The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Ready For First Road Test Of Season
11/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team will make its first road trip of the 2011-12 season as it travels to Wichita, Kan. to take on the Wichita State Shockers on Friday night at 7 p.m.
GAME INFORMATION
Nov. 25, 2011 • 7 p.m. CT • Wichita, Kan. • INTEL Bank Arena (15,004)
UAB Game Notes vs Wichita State 
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About UAB
• UAB snapped a two-game losing streak to start the season with a 71-59 victory over Troy on Tuesday night.
• Senior forward Cameron Moore, the C-USA Preseason Player of the Year, had a huge game, going for 22 points, 17 rebounds and four blocked shots. He now leads Conference USA with 18 blocks on the year (6.0 bpg).
• Moore is just the second Blazer to earn the preseason player of the year honor, joining former standout Robert Vaden, who was tabbed with the accolade prior to the start of the 2008-09 campaign.
• Junior forward Ovie Soko recorded his first double-double of the year, with 11 points and 10 boards. He is third on the team in scoring (10.3 ppg) and second in rebounds (9.0 rpg). Meanwhile, junior guard Jekore Tyler also averaged double figures with an average of 11.5 points per game.
• UAB head coach Mike Davis, the 2011 C-USA Coach of the Year, owns a record of 108-59 (.646) during his five seasons at UAB. He has a career mark of 223-138 (.617), as he begins his 12th season as a head coach at Indiana and UAB.
• Last season, the Blazers finished with a 22-9 record and a 12-4 mark in conference play as UAB captured its first outright regular season Conference USA championship in school history. As a result, the Blazers received an at-large berth to the 2011 NCAA Tournament, marking their first appearance in the "Big Dance" since the 2006 campaign and the 14th NCAA Tournament showing in program history.
About Wichita State
• Wichita State comes into Friday night's match up sporting a 2-2 record on the season. The Shockers have not played since falling to Temple in overtime, 78-74, in the third-place game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic. Wichita State defeated Colorado and also lost to then-No. 16 Alabama in the three game event.
• Seven different players average over 20 minutes per contest for the Shockers, while six players average at least 5.5 points per game.
• Senior guard Toure Murry leads all scorers with 16.5 points per game, while also contributing 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists a game.
• Senior seven-foot center Garrett Stutz averages a near double-double, collecting 9.0 points and team-leading 9.3 rebounds a game.
• Both Ben Smith (13.0) and David Kyles (10.0) also average double figure scoring for Wichita State. Kyles also leads his team with an average of 3.8 assists per contest.
• As a team, Wichita State is outscoring the opposition by 5.8 points a game (71.5-65.8) and outrebounding foes, 40.8-35.5. The Shockers are shooting 43.1 percent from the floor and 39.8 percent from beyond the arc in their four contests this season.
• Gregg Marshall is in his fifth years at the helm of the Wichita State basketball program and has compiled a record of 84-57 (.596). Now in his 14th season as a head coach, Marshall has compiled an overall record of 278-140 (.665).
Homecoming Party
• Junior guard Quincy Taylor is returning back to his hometown of Wichita, Kan., when the Blazers take on Wichita State on Friday night.
• Taylor attended Wichita Collegiate High School, where he was two-sport star in basketball and track and field.
• Including his parents, Ghy and Erica, and nine siblings, In all, Taylor is expecting approximately 50 friends and family to be in the stands for Friday's contest.
"Moore" Blocks Than Most
• Senior forward Cameron Moore has had a great start to the season in terms of blocked shots.
• Moore, the preseason conference player of the year, had a huge game, collecting 22 points, 17 rebounds and four blocked shots.
• After recording seven blocks in each of the first two games, becoming the first player in school history to acheive that feat, Moore leads C-USA with 18 blocked shots on the year (6.0 bpg).
• Moore's seven blocks against Creighton (11/16) and Murray State (11/20) tied for the fifth-most swats in a game in school history. Alan Ogg holds the school record with 12 blocks in a contest.
• With 82 blocked shots in his career, Moore now ranks in a tie for eighth on the school's all-time block charts.
