Jan. 15, 2008
UAB-Southern Miss Game Notes | Gametracker | Listen Live
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -----The UAB men's basketball team will return to the court when it takes on Conference USA rival Southern Miss on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Bartow Arena. The contest will be televised live on CSS with Matt Coulter and Jan Van Breda Kolff on the call.
UAB enters the Southern Miss game having won nine of its last 11 contests following an impressive 62-61 come-from-behind victory at Tulane last Wednesday. Junior forward Lawrence Kinnard led UAB with 16 points and 11 boards in the win, while junior guard Robert Vaden contributed 16 points and six boards to the cause.
Vaden leads the Blazers in scoring, averaging 20.4 points a game which rank third in Conference USA. He also leads the team in three-point shooting (70-of-161, 43.5 percent) and minutes played (34.5).
Kinnard. who has now recorded double-doubles in two of the last three contests coming into the Southern Miss contest, is averaging 9.7 points, 6.4 rebounds per contest, both of which rank third on the team.
Junior forward Reggie Huffman, who recorded his team-leading third double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 boards against Kentucky on Dec. 15, leads the team in rebounding (6.8 rpg) and is fourth in scoring (9.3 ppg).
As a team, the Blazers are hitting 46.9 percent from the floor and 38.0 percent from three-point range. Both of those numbers rank second in Conference USA. The Blazers are outscoring their opponents by 10.5 points a game (72.0-61.5).
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 141-100 (.585) and five postseason appearances, including the 2002 national championship game. He is now 26-21 (.553) at UAB.
Scouting Southern Miss
Southern Miss recently snapped a four-game losing streak by capturing a 71-54 victory over Tulane last Saturday in Hattiesburg, Miss. The victory improved the Golden Eagles to 9-7 on the season and 1-1 in league play.
Leading the way for Southern Miss is sophomore guard Jeremy Wise, who leads the team in scoring (18.9 ppg), assists (4.3 apg) and steals (22). The reigning C-USA Freshman and Newcomer of the Year also leads the team in minutes played (34.8) and ranks fifth in the league in points per game.
Wise is one of three Southern Miss players to average double figure scoring. Freshman R.L. Horton (12.9 ppg) and junior Courtney Beasley (10.9 ppg) each average double digit scoring. Senior Gijo Bain leads the team in rebounding, pulling down an average of 7.5 boards per contest, while also contributing 4.5 points a game.
The Golden Eagles are looking for their first road victory, having gone 0-4 in true road contests this season. Southern Miss enters Wednesday night's contest averaging 73.9 points and have outscored opponents by 10.8 points per game this season (73.9-63.1).
Head coach Larry Eustachy is in his fourth season at the helm of Southern Miss men's basketball program and has compiled a record of 50-56 (.472). Eustachy is in his 17th season as a head coach and boasts a 310-201 (.607) overall record. However, it is unknown whether or not Eustachy will be at Wednesday night's contest due to the death of his mother on Jan. 12.
UAB-Southern Miss: The Series
UAB and Southern Miss will face each other for the 27th time in series history this Wednesday night, with the Blazers holding a 16-10 advantage in the series history. However, last season the Golden Eagles swept the season series making it the first time since 1996 that Southern Miss captured two victories over UAB in the same season. Despite losing at Bartow Arena last year, the Blazers still hold a 10-3 advantage when the two teams square off in Bartow Arena. USM will attempt to match its longest winning streak in the series of three games, set back in 1996 to 1997.
UAB-Southern Miss: A Year Ago
Southern Miss swept two games from UAB last year, marking the first time since 1996, and the second time in the history of the league, that USM swept a season series from UAB.
In the first contests between the two rivals on Jan. 20, 2007, Jeremy Wise scored a running one-handed shot with one second remaining in the first overtime, to lift his squad to a 57-55 victory. Wise led all scorers with 22 points, while Sai'Quon Stone added 12 points for the Golden Eagles. The Blazers were led in that contest by Paul Delaney III, who collected 19 points and grabbed 9 rebounds, while Lawrence Kinnard added 13 points.
