The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Visits Old Foe USF
12/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB visits long-standing rival USF Friday night in the first non-conference meeting between the two schools since 1994-95. The two were members of Conference USA from 1995-96 until this season when USF joined the Big East. The game tips at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT and can be heard locally in Birmingham on the ISP/Blazer Sports Network flagship station on 101.1 FM, WYDE.
Mike Anderson's "Fastest 40 Minutes In Basketball" has run up a three straight wins to sit at 7-3 on the year. The Blazers have beaten Centenary, mid-major power Old Dominion and Big 12 powerhouse Oklahoma State by an average of 20.3 points per game. While playing well and confident, Anderson knows his team must be aware of USF.
"Number one, it's on the road," Anderson said. "And when you look at the particular history of this series, we've had some of our tougher ballgames here. We've had to make some free throws at the end and hit some great shots to escape down here and I expect that will happen again. Robert McCullum will have them ready to play."
McCullum, USF's head coach, is a Birmingham native and Birmingham-Southern College graduate. His team holds opponents to 63 points per game and just 40 percent field goal shooting.
Last season's tussle in the Sun Dome saw Marques Lewis hit a tie-breaking free-throw with three seconds to play as UAB pulled out a 62-61 thriller. Two years ago, it took a Sidney Ball three-pointer with eight tenths of a second remaining for UAB to escape with a 61-59 win.
USF is 6-6 on the year and lost a 75-68 overtime heart-breaker Wednesday to Bethune-Cookman in the Sun Dome. Guard James Holmes leads the Bulls in scoring at 19.8 points per game. His 36 three-pointers and 23 steals are team-highs as well. Solomon Jones (13.6 points, 9.7 rebounds), Melvin Buckley (12.4 points) and McHugh Mattis (10.5 points) also average double-digits for USF.
"Our guys are spent," Anderson said. "They expended a lot of energy in the Oklahoma State game. That concerns me, but hopefully we have enough guys that somebody - whether it be one of the starting bunch or guys coming off the bench - can somehow be our trigger and get our guys in the right frame of mind. Leadership will step in. Our guys have been in a lot of big games. This is the next game on the schedule, so it's a big game."
Marvett McDonald scored a career-high 27 points on 7-of-11 three-point shooting Wednesday night as UAB blitzed Eddie Sutton's Oklahoma State Cowboys in a nationally-televised contest on ESPN2. Wen Mukubu added a career-high 16 in a game the Blazers led by as many as 28 points.
With the performance, McDonald leap-frogged Demario Eddins for the UAB scoring lead. McDonald's 32 three-point baskets on the year contribute to his 15.1 points-per-game average. Eddins (13.8) and Mukubu (11.3) also score in double-digits for UAB.
The Blazers look to win their fourth straight for UAB's first four-game win streak since a five-game stretch to end last year's regular season. After Friday's contest, UAB returns to Bartow Arena to begin a three-game homestand against VCU at 7:30 p.m. CT on Monday, Jan. 2.
UAB Men's Basketball Game Notes in PDF Format
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