Feb. 15, 2008

UAB-Memphis Game Notes | Gametracker | Listen Live

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team is set to face its toughest challenge of the 2007-08 campaign, as the Blazers will square off against top-ranked and undefeated Memphis on Saturday at 7 p.m. The contest, which will be televised live on CSS, will be played in front of a sell out crowd.

UAB enters the game against No. 1 Memphis tied for second place in the latest Conference USA standings following a 69-60 victory at Rice last Wednesday night. The win improved the Blazers to 17-7 on the season, and 7-2 in league play.

Junior guard Ed Berrios scored a career-high 15 points and dished out five assists without a turnover to lead UAB to its fifth win in six games and ninth victory over the last 11 contests.

Junior guard/forward Robert Vaden, who did not play against the Owls due to a strained groin muscle, currently leads the Blazers in scoring, averaging 20.8 points a game which rank fourth in Conference USA. He also leads the team in three-point shooting (100-of-241, 41.5 percent) and minutes played (34.9).

Junior guard Channing Toney, who had to sit out during the first semester due to NCAA transfer rules, has played in eight contests and is collecting an average of 12.1 points and 3.9 rebounds. He is shooting 48.3 percent from three-point range (14-of-29), which leads the league in C-USA contests only. Kinnard is the team's third-leading scorer at 10.6 points a game, and also leads the team in rebounding with 6.7 boards per contest. Junior forward Reggie Huffman is second in rebounding (5.8 rpg) and fourth in scoring (7.0 ppg).

As a team, the Blazers are tied with Memphis for the league lead in field goal percentage, hitting 46.3 percent from the floor, and rank second in three-point field goal percentage, connecting on 38.0 percent from beyond the arc. Additionally, UAB ranks second in the league in three-point field goal percentage defense (30.3 percent) and scoring defense (63.8 ppg). The Blazers are outscoring their opponents by 9.3 points a game (73.1-63.8).

Head coach Mike Davis is in 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 147-102 (.590) and has made five postseason appearances, including the 2002 national championship game. He is now 32-23 (.582) at UAB.

Scouting Memphis
Memphis enters the UAB game as the only unbeaten team in college basketball, boasting a 24-0 record on the season, and is 10-0 in Conference USA. The Tigers captured a 68-59 win over Houston last Wednesday, which marked their 53rd consecutive regular-season victory, as well as the 33rd straight win in conference play.

The Tigers are led by junior guard Chris Douglas-Roberts' 16.9 points per game average. He is also shooting 53.8 percent from the floor and 45.9 percent from beyond the arc.

Freshman point guard Derrick Rose is scoring 13.9 points a game, while averaging a team-leading 4.3 assists per contest. Junior forward Robert Dozier contributes 10.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest, while senior forward Joey Dorsey averages 7.6 points and a team-leading 11.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks a game.

As a team, the Tigers rank among the league leaders in nearly every offensive category. Memphis leads Conference USA in scoring offense (80.2 ppg), field goal percentage (46.3 percent), scoring margin (+20.2) and rebounding offense (43.1). Likewise, the Tigers are just as strong on defense, leading the league in scoring defense (60.0), field goal percentage defense (36.8 percent) and three-point field goal percentage defense (29.6 percent).

Head coach John Calipari is in his eighth season at the helm of the Memphis program and has compiled a record of 205-63 (.765). He is in his 16th season in his head coaching career, and is 398-134 (.672) during his tenure.

UAB-Memphis: The Series
UAB and Memphis will face each other for the 35th time in series history on Saturday night, with the Tigers holding a 24-10 advantage in the series history. Memphis enters the contest having won three consecutive games in the series, and have seven wins over the last nine meetings. The Blazers have fared better in Bartow Arena when playing the Tigers, holding an 8-6 advantage in 14 games played in Birmingham. However, UAB is just 2-18 in games played away from its home floor.

UAB-Memphis: A Year Ago
Memphis swept the season series from UAB during the 2006-07 campaign, winning 79-54 in Memphis, Tenn. on Jan. 16, 2007 and 70-56 in Birmingham, Ala. on Feb. 8, 2007.
In the first game played between the two teams, Robert Dozier had 15 points and eight rebounds to lead Memphis. Wen Mukubu led UAB with 18 points, while Lawrence Kinnard scored 13 points. The Blazers led 17-14 and were shooting well from the field, but Memphis went on a 15-0 run as UAB didn't score for six minutes. Memphis finished shooting 49 percent for the game, while UAB was at 44 percent. Memphis dominated the boards 42-22.
In the rematch in Birmingham, it was Jeremy Hunt's hot shooting which helped give Memphis a 14-point victory. Hunt scored a career-high 30 points, including 25 before halftime, and the Tigers limited UAB to 31 percent shooting. The Tigers blew the game open by going on a 24-5 run starting late in the first half. The Blazers committed 20 turnovers, many of them careless mistakes. They also made just 2-of-15 3-pointers and 16-of-52 shots. The Blazers dominated the boards, 50-37, but forced only eight turnovers. Paul Delaney led UAB with 18 points, but made just 3-of-13 shots. He was 12-of-14 from the free throw line. The Blazers did have three players record double-doubles. Frank Holmes had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Lawrence Kinnard had 10 points and 12 boards and Wen Mukubu had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Last Time Out
Ed Berrios scored 15 points and UAB beat Rice 69-60 on Wednesday night to hand the Owls their 12th straight loss. The Blazers played without leading scorer Robert Vaden, who missed his first collegiate game due to an injury after 84 consecutive starts. Channing Toney added 12 points and Lawrence Kinnard had 11 for UAB. The Blazers led by as many as 12 points, 20-8, at the 12:32 mark of the opening half. That was thanks in large part to Berrios' five treys over the opening 20 minutes, which helped give the Blazers a nine-point, 40-31, halftime lead. Rice opened the second half with a 9-2 spurt to pull within two, 42-40, at the 15:35 mark. The Owls would keep fighting and eventually took a 54-53 lead with 6:32 remaining. However, Toney scored 10 points over the final five minutes to lift the Blazers on a 15-7 run, resulting in the final score. Patrick Britton led Rice with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Rodney Foster scored 12 points and Lawrence Graham added 10 for the Owls.