Leading The Nation
• With an average of 13.3 rebounds and 6.0 blocks per game coming into the Wichita State contest, senior forward Cameron Moore leads the nation in blocks per game (6.0) and ranks second nationally in rebounds per game (13.3).
• Moore's 22 points and 17 rebounds against Troy (11/22) was one of the biggest games in quite sometime by a UAB player.
• The last time a Blazer went for 20 or more points and 17 or more rebounds came on Nov. 18, 2007 when Walter Sharpe had 26 points and 17 boards against Rhode Island.
Second Half Setbacks
• In its two losses on the year, UAB has held a second half lead, only to allow a large second half run to drop the contest.
• The Blazers led Creighton, 48-42, with 12:57 remaining. But the Bluejays would use the strength of a 22-5 run over the next 10:28 to take an 11-point lead and won by a final score of 70-60.
• Against Murray State, UAB held a 49-37 lead with 10:17 left. However, the Blazers only hit one more field goal the rest of the way and were outscored 22-4 over the next 9:30 to end up losing by a final of 62-55.
Recap From Last Game
• UAB guards Jekore Tyler and Preston Purifoy combined for 22 points after intermission, while Cameron Moore just missed the rare 20-20 feat in points and rebounds, as the UAB men's basketball team defeated the Troy Trojans, 71-59, on Tuesday night at Bartow Arena.
• Moore, the Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year, grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds to go along with 22 points and four blocks for his second double-double of the season. He finished 7-for-13 from the field and 8-for-11 from the foul line.
• The first half featured seven ties and five lead changes and in a back-and-forth battle that saw the score knotted at 31-all heading into the locker room with neither squad holding a greater advantage than five.
• In the second half, trailing 39-38 with 14:05 remaining, UAB embarked on a 12-3 run, sparked by Tyler's performance off the bench who scored seven of the points during the stretch to take a 50-42 with 10:44 remaining.
• Later in the second half, with the Blazers up five 54-49, Purifoy connected for a pair of treys during a 9-0 spurt to put the game out reach. Purifoy ended with 11 points a trio of shots from downtown.
Double Double-Double
• UAB forwards Cameron Moore and Ovie Soko each posted a double-double in the win over Troy Tuesday night.
• Ironically, the last time two UAB players had a double-double in the same game was against the Trojans on Nov. 29, 2010. Three Blazers - Jamarr Sanders (23 pts., 10 rebs.), Cameron Moore (16 pts., 10 rebs.) and Ovie Soko (10 pts., 13 rebs.) - accomplished the feat.
Non-Conference Home Streak Snapped
• With a 70-60 loss to Creighton on Nov. 16, UAB snapped its 38-game regular-season home win streak against non-conference opponents.
• The last time UAB dropped a non-league regular-season game on its home floor prior to this season was on Nov. 29, 2005 when UAB fell to Western Kentucky, 92-76.
• The Blazers have a combined home record of 34-3 against non-conference competition under head coach Mike Davis.
Getting Into The Swing Of Things
• After sitting out the 2010-11 season due to NCAA transfer rules, sophomore Jordan Swing played his first regular-season contest in a year-and-a-half in UAB's season opener against Creighton.
• The Western Kentucky transfer and Birmingham, Ala. native led the Blazers with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor in the loss
• Through three contests, Swing ranks fourth on the team with 8.0 ppg and is also averaging 3.0 rebounds per contest.
UAB Basketball Begins 34th Season
• The UAB men's basketball team has tipped off its 34th season with the 2011-12 campaign.
• The Blazers have been one of the more successful programs on the national scene. UAB boasts an overall record of 666-386 (.634) and has earned postseason berths in the NCAA Tournament (14) or NIT (11) in 25 of its 33 years in program history.
• UAB has made eight postseason appearances over the past nine years, including four NCAA Tournaments (2004, 2005, 2006, 2011) and four NITs (2003, 2008, 2009, 2010).
• The Blazers made a Sweet 16 appearance in 2004 after defeating the tournament's No. 1 overall seed, Kentucky, marking the third Sweet 16 appearance in school history.
