The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts Jackson State, Saturday Night
12/28/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2001
Game No. 12: December 29, 2001, 7:30 p.m. CST Jackson State (1-9) vs. UAB (5-6) Bartow Arena (8,500) / Birmingham, Ala. -Tickets are $12 reserved and $8 general admission -Tickets are available at the Bartow Arena ticket office at 975-UAB1 or through SouthTix at 933-1280. Tickets are also available on the web at www.uabsports.com.
UAB BLAZERS UAB is 5-6 after falling 56-53 to LaSalle. The Blazers six losses are by a total of 22 points. UAB is 4-1 in Birmingham this season with a +22.8 scoring margin. This is the first of four straight home games.
P.J. Arnold leads the team, averaging 13.8 points per game. He scored 20 or more points the last three games in Birmingham. Mo Finley is second in scoring, averaging 11.9 points per game. He has started six games and has come off the bench five games. Center Will Campbell leads the team in rebounding with 7.9 per game and scores 10.9 points. Campbell has scored in double figures in eight straight games and has two double-doubles.
Head Coach Murry Bartow is in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach with a record of 95-72 (.569). He has led the Blazers to a 42-36 C-USA record the past five years.
UP NEXT FOR THE BLAZERS UAB hosts Florida A&M, Wednesday, Jan. 2 at 7:30 p.m.
JACKSON STATE The Tigers are 1-9 overall and 0-2 in SWAC play. They have lost eight straight games, falling to Louisiana Tech 74-59 in their last game. JSU beat Stephen F. Austin 68-59 for their only win. They took Louisiana Tech to overtime before losing 99-96 in the first meeting in Jackson.
Forward Tim Henderson leads the Tigers in scoring with 16 points per game. He scored 32 points in the first La. Tech game. Guard Raymond Appleberry is scoring 10.2 points per game. He was named the SWAC Player of the Week after scoring 26 points against Alabama A&M. Forward Cliff Walker is scoring 9.4 points per game and leads the team in rebounding with 5.8 boards a contest.
Head Coach Andy Stoglin is in his 13th season with the Tigers with a 179-188 record. He is 212-211 in his 15th season as a head coach. Stoglin has taken three Jackson State teams to post-season play. Jackson State went to the NCAA Tournament in 1995 and 2000 and the NIT in 1995.
UP NEXT FOR JACKSON STATE The Tigers return to conference action, playing at Alcorn State, Jan. 5.
LAST TIME OUT LaSalle 56, UAB 53 UAB led for 39 minutes, but could not hold on as LaSalle rallied in the final minute for the win. LaSalle forward Rasual Butler scored 37 points, including an old-fashioned three-point play with 1:00 remaining in the game to put the Explorers up 52-50. Eric Bush made 1-of-2 free fhrows to cut the margin to one and the Blazers had the chance to tie on two other trips, but were not able to get the shot to go down. The Blazers led 29-21 at halftime, but Butler made three treys over the first six minutes as LaSalle was able eventually cut the margin to one at 42-41 with 9:55 remaining. The Blazers scored six straight points and led by seven, 48-41 with 5:51 left in the game. UAB shot just 35 percent from the field and LaSalle shot 36 percent. Butler was 11-of-18 from the field and 10-11 at the free throw line. He made 5-of-9 three-pointers. The Blazers made just 5-of-11 at the line. Eric Bush led UAB with 12 points and Will Campbell had 11.
THE JACKSON STATE SERIES UAB leads 5-0. All five meeting have been in Birmingham. UAB won the last meeting 74-61 in 1997. The closest game was a 91-87 decision in 1994. The last three meetings have been in Bartow Arena. UAB has won the five games by an average of 13 points.
UAB VS. JACKSON STATE 2/7/85 W 80-57 BJCC 1/2/88 W 65-51 BJCC 12/6/91 W 83-62 BRTW 12/6/94 W 91-87 BRTW 12/30/97 W 74-61 BRTW
MURRY BARTOW VS. JSU Murray Bartow is 1-0 versus the Tigers. UAB won 74-61 in 1997.
VS. THE SWAC UAB is 35-0 all-time versus the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). UAB defeated Alcorn State 102-61 earlier this year.The Blazers have played Mississippi Valley the most, going 7-0 against the Delta Devils. UAB is 6-0 against Alabama State and 5-0 against both Alcorn State and Jackson State.
