The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Renews Rivalry With DePaul Tuesday
12/5/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 5, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - There were arguably no better combination of games on UAB's schedule last year than the pair the Blazers played against DePaul. The two old Conference USA rivals meet again at 7:30 p.m. CT Tuesday night in Chicago but as non-conference foes for the first time in over a decade.
UAB beat DePaul twice last season - the Blue Demons' last in Conference USA - and both were games for the ages. Squeaky Johnson's right side jumper with :24 left in overtime lifted UAB to an 81-80 extra-period win in Bartow Arena on March 2. Eight days later, Chicago native Demario Eddins drilled a three-pointer with eight-tenths of a second remaining as UAB beat DePaul, 59-56, in the quarterfinals of the 2005 C-USA Tournament.
"You look at the scores the last few times we've played," UAB head coach Mike Anderson said. "The last three games have been decided by a total of five points. There's no question both teams get after each other. It makes for some entertaining basketball."
Both Eddins and Johnson are back for UAB, which is coming off an impressive, 73-72, road win at Big 12 member Nebraska. Marvett McDonald scored a career-high 22 points and Wen Mukubu added a personal-best with 15 points in the win. It was Eddins, however, who again played hero for UAB, scoring a driving layup with :04 remaining that proved to be the game winner. Nebraska missed a three at the buzzer to win it.
UAB is 3-1 on the year with only a home loss to mid-major power Western Kentucky. "The Fastest 40 Minutes In Basketball" is averaging 15.0 steals per game and forcing over 26 opponent turnovers per contest.
Eddins leads the way for UAB with an 18.8 points-per-game average. McDonald (13.0) and Mukubu (11.0) also score in double figures for the Blazers. UAB will be without freshman forward Lawrence Kinnard, who will miss four to six weeks with a broken bone in his right foot. He suffered the injury in Saturday's win over Nebraska.
DePaul, now members of the Big East Conference, is 2-3 early this year under first-year head coach Jerry Wainwright. The Blue Demons hope to rebound after a 57-52 home loss to upstart Bucknell on Saturday. Sammy Mejia led DePaul with 20 points, but the Blue Demons shot just 38.1 percent from the floor and allowed Bucknell a 51.1 percent clip in the game.
DePaul is led by Mejia's 12.6 points per game. Karron Clarke averages 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds as well.
"Coach Wainwright and his team are still in that transition period with a new coach," Anderson said. "But he gets them to play hard and they'll be ready for us. It's not like he didn't inherit any players, either. He's got some good talent on this team. They're coming off a loss, so I'm sure they'll be fired up and anxious to get after it."
Though Wainwright is in his first year as head coach at DePaul, he is no stranger to the Blazers. Wainwright was the head coach at Richmond the last thee seasons. His Spiders gave UAB a 96-81 loss in Richmond last year and a 72-68 setback there in 2002-03. The Blazers turned back Wainwright's club, 83-75, in the 2003-04 season.
The game will air live on the ISP/Blazer Sports Network which can be heard in Birmingham on the flagship station, WYDE 101.1-FM, The Source. The pregame show begins at 7 p.m. CT.
UAB Men's Basketball Game Notes in PDF Format
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