Feb. 26, 2008

UAB-UTEP Game Notes | Gametracker | Listen Live

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team is making final preparations for Wednesday night's important Conference USA game against UTEP. The game, which is set to tip off at 7 p.m. MT (8 p.m. CT) from the Don Haskins Center, features two of the league's top scorers in UAB's Robert Vaden (21.0 ppg) and UTEP's Stefon Jackson (24.3 ppg).

UAB (19-8, 9-3 C-USA) enters the game against UTEP in second place in the latest Conference USA standings following a 73-59 road victory at SMU last Saturday night. Junior guard/forward Robert Vaden had a game-high 24 points, while junior forward Reggie Huffman recorded his second consecutive double-double, to lead UAB to the important win. Huffman collected 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds en route to the victory.

Vaden currently leads the Blazers in scoring, averaging 21.0 points a game, which rank fourth in Conference USA. He also leads the team in three-point shooting (113-of-272, 41.5 percent) and minutes played (35.2).

Junior guard Channing Toney, who had to sit out during the first semester due to NCAA transfer rules, scored 11 in the win over SMU. He has now scored in double figures in nine straight contests. Toney averages 12.4 points and 3.6 rebounds. He is shooting 46.5 percent from three-point range (20-of-43), which leads the league in C-USA contests only.

Junior forward Lawrence Kinnard is the team's third-leading scorer at 11.3 points a game, and also leads the team in rebounding with 6.9 boards per contest. Following his team-leading fifth double-double of the 2007-08 campaign, Huffman is second in rebounding (6.1 rpg) and fourth in scoring (7.6 ppg).

As a team, the Blazers are tied for the league lead (Memphis) in field goal percentage, hitting 46.4 percent from the floor, and leads Conference USA in three-point field goal percentage, connecting on 38.5 percent from beyond the arc. Additionally, UAB ranks fourth in the league in three-point field goal percentage defense (32.5 percent) and in scoring defense (65.5 ppg). The Blazers rank third in league play by outscoring their opponents by an average of 8.8 points a game (74.3-65.5).

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 149-103 (.591) and has made five postseason appearances, including the 2002 national championship game. He is now 34-24 (.586) at UAB.

Scouting UTEP
UTEP (16-9, 7-5)enters Wednesday's contest against UAB having won back-to-back contests at Marshall (79-76 on Feb. 20) and home against East Carolina (91-62 last Saturday). Stefon Jackson, who was tabbed the Conference USA Player of the Week this week, scored a career-high 41 points en route to the win over the Pirates.

Jackson leads Conference USA and ranks sixth in the nation in scoring, averaging 24.3 points per game. When the Blazers and Miners last met, he accounted for a team-best 22 points in the loss. Jackson also leads his team in rebounding (5.6 rpg) and minutes player per game (33.7).

Freshman Randy Culpepper, who came off the bench to account for 20 points and eight boards in the last meeting between the two teams, is second on the team with 12.8 ppg and also leads the team in three-point shooting (64-of-193). Senior Marvin Kilgore is the squad's third-leading scorer at 12.2 ppg, and also leads UTEP and ranks second in Conference USA with 4.8 assists per game.

As a team, the Miners are averaging 43.1 percent shooting from the floor and 33.9 percent from beyond the arc. UTEP is also third in Conference USA in scoring offense (76.4); however, the Miners are 11th in the league in points allowed (71.2).

Head coach Tony Barbee is in his second season at the helm of the UTEP program and has compiled a record of 30-26 (.536) during his tenure as head coach.

UAB-UTEP: The Series
UAB and UTEP will face each other for the seventh time in series history this Wednesday night, with both teams winning three times apiece. This is the second time the two teams will have met on the hardwood this season. On Feb. 9 in Bartow Arena, the Blazers pulled out an 81-73 victory in Bartow Arena. It marked the second consecutive UAB victory in the season series. It also improved the Blazers to 3-0 in home and neutral site games. However, UAB has yet to win a game in the Don Haskins Center, going winless in its previous three outings in El Paso, Texas.

UAB-UTEP: Earlier This Season
Lawrence Kinnard scored 23 points and Robert Vaden added 17 to lead UAB to an 81-73 victory over UTEP. The win improved the Blazers to 11-0 in home games this season. It is the best-ever start at Bartow Arena, and the best home start to a season since beginning 11-0 during the 1983-84 campaign. Channing Toney had 12 points and Howard Crawford had 10 as UAB held off a late rally from UTEP. Stefon Jackson scored 22 points and Randy Culpepper had 20 to lead UTEP. The Blazers led as much as 14 points (71-57) with 5:32 remaining, but UTEP chipped away at the lead, with Jackson scoring 13 points down the stretch. The Miners pulled to within 73-71 on a free throw by Kilgore with 1:20 left, but Vaden hit four free throws, and Aaron Johnson drove for a clutch layup to help UAB hang on. Johnson finished the game with a game-high seven assists to go with seven points and four rebounds. Junior forward Reggie Huffman finished with nine rebounds to help UAB to a 51-32 advantage on the boards. Huffman made his first start in three games after nursing an injury.

