Jan. 18, 2008

UAB-Marshall Game Notes | Gametracker | Listen Live | Watch Live

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. The UAB men's basketball team will travel to Huntington, W.Va., where it will take on the Marshall Thundering Herd on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET). The Blazers enter the contest sporting a 12-5 record on the season and 2-0 in Conference USA, and have captured wins in 10 of their last 12 contests.

The Blazers are coming off in impressive 72-65 victory over Southern Miss last Wednesday. The victory marked the Blazers' eighth consecutive home victory this season. Junior guard Robert Vaden tied a career high with 33 points en route to the seven-point win.

Vaden leads the Blazers in scoring, averaging 21.2 points a game which ranks second in Conference USA. He also leads the team in three-point shooting (78-of-173, 43.9 percent) and minutes played (34.4).

Junior Lawrence Kinnard, who has now recorded double-doubles in two of the last four contests coming into the Marshall contest, is averaging 9.1 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 (6.7 rpg) and is fourth in scoring (8.9 ppg).

As a team, the Blazers are hitting 46.8 percent from the floor, which ranks second in Conference USA, and leads the league in three-point shooting, connecting on 38.6 percent from beyond the arc. The Blazers are outscoring their opponents by 10.3 points a game (72.0-61.7).

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 142-100 (.587) and five postseason appearances, including the 2002 national championship game. He is now 27-21 (.563) at UAB.

Scouting Marshall
Marshall is off to a 9-6 start and is 1-2 record in league play entering Saturday night's contest against UAB. Most recently, the Thundering Herd dropped a 75-62 decision at East Carolina Wednesday night. The Herd held a 37-35 lead at halftime, but was outscored 40-25 over the final 20 minutes to result in the 13-point defeat.
Marshall is led by junior guard/forward Markel Humphrey. Humphrey, who is one of three Marshall players to average double-figure scoring, leads the team with 14.2 points a game and ranks second with 5.6 rebounds per contest.
Senior guard Mark Dorris collects 13.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and a team-leading 1.5 steals per contest. Freshman forward Tirrell Baines adds 12.3 points and a team-best 6.4 rebounds a game.
Marshall has outscored its opponents by an average of 4.1 points a game (68.8-64.7) through 15 games this season, and enters the UAB contest sporting an 8-2 record in home contests this year. The Herd shoots 43.2 percent from the floor and 32.1 percent from beyond the arc.
Head coach Donnie Jones is in his first season at the helm of Marshall men's basketball program and is 9-6 (.600) on the season.

UAB-Marshall: The Series
UAB and Marshall are playing for the eighth time in series history, with the Blazers holding a slim 4-3 advantage. Saturday night's contest will mark the fourth time the two teams have played at Marshall, with UAB winning two of the previous three contests. Despite holding a winning record in the series, UAB has dropped two of the last three games played between the two teams by a combined eight points. UAB fell at Marshall, 61-54, on Feb. 3, 2007 and 53-52 in the opening round of the 2007 Conference USA Tournament (3/7/07).

UAB-Marshall: A Year Ago
Marshall captured two victories in the three games played between the two teams a year ago.
Similar to this season, UAB opened the season series at Marshall, as Travis Aikens scored 16 points to lead his team to a 61-54 win over UAB on Feb. 3, 2007. UAB trailed by 14 early in the second half before going on a 12-0 run to close within 38-36 with 14:08 left in the game. But the Blazers never re-took the lead. Wen Mukubu and Mike Davis Jr. had 11 points apiece to lead UAB.
The Blazers bounced back in the rematch between the teams in Bartow Arena on Feb. 24, 2007. In that contest, Paul Delaney III scored a game-high 20 points to lead UAB to a 70-57 victory. Marshall was held to 29.3 percent shooting and the Blazers forced 18 turnovers, which helped them overcome the Thundering Herd's 46-27 rebounding advantage. Frank Holmes added 14 points. Markell Humphrey had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead Marshall.
The teams played the tie-breaker on March 7, 2007 in the league tournament, marking the third time in just over a month they squared off on the hardwood. Mark Dorris scored 15 points, and Marshall survived a difficult second half to defeat UAB, 53-52. Marshall, which led by 14 at the half, committed 13 turnovers in the second half. But UAB's comeback fell short as Paul Delaney III's 12-foot bank shot bounced off the rim as time expired. Humphrey scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Marshall. Lawrence Kinnard led UAB with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Delaney finished with 10 points and six assists.

