The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Visits Big 12 Foe Nebraska Saturday
12/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB looks to rebound from its first loss of the season with a visit to Big 12 member Nebraska on Saturday. The Blazers and Cornhuskers tip at 3 p.m. CT in a contest that was moved ahead from its originally-scheduled tip of 7 p.m. due to Nebraska's hosting of the 2005 NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
The game can be heard live on the ISP/Blazer Sports Network but the broadcast has been moved from 101.1 FM-The Source to WXJC AM and FM (850 AM and 92.1 FM) in the Birmingham area due to the late change in the game time.
"Nebraska is a much improved team from last year," UAB head coach Mike Anderson said. "Coach (Barry) Collier likes his team. They are playing very good basketball at this point and we're going to have to play very well."
Nebraska (5-0) is undefeated and hopes Saturday's contest results in a returned favor since the Blazers were 80-66 winners over NU in Birmingham last year. UAB (2-1) fell victim to a hot-shooting Western Kentucky team on Tuesday, 92-76. Courtney Lee (31) and Anthony Winchester (25) combined for 56 points and the Hilltoppers shot 58.5 percent from the floor and 65.2 percent from long range in the win.
Demario Eddins, who scored 20 points in the WKU game, leads the Blazers with a 20.7 points-per-game average. Marvett McDonald averages 10 points for UAB. Point guard Squeaky Johnson, who set UAB and Conference USA records with 12 steals against South Carolina State last weekend, averages 6.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 6.0 steals per contest.
Nebraska is returning from Wednesday night's 84-74 home win over Marquette. B.J. Walker, Wes Wilkinson and Aleks Maric each scored 15 in victory. Maric grabbed 11 rebounds for the Huskers as well.
Barry Collier's club has beaten the Golden Eagles, Southeast Missouri, Louisiana Tech, Yale and Longwood to begin the year perfect. The Cornhuskers are led by Wilkinson's 14.8 points per game. Jason Dourisseau (12.2) and Maric (12.0) also average double-figure scoring for NU. Those three also combine to haul in 21.6 rebounds per game.
"We need to mix things up defensively," Anderson said. "We can't let teams shoot 50 and 60 percent from the floor. Of course, we're on the road and in order to win on the road, you have to hit shots. We'll need to make our free throws, hit some big shots and keep things close on the boards. It's going to be a battle, but that's what makes these types of games fun."
Though the schools have played just three times (Nebraska leads 2-1), Nebraska is technically UAB's oldest rival as the Cornhuskers were the Blazers' first-ever opponent. On Nov. 24, 1978, Nebraska beat UAB, 64-55, in the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center in the Blazer program's first-ever varsity game. UAB returned the trip the following season and put on a show for the Lincoln crowd, going four overtimes before Nebraska won, 92-84.
The series was dormant until last year when Nebraska visited Bartow Arena for the first time. The Blazers notched an 80-66 win over Nebraska behind a 19-point effort from Marques Lewis. Joe McCray scored 24 for Nebraska in the loss.
UAB Men's Basketball Game Notes in PDF Format
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