Feb. 9, 2007
UTEP Game Notes
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team continues its longest homestand of the season when it takes on the Miners of UTEP, on Saturday, Feb. 10, at 5 p.m. The Blazers will close the three-game homestand against Rice on Wednesday, Feb. 14. It will mark the third game in a six-day span. The game against the Miners will be televised nationally on CSTV, with Carter Blackburn and Steve Lappas on the call. The game marks UTEP's first-ever appearance in Bartow Arena. The two teams have played on four previous occasions, with the Miners winning three times in El Paso and the Blazers' lone win coming in Memphis, Tenn. at last season's Conference USA Tournament.
Scouting UTEP
UTEP enters Saturday night's contest sporting a 13-11 overall record on the season, and is 5-5 in C-USA play. The Miners enter the game on a skid, dropping four of their last five games. Most recently, UTEP lost 92-67 at Tulane last Wednesday, marking its fourth loss in five road league games on the season.
The Miners are led on the year by sophomore guard Stefon Jackson, who leads the squad and ranks third in the conference with 18.5 points, while also averaging 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals a game. Senior guard Kevin Henderson is the team's second-leading scorer with an average of 11.0 ppg, and leads the team with 6.3 rpg. The duo make up the league's fourth-best scoring pair, combining to average 29.5 ppg.
Head coach Tony Barbee is in his first year at the helm of the UTEP basketball program. Barbee joins the UTEP basketball program following a highly successful six-year run (2000-06) as an assistant coach at Memphis. During that span, the Tigers won 148 games, an average of nearly 25 victories per season.
Scouting UAB
UAB will enter its contest against UTEP with an overall record of 11-12, and a 3-6 mark in league play. The Blazers have dropped five of their last six contests, including a 70-56 defeat to No. 8/10 Memphis Thursday night.
Junior guard Paul Delaney III, a two-time recipient of the Conference USA Player of the Week this season, leads the Blazers in points (16.3) and assists (5.1) per game, while also ranking third on the team with 5.0 boards a contest.
Along with Delaney, senior guard Wen Mukubu and sophomore forward Lawrence Kinnard are also threats on offense. Mukubu averages 13.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest, while also shooting 42.0 percent from beyond the arc. Kinnard ranks third on the team with 12.6 points per game, and also leads the team with 6.1 rebounds a game.
UAB head coach Mike Davis enters the game against the Miners with an overall record of 126-91 (.580) in his seventh season as a head coach, and is 11-12 (.478) in his first season at UAB.
Last Time Out
Jeremy Hunt's hot shooting and a smothering defensive effort gave No. 8 Memphis a 70-56 victory. Hunt scored a career-high 30 points, including 25 and some long 3-pointers before halftime, and the Tigers limited UAB to 31 percent shooting in the victory. The Tigers blew the game open by going on a 24-5 run starting late in the first half for their 12th consecutive victory. Hunt made six 3-pointers before the half, bettering his previous scoring high by a point in 15 minutes action. He didn't score again until managing a short jumper and a seventh 3 over the final 3 minutes. The Blazers committed 20 turnovers, many of them careless mistakes. They also made just 2-of-15 3-pointers and 16-of-52 shots. Hunt was the only Memphis player to do much scoring in the dominant defensive effort. 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.
UAB-UTEP Part I
Saturday's meeting between UTEP and UAB marks the second time this season the two squads have met on the hardwood. Back on Jan. 6, Malik Alvin led four UTEP players in double-digit scoring with 18 points as the Miners beat UAB 76-63 in the Conference USA opener for both teams. After UTEP opened up an 11-point lead in the first five minutes of the game, UAB closed the gap to 13-9 on a three-pointer by Paul Delaney III at the 12:18 mark of the first half. The Miners answered with an 8-0 spurt to build a 21-9 margin on a layup by Alvin with 9:31 remaining in the half. UTEP was ahead 33-24 at the intermission. The Blazers sliced their deficit to six points twice early in the second half, the last at 41-35 on a three-pointer by Lawrence Kinnard with 16:15 to go. But that was as close as they would get, as the Miners built leads of as many as 18 points in the second stanza. Delaney led the Blazers with 17 points, while Jeremy Mayfield had 14 points and seven boards. Kinnard finished with 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds. The team shot just 38.6 percent for the game.
One Of Only Three
Junior guard Paul Delaney III is quickly becoming one of the elite players in college basketball. Entering the UTEP game, Delaney is one of only three players in Division I nationally to average over 16 points, five rebounds and five assists per game. Delaney joins the trio of Marist's Jared Jordan (18.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 8.6 apg) and Albany's Jamar Wilson (17.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 5.0 apg).
Triple Double-Double
Despite falling 70-56 to Memphis last Thursday, three UAB players earned double-doubles in the contest. It is believed to be the first time in school history three UAB players recorded double-doubles in the same contest. Frank Holmes recorded his second double-double this season and third of his career with 14 points and 10 boards. Wen Mukubu also recorded his second double-double this season, with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Lawrence Kinnard recorded his first-ever double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Triple-Triple
Freshman forward Jeremy Mayfield has made a significant impact as a freshman this year. The Dallas, Texas native leads all of the Blazers' newcomers this year with an average of 4.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 18.1 minutes per game this year. He recently became the first UAB freshman this season to reach the 100-point, 100-rebound mark in the contest. For the season, Mayfield has compiled 110 points and 104 rebounds.
