The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Travels To Take On In-State Foe South Alabama
11/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 29, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team will look to snap a two-game losing streak when it travels to take on in-state foe South Alabama on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m.
The contest will mark the 43rd meeting in series history between the two former Sun Belt rivals. It is the second-most times the Blazers have played any single opponent in program history. Only UAB and USF have met more times on the hardwood with 57 meetings.
GAME INFORMATION
Nov. 27, 2011 • 7:05 p.m. CT • Mobile, Ala. • Mitchell Center (10,000)
UAB Game Notes vs South Alabama 
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David Crane (play-by-play), Steve Mitchell (analyst) and Jon Gentile (engineer)
About UAB
• UAB dropped a 59-54 decision to UT Martin on Sunday afternoon. The defeat dropped the Blazers to 1-4 on the season.
• Senior forward Cameron Moore, the C-USA Preseason Player of the Year, and sophomore forward Jordan Swing led the Blazers with 15 points apiece. Swing had a game-high five assists, while Moore swatted five shots on the night.
• 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 is second on the team in scoring (10.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg). Meanwhile, Swing ranks third on the team with an average of 9.6 points per game.
• UAB head coach Mike Davis, the 2011 C-USA Coach of the Year, owns a record of 108-61 (.639) during his five-plus seasons at UAB. He has a career mark of 223-140 (.614), now in 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 South Alabama
• South Alabama enters the game at UAB sporting a 2-2 overall record following a 79-75 overtime win at LSU on Nov. 23. Wednesday's contest will be the first one for the Jaguars in a week.
• Wednesday's game will mark just the second home contest for South Alabama. The only other contest played at the Mitchell Center came on Nov. 16 against Mobile (W, 74-63).
• Sophomore forward Augustine Rubit leads South Alabama with 16.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per contest.
• Guard Xavier Robinson is the only other player to average double figures for USA, entering the contest with 10.0 ppg. He also leads the team with an average of 1.0 spg.
• Freshman guard Mychal Ammons is third on the team in scoring (8.8) and second in rebounding (6.3), while junior forwardJavier Carter also collects 8.8 points a contest.
• Ronnie Arrow is in his fifth year at the helm of the South Alabama basketball program and has compiled a record of 191-146 (.567). He is now in his 21st season as a head coach at the D-I level, and boasts an overall record of 325-297 (.523).
Last Year's Meeting
• A 30-6 run to start the second half helped the UAB men's basketball team cruise to an 82-58 victory over South Alabama on Nov. 23, 2010 at Bartow Arena.
• Ovie Soko recorded a career-high 19 points and eight rebounds, as the Blazers earned their sixth-straight win in series history.
• Cameron Moore added 17 points and Jamarr Sanders 14, all coming in the second half, for the Blazers.
• Martino Brock led South Alabama (2-2) with 19 points.
• The Blazers nursed a three-point halftime lead, 36-33, but scored the first 10 points of the second half as Sanders scored on a dunk and on a 3-pointer.
"Moore" Blocks Than Most
• Senior forward Cameron Moore has had a great start to the season in terms of blocked shots.
• Moore leads the nation in blocks per game (5.2), while also ranking eighth nationally in rebounds per game (11.6).
• Moore recorded seven blocks in each of the first two UAB games, becoming the first player in school history to acheive that feat.
• 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 90 blocked shots in his career, Moore climbed to sixth on the school's all-time block charts.
Early Season Struggles
• UAB's 1-4 record to start the year is the worst start since the 1982-83 campaign, which was the only other time in school history have the Blazers started a season 1-4. However, that season UAB rebounded back from a rough start to win the Sun Belt Tournament title and a berth to the NCAA Tournament.
• UAB will be looking to avoid a 1-5 start would be the worst start to a season in school history.
Second Half Setbacks
• UAB has had its fair share of struggles in the early part of the season, but the real struggle has come over the final 20 minutes of play.
• In the four defeats, the Blazers have been outscored in the second half by more than seven points a game (36.0-28.8).
• In three of the four losses, UAB has held a second half lead, only to see it vanish.
• Against Creighton on Nov. 16, the Blazers led, 48-42, with 12:57 remaining. But the Bluejays would use the strength of a 22-5 run over the next 10:28 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 lose 62-55.
• Likewise against UT Martin, the Blazers led 27-26 advantage at the 18:15 mark. However, the Skyhawks outscored UAB, 14-2, over the next 5:26 which included 10 points from Liabo to push the lead to 40-29 with 12:41 left.
A Few Notes From Last Game
• UT Martin used a the strength of a big run early in the second half and hung on to beat UAB, 59-54, on Sunday afternoon at Bartow Arena.
• The Skyhawks were led by Mike Liabo's game-high 22 points, while Myles Taylor added 13 points and 10 boards.
• Trailing by 10, 55-45, with 1:51 remaining, the Blazers went on an 8-1 spurt to cut the lead to three, 56-53, but wouldn't get any closer.
• Jordan Swing finished with a career-high 15 points to go along with five assists, while senior forward Cameron Moore added 15 points and a team-leading nine boards.
• The Blazers won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Skyhawks, 34-29, in the contest. UAB collected 18 offensive rebounds, but that only resulted in three second-chance points. In comparison, UT Martin had 11 offensive boards, but 13 second-chance points.
• UAB also struggled from the charity stripe, connecting on just 5-of-13 foul shots, while UT Martin connected on 16-of-20 free throws for the contest.
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 career highs of 15 points and five assists against UT Martin on Sunday.
• Through five contests, Swing ranks third on the team with 9.6 ppg and is also averaging 2.0 rebounds per contest.
Big Night For The Big Man
• Senior Cameron Moore had a huge game against Troy (11/22), as he finished with 22 points and 17 rebounds in the win. It 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.
Double Double-Double
• UAB forwards Cameron Moore and Ovie Soko each posted a double-double in the win over Troy on Nov. 22.
• 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.
• Prior to the loss vs. the Bluejays, 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 34-4 against non-conference competition under head coach Mike Davis.
