The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Saturday, December 7
Bartow Arena
4:40 PM
UAB
vs
Memphis
UAB Hosts Nationally Ranked Memphis in the Annual Bartow Classic
12/5/2019 4:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BIRMINGHAM - UAB (4-3) hosts Memphis (7-1) in the 10th annual Bartow Classic on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is at 4:30 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.
ABOUT THE BARTOW CLASSIC
Established in 2009, the Bartow Classic is named in honor of legendary head coach and athletics director Gene Bartow. Bartow, who passed away from stomach cancer in January, 2012, was the founding father of UAB athletics and spent 18 seasons as the Blazers' head coach. In honor of coach Bartow, $2 of every ticket sold at Saturday's game will go to the Gene Bartow Fund for Cancer Research.
UAB AND MEMPHIS HISTORY
The history between Memphis and UAB goes further back than when the series began in 1984. The father of UAB Athletics, Gene Bartow, was head coach at Memphis for four seasons from 1970-74. In that time, he led the Tigers to an 82-32 record and Missouri Valley Championship in 1972 and 1973. He faced John Wooden and UCLA in the 1973 NCAA Championship title game.
The teams first met in a nonconference game on Feb. 4, 1984 in Memphis – a 53-51 overtime win for the Tigers. The following season, the teams would meet in Houston for the Second Round of the NCAA tournament. Once again, Memphis escaped with an overtime victory, 67-66. Andre Turner hit the game-winner with five seconds left. UAB had a chance for the win, but James Ponder's shot was deflected by Vincent Askew as time ran out.
They two schools would not meet for another six seasons
until 1991 when UAB and Memphis joined the Great Midwest Conference coming from the Sun Belt and Metro conferences respectively. The GWC would eventually become Conference USA and the two teams would face each other 40 times in the regular season, including four matchups in the conference tournament.
After Memphis left C-USA for the American Athletic Conference in 2013, the teams have faced each other three times – every year since 2016. In 2017, the Blazers' 71-56 victory at Bartow Arena in front of 4.920 fans ended the Tigers' 16-game winning streak in the series.
MEMPHIS LATELY
The Tigers are 7-1 on the season and have won five straight games dating back to Nov. 16. Their only setback was an 82-74 loss at Oregon on Nov. 12. Memphis' leading scorer is James Wiseman (19.3 ppg, 10.7 rpg), who is currently ineligible until Jan. 12. Precious Achiuwa averages 13.9 ppg and DJ Jeffries (12.3 ppg).
LAST TIME AGAINST MEMPHIS
Despite cutting a 19-point first half lead to four in the second half, the UAB men's basketball team was unable to complete the comeback as the Blazers fell to Memphis 94-76 on Dec. 8, 2018 at FedEx Forum. Five players scored in double figures for the Blazers led by Lewis Sullivan with 14, but 24 points from the Tigers' Tyler Harris and 21 from Kyvon Davenport lifted Memphis to victory.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
After tying a career-high with 19 points on 7-11 shooting, including 4-of-5 3-pointers against No. 9/11 Kentucky, freshman guard Jalen Benjamin has earned Conference USA Freshman Player of the Week. Benjamin also scored 19 in UAB's 74-52 victory over Alabama A&M on Nov. 11. He has scored in double-figures in all but one game this season.
WATCH SATURDAY'S GAME
The UAB/Texas game will air on the CBS Sports Network. Dave Ryan and Pete Gillen will be on the call.
THE HOMETOWN CALL
You can listen to Landrum Roberts and Murry Bartow on WJQX-FM ESPN 100.5 Jox2 or by using the TuneIn app.
UP NEXT
UAB has a week off before they host Montevallo on Dec. 14. Note the new start time of 7:30 p.m.
ABOUT THE BARTOW CLASSIC
Established in 2009, the Bartow Classic is named in honor of legendary head coach and athletics director Gene Bartow. Bartow, who passed away from stomach cancer in January, 2012, was the founding father of UAB athletics and spent 18 seasons as the Blazers' head coach. In honor of coach Bartow, $2 of every ticket sold at Saturday's game will go to the Gene Bartow Fund for Cancer Research.
UAB AND MEMPHIS HISTORY
The history between Memphis and UAB goes further back than when the series began in 1984. The father of UAB Athletics, Gene Bartow, was head coach at Memphis for four seasons from 1970-74. In that time, he led the Tigers to an 82-32 record and Missouri Valley Championship in 1972 and 1973. He faced John Wooden and UCLA in the 1973 NCAA Championship title game.
The teams first met in a nonconference game on Feb. 4, 1984 in Memphis – a 53-51 overtime win for the Tigers. The following season, the teams would meet in Houston for the Second Round of the NCAA tournament. Once again, Memphis escaped with an overtime victory, 67-66. Andre Turner hit the game-winner with five seconds left. UAB had a chance for the win, but James Ponder's shot was deflected by Vincent Askew as time ran out.
They two schools would not meet for another six seasons
until 1991 when UAB and Memphis joined the Great Midwest Conference coming from the Sun Belt and Metro conferences respectively. The GWC would eventually become Conference USA and the two teams would face each other 40 times in the regular season, including four matchups in the conference tournament.
After Memphis left C-USA for the American Athletic Conference in 2013, the teams have faced each other three times – every year since 2016. In 2017, the Blazers' 71-56 victory at Bartow Arena in front of 4.920 fans ended the Tigers' 16-game winning streak in the series.
MEMPHIS LATELY
The Tigers are 7-1 on the season and have won five straight games dating back to Nov. 16. Their only setback was an 82-74 loss at Oregon on Nov. 12. Memphis' leading scorer is James Wiseman (19.3 ppg, 10.7 rpg), who is currently ineligible until Jan. 12. Precious Achiuwa averages 13.9 ppg and DJ Jeffries (12.3 ppg).
LAST TIME AGAINST MEMPHIS
Despite cutting a 19-point first half lead to four in the second half, the UAB men's basketball team was unable to complete the comeback as the Blazers fell to Memphis 94-76 on Dec. 8, 2018 at FedEx Forum. Five players scored in double figures for the Blazers led by Lewis Sullivan with 14, but 24 points from the Tigers' Tyler Harris and 21 from Kyvon Davenport lifted Memphis to victory.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
After tying a career-high with 19 points on 7-11 shooting, including 4-of-5 3-pointers against No. 9/11 Kentucky, freshman guard Jalen Benjamin has earned Conference USA Freshman Player of the Week. Benjamin also scored 19 in UAB's 74-52 victory over Alabama A&M on Nov. 11. He has scored in double-figures in all but one game this season.
WATCH SATURDAY'S GAME
The UAB/Texas game will air on the CBS Sports Network. Dave Ryan and Pete Gillen will be on the call.
THE HOMETOWN CALL
You can listen to Landrum Roberts and Murry Bartow on WJQX-FM ESPN 100.5 Jox2 or by using the TuneIn app.
UP NEXT
UAB has a week off before they host Montevallo on Dec. 14. Note the new start time of 7:30 p.m.
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's BasketballPut him in the spin cycle 🌀 #uabathletics #winasone #collegebasketball #ncaabasketball
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