Southern Miss also captured a 76-68 win in Hattiesburg, Miss. on Feb. 28, 2007. Jarvis Hill scored a career-high 22 points. He was one of four USM players to reach double figures, as Jeremy Wise added 18 points, Craig Craft had 13 and Courtney Beasley added 12. Wen Mukubu scored 26 points and had seven rebounds for UAB, while Paul Delaney III added 16.
Last Time Out
Ed Berrios nailed three straight free throws with 1.6 seconds left in the game to snap Tulane's four-game win streak with a 62-61 come-from-behind win last Wednesday. The two teams combined for 13 ties and 15 lead changes in the back-and-forth affair. Lawrence Kinnard scored 16 and pulled down 11 rebounds for the Blazers, while Robert Vaden added 16 and Reggie Huffman had 11. UAB and Tulane were tied at 57-57 with under a minute remaining in the game when Reggie Huffman gave his team a lead on a short jumper, but Tulane's Johnny Mayhane responded with a 3-pointer from the right corner to push the Green Wave to 60-59 with 23.3 seconds left. Tulane's David Gomez, who scored a game-high 18 points, hit 1-of-2 free throws to put them ahead 61-59. Berrios, on the next possession, tried a last-second 3-pointer and was fouled by Kevin Sims. He then hit all three shots to win the game for UAB. The Blazers outrebounded the Green Wave, 40-29, including an 18-11 advantage on the boards in the second half. Furthermore, UAB collected 14 offensive rebounds on the night, which it converted to 19 second-chance points.
UAB In C-USA Home Openers
Following last week's league-opening win at Tulane, the Blazers now hold an all-time record of 8-5 in Conference USA openers since the inception of the league. The Blazers also hold a record of 9-3 when playing their first Conference USA home game of the campaign.
Mr. Clutch
Even though the stats don't necessarily show it, junior guard Ed Berrios is becoming one of UAB's more clutch players this season. Berrios connected on three free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining in regulation to lift UAB to a 62-61 come-from-behind victory at Tulane last Wednesday night. It was the second time this season the Bronx, N.Y. native has come through in the clutch this year. Back on Dec. 15 against Kentucky, Berrios hit two free throws with 21 seconds remaining to seal a 79-76 win over the Wildcats in Louisville, Ky. That makes Berrios 5-for-5 from the line in the final 30 seconds of a game this season. For the year, he is 11-of-13 (.846) from the charity stripe.
Stepping Up His Play
The UAB men's basketball team has lost several players due to academics and injury this season. Due to that reason, head coach Mike Davis needed someone to step up their play and that person so far has been junior forward Lawrence Kinnard. The Memphis, Tenn. native is coming off an impressive 16-point, 11-rebound performance in the one-point win at Tulane last Wednesday. It marked his third consecutive double-digit rebounding performance and second double-double over the Blazers' last three contests. During that stretch, Kinnard has averaged 14.0 points and 12.3 rebounds. He has also recorded a team-leading seven blocks during that time (2.3 per game).
Huffman Plays Key Role
Junior forward Reggie Huffman is proving to be a key cog in UAB victories this season. The Birmingham, Ala. native went for 11 points and six boards in the 62-61 win at Tulane last Wednesday. In the 11 wins this year, Huffman is averaging an impressive 11.4 points and a team-best 7.4 rebounds a game. He also has connected on 57-of-78 shots (73.1 percent) and accumulated just 12 fouls (1.1 fouls a game) in Blazer victories.
However, those numbers drop significantly during UAB's five losses. Huffman only averages 4.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in the five defeats. Additionally, his field goal percentage lowers to 38.1 percent (8-of-21), while his fouls per game average rises to 3.0.
On Quite A Ride
Junior Robert Vaden has had quite a nice stretch of scoring games over UAB's last five contests. Despite going for 16 points in the victory at Tulane last week, Vaden has still scored over 20 points in four of UAB's last five contests entering the Southern Miss game. Over the five-game stretch, Vaden is averaging 24.8 ppg, while collecting 3.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.2 steals a game. He is also shooting 44.6 percent from the floor and 46.6 percent from beyond the arc over the same stretch. During that time, the Blazers have a 4-1 record.