Vaden Having One Of Best Seasons In School History
Junior guard/forward Robert Vaden is in the midst of one of the best seasons ever by a UAB player. He is poised to break or threaten nearly every single-season school record. To the right is a list of each category in which Vaden is on pace to capture or threaten.

Playing No. 1
When No. 1 Memphis comes to town, it will mark the second time in school history a No. 1-ranked team will play at Bartow Arena. The only other occurrence came on Feb. 5, 2000, when then-No. 1 Cincinnati came to Bartow Arena and pulled out a 93-80 victory.
Saturday's game will also mark the third time UAB has played a top-ranked team. UAB holds a 1-1 record in those contests. The only victory over a No. 1-ranked team occurred when UAB squared off against Kentucky in the second round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament. The Blazers upset UK, 76-75, to advance to the Sweet 16.

A Rare Occurrence
Junior guard/forward Robert Vaden did not play in the 69-60 victory over Rice last Wednesday night due to a groin injury. It marked the first game in Vaden's collegiate career he did not start or play. The Indianapolis, Ind. native had started 83 consecutive contests entering the contest. He started all 60 games during his Indiana career, and had been the only Blazer to start all 23 contests this season.

Boasting On Berrios
With shooting star Robert Vaden sitting out the game at Rice last Wednesday, someone on UAB's team had to step up and fill the void. That person turned out to be junior guard Ed Berrios. The Bronx, N.Y. native struck for a career-high 15 points on five three-pointers, all of which came in the first half. He also recorded five assists and three rebounds in a career-best 35 minutes of playing time.
Berrios has played impressively since the start of Conference USA play. Over UAB's nine league contests, Berrios is averaging 5.4 points and 2.1 rebounds a game. Even more impressively has been his 38 assists to 16 turnovers in league play, which equates into over a 2:1 assist-turnover ratio.

Players Step Up
The Blazers should feel better after a great performance from their role players in the 69-60 win at Rice last Wednesday. UAB played without leading scorer Robert Vaden, while Channing Toney and Lawrence Kinnard, who rank second and third on the team in scoring, respectively, combined to shoot 5-of-20 from the floor. However, the other Blazers stepped up, hitting 15-of-29 (51.7 percent) from the floor and combined for 46 of UAB's 69 points on the night.

Tough At Home
This season, UAB has been a very tough team to play at Bartow Arena. When the Blazers face No. 1 Memphis on Feb. 16, they will be sporting a perfect 11-0 record in home games this season. In fact, of the 11 games played at Bartow Arena, UAB has trailed in only two games. The Blazers trailed Stetson (11/13) for a total of 7 minutes, 50 seconds and also fell behind to UTEP (2/9) for 2 minutes and 26 seconds. In all, UAB has trailed for a total of 10 minutes and 16 seconds throughout the entire home slate. Furthermore, the Blazers have beaten opponents on their home floor by an average of 20.1 points a game (76.8-56.7).

Record-Setting Streak
This year's men's basketball team has done something no other UAB team had ever done. The Blazers are off to the best home start at Bartow Arena in school history, boasting a perfect 11-0 record following their 81-73 victory over UTEP on Feb. 9. The best previous start since Bartow Arena opened during the 1987-88 season was 9-0 set during the 1989-90 and 1999-2000 campaigns. In fact, with the win over UTEP, UAB matched its best home record since winning its first 11 games at the BJCC during the 1983-84 campaign. UAB has not started a season 12-0 since finishing a perfect 14-0 in home games, which came in 1981-82 and 1982-83. It marks the only two undefeated home seasons in school history.

Starting Rotation
UAB head coach Mike Davis has been forced to tinker with the starting lineup throughout the season. The Blazers have used seven different starting lineups this year. In fact, all but one players\ on UAB's roster (Tyler Marsh) has started at least one game this season.

Loe-vin' It
Junior forward Lawrence Kinnard has been a dominant player of UAB's last six contests. He has come off the bench in each of the last six games and provided an instant spark to the team. Over the span, Kinnard is averaging team highs of 15.7 points and 6.7 rebounds, while also recording 1.0 assists and 27.8 minutes per contest. He also connected on 35-of-63 shots from the floor (55.6 percent) and 8-of-18 three-pointers (44.4 percent). During the stretch of games, Kinnard also recorded his first two 20-point games of the season. He tied his career high of 25 points in UAB's 88-81 win at UCF on Jan. 30. He also recorded 23 points in an 81-73 win over UTEP on Feb. 9.