The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Men's Hoops Set To Close Regular Season At UCF
3/2/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 2, 2012
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team will close the 2011-12 regular season slate when it travels to Orlando, Fla. to take on the UCF Knights on Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT).
The contest can be heard live on the Blazers Sports Network, 107.7 FM.
There is a lot at stake when the Blazers and Knights clash at UCF Arena. The winner of the game will secure the final first round bye in the upcoming C-USA Tournament, which is being held in Memphis, Tenn.
UAB and UCF will meet for the ninth time in series history on Saturday and second time this season. Earlier this year, the Knights captured their first-ever win over the Blazers with a 48-41 win at Bartow Arena on Jan. 21. UAB now owns a 7-1 all-time lead in the series history.
UAB has never lost to UCF in Orlando, winning each of the four previous contests. Last year, the Blazers snuch out of UCF Arena with a 74-69 victory.
GAME INFORMATION
March 3, 2012 • 7 pm ET (6 pm CT) • Orlando, Fla. • UCF Arena (10,000)
UAB Game Notes vs. UCF 
| Gametracker | Watch
RADIO (Flagship: WUHT 107.7 FM): Blazer Sports Network
David Crane (play-by-play), Aaron Jordan (analyst) and Jon Gentile (Engineer)
TV:None
About UAB
• UAB (14-14, 9-6) won its fourth consecutive game and for the seventh time in eight games when it defeated Tulsa, 68-64, in Bartow Arena on Wednesday. The Blazers were led by sophomore guard/forward Jordan Swing's career-high 22 points, while C-USA Player of the Year candidate Cameron Moore added 18 points and a team-best nine boards in the victory.
• Moore, the C-USA Preseason Player of the Year, enters the UCF contest leading UAB in scoring (16.3), rebounding (10.5) and blocked shots (2.5) a game. He leads the league in rebounding and blocked shots and ranks third in scoring. 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 rebounding (9.9 rpg) in league games only and is second in blocked shots (1.9) and third scoring (17.8 ppg). Nationally, Moore ranks 12th in rebounds and 18th in blocks a game (as of 3/1).
• Swing is second on the team with 11.2 points per game. Swing is also second on the team and ranks sixth in C-USA in three-point shooting at 38.1 percent and leads the league in free throw shooting percentage (87.3). Additionally, he is averaging 2.2 treys per game and shooting 41.9 percent from deep in league contests only, both of which rank fourth.
• Sophomore forward Preston Purifoy is third on the team with 8.4 ppg and leads UAB in three-point shooting percentage at 38.7 percent (48-of-124). Junior forward Ovie Soko is fourth in scoring (7.5 ppg) and is second in rebounding (6.6 rpg). Soko ranks second on the team with six double-double contests on the year. In fact, Moore (13) and Soko (6) have combined for 19 double-doubles on the year.
• UAB head coach Mike Davis, the 2011 C-USA Coach of the Year, owns a record of 121-71 (.630) during his five-plus seasons at UAB. He has a career mark of 236-150 (.611), now in his 12th season as a head coach. He now owns a record of 62-33 (.653) in conference play.
About UCF
• UCF (20-9, 9-6) comes into Saturday's regular season finale having dropped three of its last five games, including most recently falling at Memphis, 84-55, last Tuesday night in Memphis, Tenn. The Knights come into the game sporting a record of 15-1 in its 16 home contests, with the lone loss coming against Southern Miss (L, 78-65 on Jan. 28).
• As a team, UCF is outscoring the competition by an average of 3.7 points a game (66.3-62.6). The Knights rank second in the league in rebounding offense (37.0) and are outrebounding the competition by an average of 4.1 boards per game (37.0-32.9), which is fourth-best in C-USA. UCF shoots 43.3 percent from the floor, but ranks last in the conference in three-point field goal percentage (30.0 percent).
• Junior forward Keith Clanton leads a trio of UCF players who average double-digit scoring, collecting 14.7 points per game. Clanton also tops the squad in rebounds per game (8.5) and blocks a game (1.9).
• Junior guard Marcus Jordan ranks second on the team with 14.1 points a game, which ranks second. Jordan, the son of NBA legend Michael Jordan, also leads the league in minutes per game (36.2).
• Sophomore Isaiah Sykes also averages double digits (12.1 ppg) and leads the team in field goal percentage (53.6 percent). Point guard A.J. Rompza has played in just 17 games after serving a suspension which forced him to sit out the first semester. Since returning to the lineup, the four-year starter has played well, averaging 4.1 assists and 2.5 steals to go along with 6.8 points a game.
• Head coach Donnie Jones, who is in his second season at the helm of the UCF program, owns a 41-21 (.661) record with the Knights. Now in his fifth season as a head coach, Jones owns a career record of 96-62 (.608).
UAB-UCF: Earlier This Year
• UAB overcame a nine-point halftime deficit, but UCF used a 10-0 run to close out the game to defeat the Blazers 48-41 at Bartow Arena on Jan. 21. It was the first-ever victory for the Knights in the series history.
• UAB trailed from the opening tip until the 6:12 mark in the second half when Jordan Swing hit a pair of free throws to take a 39-38 lead. Swing would tack on another pair of free throws to put the Blazers 41-38 with 5:12 remaining, prior to the Knights' game-winning run.
• Igniting the comeback that came up short for the Blazers was Jekore Tyler, who had a stretch of seven-straight points, as he finished the contest with 11.
• Moore recorded a game-high 12 points and grabbed 12 boards. Swing tied Moore with 12 points, including a pair of treys and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
• The Blazers struggled to find the bottom of the net throughout the contest, shooting just 28.6 percent (14-for-49) from the floor. The Knights were not much better, connecting on 18 of 47 shots (38.3 percent).
