The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Hosts Sutton, Oklahoma State Wednesday
12/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Hot off an 85-57 scolding of mid-major power Old Dominion, the UAB Blazers return to Bartow Arena Wednesday night for a nationally-televised shootout with the Cowboys of Oklahoma State. Legendary coach Eddie Sutton brings OSU to Bartow Arena after a Big 12 championship and NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 2004-05. The showdown begins at 6:30 p.m. CT and will air live on ESPN2.
"Every game is a big game," UAB head coach Mike Anderson said. "This is one of the featured games on our schedule - and Oklahoma State team coached by a future hall of famer in Eddie Sutton. We're hoping that we can continue to get better at the things that we want to do knowing Oklahoma State is a team that will do all the fundamentally good things. We've got our work cut out for us."
UAB is 6-3 and is coming off perhaps its most complete performance of the season in last week's win over Old Dominion. The Blazers opened the game on a 14-0 run, shot 63 percent from the field in the first half, led by as many as 39 in the second half and cruised to a home win. Marvett McDonald found his range with 4-of-9 three-point shooting and scored a team-high 18 points and Squeaky Johnson notched a new career-best with 16 points for the Blazers.
Mike Anderson's pressure defense is forcing opponents into 24 turnovers per game. UAB also held Old Dominion to 36 percent field goal shooting and has held its opponent to 36 percent or fewer for two straight games. Demario Eddins leads UAB with 14.0 points per game.
"We've got to step up and play basketball," Anderson said when asked what it would take for UAB to knock off the Cowboys. "Tempo is going to be a big key. Hopefully depth can become a factor. We've got to make shots, we've got to rebound with them and hopefully do a good job of defending. Hopefully we'll have a great crowd that will help our intensity grow to another level."
Oklahoma State, arguably one of the most storied programs in college basketball with two national titles, five Final Four appearances and 22 trips to the NCAA Tournament, is 8-3 after last week's impressive, 89-73, win over upstart Tennessee in Oklahoma City. The Cowboys have beaten UNLV, TCU and Conference USA's SMU, among others. Their three losses are to Gonzaga, Boston College and Northwestern (La.) State.
Wooden Award candidate and sophomore guard JamesOn Curry leads the way, averaging 13.2 points and over five assists per game. While OSU lost two All-Americans (Joey Graham and John Lucas) from last year's club, its incoming recruits were heralded as one of the top classes in the nation. All five incoming freshmen were ranked in the top 75 players in the country coming out of high school. OSU shoots an impressive 50.7 percent from the field through 11 games while holding foes to 43 percent from the floor. The Cowboys average 77.1 points per game while allowing just 62.7.
Oklahoma State won the only previous meeting between the two schools - an 86-73 decision last year in Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. The Cowboys, ranked No. 5 nationally at the time, got 20 points from Joey Graham and double-figures from five others in the win.
In addition to the ESPN2 coverage, the game will air live on the ISP/Blazer Sports Network which can be heard locally in Birmingham on WYDE-101.1 FM.
UAB Men's Basketball Game Notes in PDF Format
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