The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Set To Host Jacksonville In Hoops Action
12/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team will return to Bartow Arena on Thursday night when it squares off against Jacksonville at 7 p.m. CT.
Thursday's contest marks the 33rd meeting in series history between former Sun Belt Conference rivals UAB and Jacksonville, however it is only the second meeting since 1995. The Blazers own a 24-8 edge in the all-time series and have won five straight, including an 84-72 victory at Bartow Arena on Nov. 24, 2007.
GAME INFORMATION
Dec. 22, 2011 • 7 pm CT • Birmingham, Ala. • Bartow Arena (8,500)
UAB Game Notes
| Gametracker | Watch
RADIO (Flagship: WUHT 107.7 FM): Blazer Sports Network
David Crane (play-by-play), Steve Mitchell (analyst) and Jon Gentile (Engineer)
TV: None
About UAB
• UAB (2-7) returned to the hardwood on Tuesday after a 12-day layoff between games, falling at VCU, 68-49. The Blazers were once again plagued by turnovers, committing 23 miscues on the night. UAB was led by Ovie Soko and Jordan Swing, who each scored 10 points in the losing effort.
• Senior forward Cameron Moore, the C-USA Preseason Player of the Year, scored seven points and collected nine boards in the losing effort against the Rams. He enters the Jascksonville contest leading UAB in scoring (13.6), rebounding (9.9) and blocked shots (3.9) a game.
• 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.
• Swing is second on the team with 9.8 points per game, while Soko is third in scoring (8.7 ppg) and is second in rebounding (7.0 rpg). Soko also leads the team with a pair of double-doubles on the year.
• UAB head coach Mike Davis, the 2011 C-USA Coach of the Year, owns a record of 109-64 (.632) during his five-plus seasons at UAB. He has a career mark of 224-143 (.611), now in his 12th season as a head coach.
• 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 Jacksonville
• Jacksonville comes into Thursday night's contest on a six-game losing skid after a 63-57 loss at Wofford on Sunday. The game at UAB will mark the ninth road contest in 11 games this season for the Dolphins.
• Three Jacksonville players are averaging double-figure scoring to lead the way. Junior forward Glenn Powell tops the squad with 11.5 points per game, while also collecting team highs in rebounding (7.3 rpg), blocks (1.3 bpg) and field goal percentage (53.1).
• Sophomore guard Keith McDougald and senior forward Delwan Graham each average 11.0 points a contest. Graham is second on the team in rebounding (6.8 rpg), while McDougald is the team's top three-point shooting threat (20-of-51/.392).
• Junior guard Russell Powell averages 8.8 points and team highs of 4.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
• As a team, the Dolphins are averaging 62.9 points a game and are allowing opponents to score 74.6 points a game, resulting in a -11.7 scoring margin on the young season. JU shoots 41.7 percent from the floor and 34.9 percent from beyond the arc. Defensively, Jacksonville allows opponents to shoot 46.4 percent from the floor and 36.8 percent from deep.
• Head coach Cliff Warren is in his seventh season at the helm of the JU program. Warren has compiled an overall record of 94-100 (.485) during his tenure at the helm.
Last Meeting
• The two teams last met on Nov. 24, 2007, which is the only time the former rivals have squared off since 1995.
• In the most recent contest, former standout Robert Vaden hit seven 3-pointers and finished with 25 points to lead UAB to an 84-72 victory over Jacksonville.
• Walter Sharpe scored 12 points and Lawrence Kinnard and Aaron Johnson had 10 each for the Blazers.
• Marcus Allen led Jacksonville with 14 points and Ben Smith had 13, while center Szymon Lukasiak came off the bench to score 12 points for the Dolphins.
• Sharpe scored eight early points inside to help UAB to a 22-10 lead. Jacksonville closed the margin to four points, but a 12-0 run late in the half gave UAB a 54-35 lead at intermission.
Tough Competition
• Part of the reason UAB has struggled this season has been the quality of competition through nine games of the 2011-12 campaign.
• The Blazers enter the game against Jacksonville with the No. 10 Strength of Schedule in the country, according to RPIRatings.com (12/19).
• The combined record of the Blazers' opponents as of Dec. 17 is 71-27 (.724). Moreover, when taking out Troy (5-5) and UT Martin (3-10) - the only .500 and under teams the Blazers have played this season - opponent record total 63-12 (.840).
• Additionally, the combined record of the seven teams that have beaten UAB currently stands at 56-20 (.737) and includes No. 25 Creighton (9-1) and No. 24 Murray State (12-0), which also claimed the 2011 Great Alaska Shootout championship.