UAB-UCF: The Series
• UAB and UCF will meet for the ninth time in series history on Saturday. Earlier this year, the Knights captured their first-ever win over the Blazers, as UAB now owns a 7-1 all-time lead in the series history.
• UAB has never lost to UCF in Orlando, winning each of the four previous contests. Last year, the Blazers snuck out of UCF Arena with a 74-69 victory.
A Few Notes From Last Game
• Jordan Swing scored a career-high 22 points, including knocking down four 3-pointers, as UAB held on to beat Tulsa 68-64 on Wednesday night.
• Cameron Moore, who was one of three seniors honored prior to the start of the game, added 18 points for UAB, which led by eight points at halftime and won despite being outscored by the Golden Hurricane 40-36 in the second half.
• The Blazers outshot Tulsa 47.1 percent (24 of 51) to 37.9 percent (25 of 66) from the floor, including shooting a blistering 58.3 percent (14 of 24) over the final 20 minutes.
• The Golden Hurricane won the battle of the boards 45-33 and outscored UAB in the paint 42-30. Tulsa had 20 offensive rebounds, but could only convert that to 18 second chance points.
• Jordan Clarkson had 21 points to pace Tulsa, which has lost three of its last six to drop into third place in the conference.
A Lot On The Line
• Saturday's UAB-UCF contest will have a lot at stake. The winner of the game will secure the final first round bye in the upcoming C-USA Tournament, which is being held in Memphis, Tenn.
• In fact, the top six teams in Conference USA will meet head-to-head this weekend. Memphis (12-3) will travel to take on Tulsa (10-5), while Southern Miss (11-4) will take on Marshall (8-7) in Huntington, W. Va.
Sad To See The End Of February
• UAB finished the month of February with a record of 7-1, with the lone loss coming to league-leading Memphis at the FedExForum (Feb. 11).
• It was the second-best February stretch in program history, only bettered by the 9-0 record for the month of February during the 1981-82 campaign.
• Below is a breakdown of the numbers by UAB and the opposition during the seven-game stretch.
FG% 3-pt FG% Reb. Pts.
UAB .437 .375 34.8 64.2
Opponents .406 .340 31.1 61.4
Road Warriors
• After getting off to a 0-3 start in league play, the Blazers have rebounded nicely with wins in nine of their last 12 games. That includes a record of 5-1 in the six road games over the 11-game span.
• During the Mike Davis era, the Blazers have played well in road C-USA contests. Including a 5-2 record this season, over the last five years, the Blazers own a record of 26-13 (.667) in conference road contests, which includes a mark of 17-6 (.739) over the past three season alone.
Unbeaten Against C-USA West
• The Blazers have enjoyed playing against have six opponents on their conference slate that they will meet only once in league play, winning all six contests against C-USA West teams.
• Against those teams, UAB owns a record of 6-0, with three of those victories coming on the road (at SMU, at Rice and at UTEP) and three at home (Houston, Tulane and Tulsa). That could bode well for the Blazers should their seeding for the conference tournament come down to a tie breaker.
Quite The Milestones
• UAB senior Cameron Moore achieved a rare feat during the Blazers' victory at East Carolina on Feb. 25. With his 21 points and 14 rebounds, Moore surpassed the 1,000 point and 700 rebound milestones for his career.
• Moore, who currently has 1,023 points and 716 rebounds, became the 20th Blazer in UAB lore to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career. More importantly, he became just the third player in UAB program history to record 1,000 points and 700 rebounds in his career (Lawrence Kinnard and Jerome Mincy).
Back In The Swing Of Things
• Jordan Swing is coming off a career-best 22-point game in the Blazers' last outing this past Wednesday night. Swing connected on 6-of-11 shots from the floor, including 4-of-7 from deep, and hit all six of his foul shots, en route to the win over Tulsa.
• Despite suffering a hand injury which forced him to miss three games (Jan. 25 - Feb. 1), Swing has since reset his career-high scoring output twice, going for 19 at UTEP (2/4), followed by his scoring output earlier in the week against the Golden Hurricane.
• Swing, who had missed the previous three games prior to his return at UTEP, comes into the UCF contest second on the team in scoring at 1.2 ppg, while he leads C-USA in free throw shooting (87.3 percent and ranks second on the team and ninth in C-USA in three-point shooting (38.1 percent).
He's Been Purific!
• Sophomore guard Preston Purifoy has been playing extremely well over his last nine games, which is a big reason why the Blazers have a record of 7-2 over the span.
• During the nine-game stretch, Purifoy is averaging 11.7 points per game and has reached double figure scoring in seven of the nine contests. He is also shooting 43.9 percent from three-point range (25-of-57) and 46.7 percent (35-of-75) from the floor.
• In conference play, Purifoy ranks third in the league in three-point field goal percentage (43.2) and is fourth in threes made per game (2.2).
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 tops C-USA in rebounding (9.9 rpg), is third in scoring (17.8 ppg) and blocked shots (1.9 bpg) and seventh in field goal percentage (.507).
• For the year, Moore leads C-USA in blocked shots (2.6) and rebounds (10.5) and is third in scoring (16.3). No C-USA player has finished among the top two in all three of those categories since Cincinnati's Kenyon Martin in 1999-2000.
Sharp-Shooters
• As a team, UAB has certainly improved on its accuracy from beyond the arc.
• The Blazers currently lead C-USA in three-point field goal percentage in league games only. Coming into the UCF game, UAB is shooting 38.1 percent (98-of-257) 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.
