Feb. 22, 2008

UAB-SMU Game Notes | Gametracker | Listen Live

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team embarks on an important two-game Conference USA road trip, beginning at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23, at SMU. The Blazers and Mustangs will square off for the fifth time in series history, with the series tied at two games apiece.

UAB (18-8, 8-3 C-USA) enters the game against SMU in second place in the latest Conference USA standings following a 101-99 last second Blazer victory last Wednesday night in Bartow Arena. Junior forward Reggie Huffman hit for a career-high 22 points to go along with 11 boards, his fourth double-double of the season, to lead UAB to the important win.

Junior guard/forward Robert Vaden 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 (105-of-255, 41.2 percent) and minutes played (35.0).

Junior guard Channing Toney, who had to sit out during the first semester due to NCAA transfer rules, scored 18 in the win over the Cougars. Toney has been a valuable addition to the UAB lineup, collecting an average of 12.5 points and 3.7 rebounds. He is shooting 47.2 percent from three-point range (17-of-36), which leads the league in C-USA contests only.

Junior forward Lawrence Kinnard, who recorded 22 points and six boards in the win last Wednesday, is the team's third-leading scorer at 11.4 points a game, and also leads the team in rebounding with 6.8 boards per contest. Following his best performance of the 2007-08 campaign, Huffman is second in rebounding (5.8 rpg) and fourth in scoring (7.3 ppg).

As a team, the Blazers are tied for the league lead (Memphis) in field goal percentage, hitting 46.6 percent from the floor, and leads Conference USA in three-point field goal percentage, connecting on 38.2 percent from beyond the arc. Additionally, UAB ranks fifth in the league in three-point field goal percentage defense (32.2 percent) and in scoring defense (65.8 ppg). The Blazers rank third in league play by outscoring their opponents by an average of 8.6 points a game (74.4-65.8).

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 148-103 (.590) and has made five postseason appearances, including the 2002 national championship game. He is now 33-24 (.579) at UAB.

Scouting SMU
SMU enters Saturday's contest against UAB having lost three in a row and five of their last six following an 81-61 defeat at Southern Miss last Wednesday night. The Mustangs dropped to 8-16 overall and 2-9 in Conference USA play.

Leading the list of scorers is senior guard Jon Killen, who leads his team in points (12.4 ppg), assists (4.8 apg), steals (1.5 spg) and minutes played (34.3). Killen is also the only player on his squad to have started all 24 contests.

Two other players average double-figure scoring. Junior center Bamba Fall contributes 11.4 points per contest, while also leading the team in blocked shots (2.1 bpg) and is second in rebounding (5.5 rpg). Senior guard Derrck Roberts adds 10.0 ppg, while freshman forward Papa Dia collects 9.8 points and a team-leading 6.5 rebounds per contest.

As a team, the Mustangs shoot 42.6 percent from the floor and 33.7 percent from beyond the arc. SMU is being outscored by an average of 6.2 points a game this season (70.4-64.1).

Head coach Matt Doherty is in his second season at the helm of the SMU program and has compiled a record of 22-33 (.400) during his tenure as head coach. He is in his seventh season in his head coaching career, and is 112-104 (.519) during his tenure.

UAB-SMU: The Series
UAB and SMU will face each other for the fifth time in series history on Saturday night, with the two teams splitting the previous four games. This contest marks only the second time in the five games that the Blazers will play at SMU. The only other time came on Feb. 25, 2006, when UAB defeated the Mustangs, 73-68. It was also the last Blazer victory in the series, as SMU returned the favor last year with a 60-56 win at Bartow Arena.

UAB-SMU: A Year Ago
Bamba Fall scored 16 points and Brian Epps added 14 to lead SMU to a 60-56 victory over UAB, Jan. 31, 2007 in Birmingham. Ike Ofoegbu scored 10 points and hit a three-pointer to spark a 16-2 second half run that proved decisive for SMU. The Mustangs trailed 27-26 at halftime. Wen Mukubu scored 14 points to lead UAB. Lawrence Kinnard added 12 points and Mike Davis Jr. had 10 for the Blazers. A three-pointer by Mukubu gave UAB a 45-41 lead with just over 11 minutes left in the game. But a basket inside by Donatas Rackauskas and a three-pointer by Epps started the run that put SMU ahead for good. Epps' driving basket gave SMU a 57-47 lead with five minutes left. UAB had chances down the stretch, pulling to within 59-56 on a reverse layup by Davis Jr. with less than a minute to play. But UAB struggled all night to get good shots against SMU's zone defense and could not make another basket.

Last Time Out
Aaron Johnson hit a driving layup with 2.9 seconds left to give UAB a 101-99 victory over Houston. The contest was back-and-forth throughout the night, featuring 16 ties and 16 lead changes. UAB's largest lead was a nine-point advantage with 5:56 remaining in the contest, while Houston owned a six-point lead with 4:46 remaining in the opening 20 minutes. Houston tied the game 99-99 on two free throws by Marcus Malone with 9.4 seconds left. Johnson took the inbounds pass and drove down the floor. With Houston's defense concentrating on UAB's leading scorer Robert Vaden, Johnson took it all the way to the basket and arched the game-winning shot over 6-11 Marcus Cousin. After a time-out, Houston got the ball to Malone near midcourt and he launched a long shot that was off target at the buzzer. Reggie Huffman led UAB with 22 points and 11 rebounds. The Blazers got 22 points from Lawrence Kinnard, 18 from Channing Toney and 15 from Vaden. Robert McKiver had 41 points, seven assists and six rebounds to lead Houston. The Cougars got 23 points from DaShaun Williams and 17 from Dion Dowell.UAB appeared to be in good shape when Vaden hit a 3-pointer to give the Blazers a 94-88 lead with 2:54 remaining. But a driving basket by Williams, two free throws by McKiver and a long three by McKiver tied it 95-95 with 1:43 left.The two teams swapped baskets the rest of the way until Johnson's driving layup decided the outcome.