A Few Notes From Last Game
• Ovie Soko and Jordan Swing each had 10 points, but VCU opened the second half on a 14-2 run to take control Tuesday night in a 68-49 victory over the UAB men's basketball team in Richmond, Va.
• The Rams, which recieved a game-high 18 points from Treveon Graham off the bench, won their fifth in row, holding the Blazer offense to a 34.9 shooting percentage for the night and forced 23 turnovers.
• The Blazers trailed 36-26 at halftime, before making only one of their next 14 shots over the first eight minutes of the second half.
• Cameron Moore posted seven points, nine rebounds and two blocks, while Robert Williams and Quincy Taylor chipped in with five points a piece.
Bartow Classic Set
• The Jan. 7 UAB/Memphis men's basketball game at Bartow Arena has been designated as this season's Bartow Classic.
• The event, named in honor of legendary coach Gene Bartow, will tip off at 8:00 p.m. and will be televised nationally by the CBS Sports Network.
• UAB Athletics will donate a portion for every ticket sold (excluding season tickets) to the Coach Gene Bartow Fund For Cancer Research at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.
• Bartow has been battling cancer since being diagnosed in April of 2009, and the fund was established in his honor at the first Bartow Classic in December of 2009.
• Bartow, a College Basketball Hall of Fame honoree, is considered by many as the "founding father" of UAB athletics. As the UAB Director of Athletics from 1977 until his retirement in 2000, Bartow developed an intercollegiate sports program there from its infancy into one that featured 17 sports. He helmed the UAB Men's Basketball program for 18 seasons, 1978 to 1996, compiling a record of 366-203 (.643). He led the Blazers to the NIT in the program's second year of existence and followed that up with seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including trips to the Sweet 16 in 1981 and the Elite Eight in 1982. In all, he led UAB to 14 postseason appearances, 10 of which were NCAA Tournaments. In 1997, UAB renamed its basketball venue, Bartow Arena, in his honor.
Defending Just Fine
• This year's 2-7 start to the season is certainly not attributed to the Blazers' efforts on the defensive end of the floor.
• Only one team has reached 70 points in a game against UAB this season (No. 25 Creighton scored 70 on Nov. 16), while just four teams have scored over 60 points in a game against UAB (No. 25 Creighton, No. 24 Murray State, Wichita State and VCU). Those four teams are a combined 38-6 this year (as of Dec. 20).
• The Blazers have held all but one opponent (VCU) to under 45-percent shooting and only five teams have shot better than 40 percent against UAB (Creighton, UT Martin, Kent State and Middle Tennessee) in a game this season.
Finding The Right Starting Five
• UAB head coach Mike Davis has had to tinker with this year's starting lineup to try and find the right combination of players to start the game.
• Through nine games, Davis has used six different starting lineups.
"Moore" Blocks Than Most
• Senior forward Cameron Moore has had a great start to the season in terms of blocked shots.
• Moore ranks fifth in the nation in blocks per game (3.9) entering Thursday night's contest against Jacksonville.
• Moore recorded seven blocks in each of the first two UAB games, becoming the first player in school history to achieve 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 99 blocked shots in his career, Moore climbed to fifth on the school's all-time block chart. He needs two more blocks to move past Lawrence Kinnard into fourth on the all-time list.
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 five of the seven losses, UAB has held a second half lead, only to see it vanish.
• Against No. 25 Creighton on Nov. 16, the Blazers led, 48-42, with 12:57 remaining. But the Bluejays used the strength of a 22-5 run over the next 10:28 and won by a final score of 70-60.
• Against No. 24 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.
Early Season Struggles
• UAB's 1-6 record through the first seven games marked the worst start to a season in program history.
• The Blazers' previous worst start came with a 1-4 record through the first five games of the 1982-83 campaign. However, that season UAB rebounded from a rough start to win the Sun Belt Tournament title and a berth to the NCAA Tournament.
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 (11/16).
• The Western Kentucky transfer and Birmingham, Ala. native led the Blazers with career highs of 15 points and five assists against UT Martin (11/27).
• Through nine contests, Swing ranks second on the team with 9.8 ppg and is third in minutes played (28.7), while also averaging 3.6 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.
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 56-11 (.836) at home.
• During head coach Mike Davis' six seasons at UAB, the Blazers own a home mark of 65-15 (.813). Furthermore, Davis owns a record of 36-4 (.900) in non-conference games played at Bartow Arena.
• The Blazers own an overall record of 279-61 (.821) in their 23rd season of use on their home floor