Last Time Out
Robert Vaden scored 24 points to lead UAB to a 73-59 win over SMU last Saturday night.Vaden's points came on eight 3-pointers on 17 attempts, both of which tied a school record. Reggie Huffman scored 13 points and hauled down 14 rebounds for the Blazers. Huffman recorded his second double-double in as many games, and his team-leading fifth double-double of the season. Channing Toney added 11 points, while Lawrence Kinnard contributed nine points and nine rebounds off the bench. Jon Killen scored 21 points to lead SMU. Bamba Fall added 14 points, and Papa Dia had nine points and 11 rebounds. UAB outrebounded the Mustangs 46-34. The Blazers shot 44 percent from the field for the game, while SMU shot just 33 percent. SMU led 32-29 at the break before being outscored 44-27 in the second half. The Mustangs led by as many as eight points (45-37) with just under 15 minutes left in the contest. However, the Blazers responded with a 32-9 run over the next nine minutes to take a commanding 69-54 lead with 5:20 remaining. The run was sparked by Vaden, who went 7-of-8 from three-point range over the stretch.

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 has already or is poised to break nearly every single-season school record. Against SMU last Saturday, Vaden attempted 17 threes to surpass Andy Kennedy's 19-year old record of 267 three-pointers attempted in a season. Vaden currently has attempted 272 threes on the year. To the right is a list of each category in the school record book, which Vaden has already topped or has a chance to capture.

Conference Record Books
Junior guard/forward Robert Vaden is not only threatening school records, but is also preparing to overtake some conference records as well. Vaden enters the UTEP game having connected on 113-of-267 three-pointers this season. Those numbers currently rank fourth and fifth, respectively in the C-USA single-season record books. The all-time league leader in threes made and attempted is Charlotte's Demon Brown, who hit 137-of-350 treys during the 2002-03 campaign.

`Huff'in And Puffin'
UAB junior forward Reggie Huffman has returned from a back injury with authority. Over his last two contests against Houston (2/20) and SMU (2/23), the Birmingham, Ala. native collected back-to-back double-doubles in two UAB wins. Against the Cougars, Huffman recorded a career-high 22 points and three assists, to go along with 11 boards en route to the win. He followed that performance with another career-best outing against the Mustangs. Huffman recorded 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds in the 73-59 win.

Huffman is proving to be a key cog in UAB victories this season. In the 19 wins this year, Huffman is averaging an impressive 9.5 points and a team-best 6.8 rebounds a game. He also has connected on 81-of-129 shots (62.8 percent). However, those numbers drop significantly during UAB's eight losses. Huffman averages 3.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in the eight defeats. Additionally, his field goal percentage drops to 34.8 percent (8-of-23).

Vaden-Ated
UAB junior guard/forward Robert Vaden led his team to a 73-59 victory at SMU last Saturday. The Indianapolis, Ind. native tied a single-game school record for three-pointers made (8) and three-pointers attempted (17) en route to 24 points. In fact, during a nine-minute stretch, Vaden hit 7-of-8 threes and scored 21 points during a decisive 32-9 run over that stretch. It marked the 14th time this season he has recorded 20 or more points on the campaign. In fact, he has now led the Blazers in scoring in 16 contests on the campaign. The single-season school record for 20-plus point games is 17 set by two former Blazers, the last by Carlos Williams during the 1995-96 campaign. Furthermore, the All-America and C-USA Player of the Year candidate has reached or eclipsed the 20-point plateau in 10 of UAB's last 16 contests. During that time, Vaden has averaged 22.8 points and has led the Blazers to a 12-4 mark.

Seeing 20-10
The UAB men's basketball team will enter its game at UTEP with a 19-8 overall record on the season and a 9-3 mark in league play. Should the Blazers pull out a win in El Paso, they will reach the 20-win plateau for the 19th time in the 29-year history of the men's basketball program. More importantly, history shows of the eight previous occasions when a UAB team has recorded at least 20 wins and 10 league victories in a season, the team has reached the postseason on each occurrence (seven NCAAs and one NIT).

Bench Play
One of the main reasons for the Blazers pulling off a 73-59 victory at SMU last Saturday was the play of the reserves. The Blazers' bench outscored its counterpart by a score of 21-9. It marked the 15th time UAB's bench has outscored its opponent on the season. When that happens, it is usually a good thing. The Blazers hold a 12-3 record when UAB reserves outscore their counterparts.

Bench Preference
Junior Lawrence Kinnard is proving to be a bigger contributor when coming off the bench this season. Over his 12 non-starts this season, Kinnard is averaging 15.3 ppg and 7.0 rpg, while shooting 49.6 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from three-point range. In his 15 starts, the 6-8 forward is contributing just 8.1 ppg, while shooting 35.0 percent from the floor and 27.7 percent from deep. Furthermore, eight of his top 10 scoring games and two of his four double-doubles this season have come when he was not in the stating lineup.

Free Throw Improvement
One of UAB's most noticeable statistics during conference play has been the improvement at the charity stripe. In the two-point win over Houston on Feb. 20, the Blazers connected on 34-of-42 free throws on the night (81.0 percent). During Conference USA play, UAB has shot an impressive 78.9 percent from the line. That number ranks second in C-USA in league games only. Prior to league play, UAB was shooting only 63.7 percent from the foul line. However, since then the Blazers have improved to an average of 71.0 percent foul shooting as a team.