Last Time Out
Robert Vaden scored 33 points to tie a career high and lead UAB to a 72-65 victory over Southern Mississippi. Vaden scored 22 points in the second half and finished with six 3-pointers. He scored 33 points earlier this season against Kentucky. Courtney Beasley scored 19 points, and Jeremy Wise had 18 for Southern Miss. Vaden scored the first five points of the game, and the Blazers were ahead the rest of the way. Southern Miss did not score until about five minutes into the game, and the Golden Eagles trailed 30-18 at halftime. The Southern Miss offense heated up in the second half, producing 47 points after intermission. But Vaden repeatedly hit big shots to keep UAB comfortably in front.

Vaden Does It Again
For the second time this season, junior Robert Vaden scored 33 points in a game to lead UAB to victory Wedensday night over Southern Miss. Six games ago on Dec. 15 against Kentucky, Vaden collected 28 second-half points en route to a career-high 33 to the victory. Last Wednesday, the 6-5 guard/forward collected 22 points over the final 20 minutes to tie his career-best performance.
Over his last six contests with the bookend 33-point performances, Vaden has averaged 26.2 points and has led the Blazers to a 5-1 mark over that time. It is the best six-game scoring stretch by a UAB player since former UAB great (and current Ole Miss head coach) Andy Kennedy scored 27.8 ppg over a six-game stretch during the 1991-92 campaign. Additionally, he has recorded nine games of 20 or more points and led his team in scoring in all but six games this season.

Bench Depth
One of the main reasons for the Blazers' victory over Southern Miss last Wednesday was the play of the reserves. The Blazers' bench outscored its counterpart by a score of 25-15. It was the sixth time this season the UAB bench has scored 20 points or more in game and when that happens, it is usually a good thing. The Blazers hold a 5-1 record this season when the bench scores 20 points or more in a contest.

Free Throw Improvement
One of the most noticeable statistics over UAB's last two contests has come at the charity stripe. In wins at Tulane (62-61) on Jan. 9 and over Southern Miss (72-65) on Wednesday, the Blazers have hit a combined 32-of-40 foul shots (80.0 percent). Entering the Tulane contest, UAB averaged 63.7 percent from the charity stripe. However, the Blazers enter the Marshall game shooting 65.6 percent from the line.

Holmes Sweet Holmes
Senior Frank Holmes is quietly having an outstanding senior season. Holmes collected 10 points and six rebounds in the victory over Southern Miss last Wednesday night, connecting on 3-of-4 shots and 4-of-4 free throws. On the year, Holmes, who is the lone senior on this year's active roster after the injury to Paul Delaney III, currently leads the Blazers in shooting percentage at 77.8 percent this season (28-of-36). In fact, over his last 12 contests in which the Blazers have gone 10-2, Holmes has connected on 25-of-30 shots from the floor (83.3 percent), and averaged 5.5 points and 4.1 rebounds a game.

Toney Makes Debut
Junior guard Channing Toney made his UAB debut in the 72-65 win over Southern Miss last Wednesday. Despite only hitting 2-of-7 shots from the floor, the Georgia transfer finished with six points, two rebounds and an assist in 27 minutes of action. It marked his first collegiate action in nearly two seasons, as his last appearance came in the 2006 Southeastern Conference Tournament when the Bulldogs lost to Arkansas.

Darth Vaden
Junior Robert Vaden is quickly developing into an All-America candidate and one of the top players in Conference USA. He enters the Southern Miss game leading the team in scoring average (21.2 ppg), three-point shooting (43.9 percent) and minutes per game (34.4). Furthermore, he leads Conference USA in three-point field goals made per game (4.47), ranks second in scoring, fourth in three-point percentage and seventh in free throw percentage (82.0 percent).