Now That's A Lot Of Points
When UAB defeated Houston 101-99 last Wednesday night in Bartow Arena, it marked the first time a Blazer team cracked the 100-point plateau since Jan. 2, 2005, when UAB defeated Murray State, 100-80. The 200 points the two teams combined for were the most in Bartow Arena in nearly 17 years. When UAB defeated South Alabama, 107-99, on Feb. 23, 1991, the two teams combined for an Arena record of 206 points. Furthermore, the 101 points were the most scored by a UAB team since it earned a 102-100 victory in the opening round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament win over Washington. Finally, Houston's Robert McKiver's 41 points on the night were the most by any opposing player at Bartow Arena, and tied Andy Kennedy's Arena record of 41 points he recorded against Saint Louis on Jan. 13, 1991.

Huffman Heroics
Junior forward Reggie Huffman had a huge game to lift UAB to a 101-99 win over Houston last Wednesday night. Huffman scorched the Cougars for a career-high 22 points, to go along with 11 boards and three assists en route to the win. It marked his fourth double-double of the campaign, which ties him with Lawrence Kinnard for the team lead.

Huffman is proving to be a key cog in UAB victories this season. In the 18 wins this year, Huffman is averaging an impressive 9.3 points and a team-best 6.4 rebounds a game. He also has connected on 75-of-119 shots (63.0 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).

Picking Up The Slack
If it was known beforehand that UAB leading scorer Robert Vaden would be held to making only three field goals and Houston would score 99 points, many people would not have given the Blazers much of a chance to pull out a win. However, that is exactly what happened in UAB's 101-99 victory over Houston. Vaden scored 15 points on 3-of-8 shooting from the floor. With the Blazers' leading scorer struggling, juniors Reggie Huffman, Lawrence Kinnard and Channing Toney picked up the slack. The trio combined to score 62 of UAB's 101 points, or approximately 61 percent of its total on the night. They also combined to shoot 21-of-38 from the floor (55.3 percent), 7-of-12 from three-point range (58.3 percent) and 16-of-18 from the foul stripe (88.9 percent).

Sir Lawrence
Junior forward Lawrence Kinnard had yet another great game in UAB's 101-99 win over Houston last Wednesday night. The Memphis, Tenn. native struck for 22 points and six boards in 34 minutes of action en route to the important league victory. Over his last seven contests, Kinnard ranks second on the team with 18.6 points and leads the squad with 7.6 rebounds per game. Furthermore, he has connected on 46-of-89 shots from the floor (51.7 percent) and 13-of-29 three-pointers (44.8 percent). During the stretch of games, Kinnard also recorded his first three 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 and 22 points against the Cougars.

Bench Preference
Junior Lawrence Kinnard is proving to be a bigger contributor when coming off the bench this season. Over his 11 non-starts this season, Kinnard is averaging 15.9 ppg and 6.8 rpg, while shooting 50.4 percent from the floor and 48.8 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.

Toney, Toney, Toney Does It Again
Junior guard Channing Toney continues to make a solid contribution since he became eligible. Toney, who was forced to sit the first half of the season due to NCAA transfer rules, collected his eighth straight double-figure scoring game with 18 points in the 101-99 win over Houston last Wednesday. Toney is averaging 12.5 points and 3.7 rebounds a game. Furthermore, in the latest Conference USA stats (league games only), Toney is leading the league in three-point shooting (47.2 percent), while ranking fourth in free throw shooting (88.9 percent), while also ranking in 17th in scoring.

Working The Boards
In the 101-99 win over Houston, the Blazers outrebounded the Cougars, 35-30, marking the fourth consecutive opponent UAB has owned an advantage on the boards. It was also the 17th time in 26 games that the Blazers have outrebounded the opposition. When that happens, it is usually a good thing, as UAB is now 16-1 on the year when owning a rebounding advantage in a game.

Furthermore, in UAB's 18 wins this season, it owns a +6.7 advantage on the boards (37.5-30.8). However, in the Blazers' eight losses, they have been outworked on the glass, 39.4-34.9, for a -4.5 disadvantage.

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 last Wednesday, the Blazers connected on 34-of-42 free throws on the night (81.0 percent). During Conference USA play, UAB has shot an impressive 78.8 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 70.9 percent foul shooting as a team.

Darth Vaden
Junior Robert Vaden is certainly making a push for All-America and Conference USA Player of the Year accolades by his performance on the court. He scored 27 points in the one-point loss to No. 1/1 Memphis on Feb. 16. He enters the SMU game leading the team in scoring average (20.8 ppg), three-point shooting (41.2 percent) and minutes per game (35.0). Furthermore, he ranks second in the nation and leads Conference USA in three-point field goals made per game (4.2). He also leads Conference USA in minutes played, ranks third in free throw percentage (86.9 percent) and three-point percentage and is fourth in scoring.