounds in his career, which ranks fifth among the school's all-time rebounding leaders.
• Moore needs 12 rebounds to move past former Blazer great Carlos Williams (669) and into fourth on the school's all-time rebounding leaders.