• UAB has averaged over 20 wins per season (20.1) and has recorded 21 20-win seasons.
Home Sweet Home
• UAB's Bartow Arena has always been a tough place for opponents to play, but that has been even more true over the past five seasons. Over that time, the Blazers have been nearly unbeatable, compiling a record of 55-10 (.846) at home.
• During head coach Mike Davis' six seasons at UAB, the Blazers own a home mark of 64-14 (.821). Furthermore, Davis owns a record of 35-3 (.921) in non-conference games played at Bartow Arena.
• The Blazers own an overall record of 278-61 (.820) in their 23rd season of use on their home floor
Beating Final Four Teams
• In each of the last two seasons, UAB has accomplished a feat not many teams can claim. The Blazers have been victorious over an NCAA Final Four team in each year, defeating Butler during the 2009-10 season (67-57 on Dec. 22, 2009) and VCU during the 2010-11 campaign (68-65 on Dec. 21, 2010), winning with both contests at Bartow Arena.
• UAB is one of only five teams in the nation that has defeated a Final Four team in each of the last two seasons. Also joining the Blazers in the accomplishment are North Carolina (defeated Michigan State in 2009 and Kentucky in 2010), Pitt (defeated West Virginia in 2009 and UConn in 2010), Notre Dame (defeated West Virginia in 2009 and UConn in 2010) and Syracuse (defeated West Virginia in 2009 and UConn in 2010).
One Of The Winningest Programs Since 2002-03
• Dating back to the 2002-03 campaign, UAB ranks as one of the winningest programs in the nation.
• Over that nine-year span, the Blazers have totalled 196 victories (averages out to 21.8 wins per season). That number ranks 26th in the country in terms of total victories.
• Kansas tops the list with 267, followed by Duke (263), Memphis (258), North Carolina (244) and Pittsburgh (244).
• The Tigers and the Blazers are the only two Conference USA teams to appear on the top-50 list of teams.
Blazers Will Need To Make Up For Key Personnel Losses
• Despite returning seven letterwinners from last season's NCAA Tournament team, UAB head coach Mike Davis and his staff will have to replace a pair of departed senior leaders in point guard Aaron Johnson and shooting guard Jamarr Sanders.
• Both Johnson and Sanders were first-team all-conference performers in 2010-11, with Johnson also earning the Conference USA Player of the Year award.
• Combined, the duo averaged 29.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 9.6 assists per contest a year ago. That equates to approximately 43 percent of the scoring, 21 percent of the rebounding and 71 percent of the assists of UAB's total output last season.
Four-Year Success Story
• UAB head coach Mike Davis has led UAB to one of the program's best four-year stretches in terms of number of wins in school history.
• From the 2007-08 season through the 2010-11 campaign, the Blazers compiled a record of 92-41 (.692). It ranks second in program history in terms of wins over a four-year period. The school record for wins in a four-year stretch is 94, set during the 1983-87 seasons.
• Over the four seasons, the Blazers had at least 20 wins overall and 11 wins in C-USA play in each campaign. UAB also recorded 20 regular-season wins for a fourth straight season, marking the first time in school history it has achieved that feat.
• Recently graduated Blazer Aaron Johnson was the only Blazer associated with all 92 victories over the four-year stretch, which ranks as the second-most wins by a single-player in school history. Former UAB great Archie Johnson, who played from 1983-87, leads all UAB players with 94 victories during his four-year career at UAB.
• With 34 true road wins since 2007, Davis has led the Blazers to the most road victories of any four-year stretch in school history. He is also the first coach to record at least 11 wins in conference play in four consecutive years.
Three-Point Streak Still Going
• The Blazers continue to enjoy much success from behind the arc. So much so, that UAB has made at least one three-pointer in 496 consecutive games.
• The last time the Blazers played a game without a trey was on Dec. 18, 1996, against Chattanooga. UNLV currently holds the NCAA mark with a three-pointer made in 810 consecutive games. The Runnin' Rebels have hit at least one three-pointer in every game since the NCAA adopted the three-point line in 1986.