LAST TIME VS. JACKSON STATE Willie Mitchell scored 22 points and Fred Williams scored 20 as UAB defeated Jackson State 74-61, Dec. 30, 1997, in Bartow Arena. UAB led 42-33 at the half. UAB held the Tigers to just 35 percent shooting from the field and just 13 percent (4-of-31) from three-point range. The Blazers shot 45 percent. Damon Cobb made 3-of-7 treys and scored 12 points.
UAB IN BARTOW ARENA The Blazers are 3-1 in Bartow Arena this season and have won three straight. They are 155-35 (.816) in their 14th year playing in Bartow. The Blazers were 10-5 at home last year. Overall the Blazers are 289-71 (.803) in Birmingham, and have won four straight games.
STARTING A HOME STRETCH UAB begins a four game home stretch against Jackson State. The Blazers host Florida A&M, Wednesday, Jan. 2. UAB then starts C-USA play, Saturday, Jan. 5 against Louisville in a noon tip-off. The Blazers finish the home stretch, Tuesday, Jan. 8 against East Carolina. The Blazers are 4-1 in Birmingham this season and 3-1 in Bartow Arena.
BARTOW BLOWOUTS UAB continued its domination of opponents in Bartow Arena with the 18-point win over Louisiana Tech. The Blazers have won their last three games in Bartow Arena by a total of 91 points. That is a margin of 30.3 points per win. Overall UAB has a +22.8 point-scoring margin in Bartow. The Blazers beat Bradley by 32 points, 82-50 and Alcorn State by 41 points, 102-61.The Blazers are shooting 53 percent from the floor at home and 46 percent overall. UAB has shot 59 percent in the last three home games. At home UAB is averaging 81 points per game and 72.5 points away from Bartow Arena.
AN EASIER STRETCH? Adding to the pleasures of playing at home may be the records of the next two opponents. Jackson State and Florida A&M are a combined 2-17 this year. However, tough schedules tend to skewer the records. FAMU has yet to play at home this season and plays at Alabama prior to playing the Blazers. In addition the Blazers are a combined 44-0 against the SWAC and MEAC conference of which Jackson State and Florida A&M are members. The Blazers are 35-0 against the SWAC and 9-0 against the MEAC.
ANOTHER CLOSE LOSS UAB once again lost in the final minute, 56-53 to LaSalle. In five of the six losses the Blazers had the ball with a chance to tie or win in the final 20 seconds of a game. UAB's six losses have been by a total of 22 points. VCU won by the biggest margin this season with its six-point win. The Blazers on the other hand have won its five games by a total of 110 points, 22 points per win.
UAB ON THE ROAD The road has been a very unkind place to the Blazers this season. UAB is 1-5 away from Birmingham. It is 0-3 on the opposition's home court, losing at Murray State, Virginia Commonwealth and LaSalle. The Blazers were 1-2 on the neutral courts at the Paradise Jam Tournament.
SOME TRENDS FOR THE BLAZERS UAB is 5-3 when allowing less than 70 points, but have not won when giving up 70 or more. The Blazers are 5-2 when scoring 70 or more, but 0-4 when scoring under 70. Another trend is if the final margin is by 11 or more points the Blazers win, going 4-0 in games with large margins. However, UAB is 1-5 in games decided by less than 10 points.
REBOUNDING SOLID UAB continued its strong performance on the boards by outrebounding LaSalle by eight. This performance after LaSalle outrebounded the Blazers by 21, 53-32 in the first meeting. UAB outrebounded Louisiana Tech 33-31. Tech had been outrebounding its opponents by 12 boards a game. The Blazers have pulled down more boards than the opposition in seven of the last eight games and now have a +0.8 rebounding margin. This turnaround comes after being outrebounded by 33 rebounds in the first three games. Murray State is the only team to outrebound the Blazers in the last eight games.
THROUGH WITH LA SALLE UAB is glad to be through with LaSalle on the schedule for this year. The Blazers are 0-2 against LaSalle. The two lowest scoring outputs of the season have come against the Explorers. LaSalle held UAB to 58 points in the Paradise Jam Tournament in Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands and then just 53 points in the win in Philadelphia.
