The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Battles Stetson In Men's Basketball Home Opener
11/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 12, 2007
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB men's basketball team will play its 2007-08 home-opener, when it squares off against the Stetson Hatters on Tuesday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. CT. The game is the opening contest of the inaugural Glenn Wilkes Basketball Classic.
The Blazers will play three games in three days to close out the Classic. Following the Stetson game, UAB will travel to Daytona Beach, Fla. where it will take on Florida State (Nov. 16 at 7:15 p.m. CT), Georgia Southern (Nov. 17 at 1:15 p.m. CT) and Rhode Island (Nov. 18 at 1:15 p.m. CT).
UAB is coming off an impressive 86-63 season-opening victory at Georgia State last Saturday night.
Junior guard/forward Robert Vaden made quite an impressive debut, tying a school record with eight treys en route to a game-high 26 points. Vaden connected on 8-of-13 three-pointers in the contest.
Forwards Reggie Huffman and Walter Sharpe also played impressively. Huffman, a Birmingham native, recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 boards, while Sharpe nearly equaled the feat, collecting 13 points and nine rebounds in the victory.
Senior guard Paul Delaney III, a preseason all-conference honoree, contributed 13 points, including hitting all nine of his foul shots, to go with six assists, four rebounds and three steals.
Head coach Mike Davis enters his second season at the helm of the UAB men's basketball program. Davis, who is in his eighth season as a head coach, boasts a career record of 131-95 (.580) and five postseason appearances, including the 2002 national championship game.
Stetson captured a season-opening home victory over Palm Beach Atlantic, 56-54, on Friday night. It was the fourth time in seven years under head coach Derek Waugh that the Hatters have won the first game of the season.
The Hatters were led on the evening with three players who scored in double figures. Junior Garfield Blair led the team with 13 points, while A.J. Smith and Kris Thomas both added 11. Mark Lohuis led the team in rebounds with 8 and chipped in six points.
Waugh is in his seventh season as head coach, building a 66-94 (.413) overall record.
Last Time Out
Robert Vaden scored 26 points and Reggie Huffman had 17 points and 10 rebounds in UAB's 86-63 victory over Georgia State in each team's opener on Saturday night.
Along with sophomore Walter Sharpe's 13 points and nine boards, the trio of newcomers combined for 56 of the Blazers' 86 points in the game.
The Blazers led throughout most of the contest. UAB opened the second half on a 18-4 run, capped by Vaden's 3 from the left corner made it 57-41 with 13:07 remaining.
Leonard Mendez led the Panthers with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting, but he had just two field goals on five attempts in the second half.
The Blazers shot 55 percent from the field, led by Huffman's 7-of-8 effort.
Georgia State never led after Trae Goldston's layup made it 12-11 at the 16:31 mark of the first half. Mendez's jumper at the halftime buzzer forced a 37-37 tie and ended a 10-1 run for the Panthers.
Impressive Debut
Junior guard/forward Robert Vaden made quite an impression in his first game in the Green and Golf. He led all scorers and tied his career high with 26 points, en route the Blazers' 86-63 win at Georgia State Saturday night.
The junior transfer tied a school record with the eight three-pointers made. He became the fifth player in UAB lore to match the feat, most recently accomplished by Marvett McDonald at SMU on Feb. 25, 2006. Furthermore, in addition to his school records, Vaden also tied his career highs in points, threes made and threes attempted (13).
Newcomers Make Impact
Four newcomers made an impact en route to UAB's victory over Georgia State. Three starters, juniors Reggie Huffman and Robert Vaden and sophomore Walter Sharpe along with reserve guard Aaron Johnson led the Blazers to an 86-63 victory. Vaden led all scorers with a career-high 26 points to go along with Huffman's 17 points and 10 rebounds and Sharpe's 13 points and nine boards. Meanwhile, Johnson came off the bench to contribute seven points, four assists and three rebounds. Combined, the four newcomers combined for 63 of UAB's 86 points.
Free Throw Advantage
A stat that may jump out when looking at the UAB-Georgia State box score is the Blazers' free throw shooting. A year ago, UAB closed the campaign ranked 317th out of 325 schools in free throw shooting, hitting at a 60.9-percent clip. However, en route to the 86-63 victory, the Blazers were impressive from the charity stripe. Led be senior Paul Delaney III 9-of-9 effort from the foul line, the Blazers finished the contest connecting on 24-of-29 free throws (82.8-percent). It is even more impressive considering the Blazers hit 80 percent or more of their free throws only twice throughout the 2006-07 campaign.
Same Old Story
Preseason all-conference performer Paul Delaney III picked up where he left off during the 2006-07 campaign. After earning First-Team All-C-USA accolades last season, Delaney began this year with a bang. In the season-opener at Georgia State last Saturday, Delaney struck for 13 points, a team-best six assists, four rebounds and three steals in the 23-point victory (86-63). Last season, Delaney led UAB in points (15.5), assists (5.2) and steals (1.9) per game on his way to first-team all-conference honors.
Home Openers
The Blazers open their 30th home season in program history when they take on Stetson Tuesday night in Bartow Arena. UAB has won five straight and 19 of its last 20 openers at home entering the contest. Even more impressively, the Blazers have only lost one home opener in 19 seasons at Bartow Arena. That game occurred in the home opener of the 2001-02 campaign when the Blazers lost to Richmond, 60-59, on Nov. 24, 2001.