THREE BLAZERS OUT Junior forward Sidney Ball, sophomore center Tom Frericks and junior guard Tony Johnson are all out for the season. Frericks had surgery for a groin injury and will miss the season. Tony Johnson had surgery on his broken foot Friday, and will also miss the season. Ball is suffering from a stress fracture in is back and has been fitted for a brace.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE TWICE Will Campbell and Myron Ransom both recorded double-doubles against VCU. Campbell had 13 points and 12 rebounds and Ransom scored 12 points with 10 rebounds. The Blazers had just two double-doubles in the first eight games.
BATCHELOR SCORING AS STARTER Senior Eric Batchelor has scored in double figures in five of the seven games he has started this year. He led the team with 14 points against VCU and has averaged 9.9 points as a starter. Batchelor came off the bench the first four games and scored just five points, all in the opener against Eastern Michigan. That means he did not score in three of the four games he did not start. For the season he is averaging 6.9 points per game.
WOODS REINSTATED Sophomore guard Asa Woods has been reinstated after missing two games ?conduct and attitude detrimental to the team.? Woods did not play against Louisiana Tech and LaSalle. Woods has played in five games, averaging 12.2 minutes in those games.
CAMPBELL RETURNS TO FORM Will Campbell has been the one constant for the Blazers this season. He has scored in double figures the last eight games and leads the team in rebounds with 7.9 per game. He has scored 22 points and pulled down 17 rebounds the last two games. Campbell recorded his second double-double of the year with 13 points and 12 rebounds against VCU. He also had a double-double against Alcorn State. Campbell now has 10 double-doubles for his career. Last year he was named the C-USA Player of the Week (Feb. 4, 2001) and posted a school-record tying 20 rebounds against Houston (Jan. 31, 2001), marking only the seventh time in league history that a player has notched at least that many in a contest.
SPREADING THE SCORING Nine of the 10 players who have seen game action have scored in double figures at least once this season. Mo Finley, P.J. Arnold and Will Campbell each have scored in double figures eight times this season. Of the nine players who have scored in double figures, seven have done it two or more times.
ANOTHER YEAR OF INJURIES Unfortunately UAB is following a similar injury path like last season. This year the Blazers have lost 33 player games to injury. Last year the team lost a total of 23 player games due to illness or injury. The biggest loss was Sidney Ball for 11 games. Tony Johnson missed eight games, David Walker two and LeAndrew Bass one. If you throw in both Myron Ransom and Mo Finley, who missed the entire season, then that total is 85 games. WISH IT WERE THE BRAVES UAB has outscored teams with the nickname Braves, by an average of 36.5 points. The Blazers beat the Bradley Braves 82-50 and the Alcorn State Braves 102-61.
BUSH NAMED TO PARADISE JAM ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM Junior guard Eric Bush was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Paradise Jam (Nov. 17-20). This was his first action of his career for the Blazers. Bush averaged 10.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, six assists and 38.3 minutes of play in three games at the tournament.
A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE UAB has posted 21 winning seasons in the program's history. Blazer basketball has achieved winning records in 21 of 23 seasons. UAB has finished once at .500 and has had one losing season in its history.
THE EXHIBITION GAMES UAB posted a 2-0 preseason record to begin the 2001-02 season. The Blazers recorded wins over EA Sports (93-75, Nov. 6) and Global Sports All-Stars (76-61, Nov. 2) in their two exhibition games. UAB shot 49.3% from the field against EA Sports and 50.8% against Global Sports All-Stars. From three-point land, the Blazers shot 43.5% against EA Sports and 50.0% against Global Sports All-Stars. P.J. Arnold led UAB in both games, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds against EA Sports and posted 18 points and a .67 shooting percentage from the field and from three-point territory against Global Sports All-Stars.
SWEET HOME ALABAMA UAB's roster boasts six players from the state of Alabama. Asa Woods (Sumiton), Mo Finley (LaFayette), Myron Ransom (Birmingham), Sidney Ball (Duncanville), and newcomers Jeffrey Collins (Birmingham) and Lee Cobb (Decatur) all hail from the state. In all, UAB has a total of 10 players from the Southeast.
