March 11, 2004

CINCINNATI, Ohio ----- The UAB Blazers, a fourth seed in the Conference USA Tournament, will face the No. 5 seed Charlotte 49ers on Thursday at 12 p.m. CST. The game will mark the second consecutive year the two teams have met in the C-USA Tournament.

The Blazers have not played since an 87-62 win over TCU in the season finale. UAB is led by senior guard Mo Finley who has team highs of 12.7 ppg, 50 threes and 153 threes attempted. Gabe Kennedy averages a team-high 5.6 boards per contest, while also contributing 11.9 ppg - the second best on the team. Carldell "Squeaky" Johnson has team-highs of 4.0 assists and 2.2 steals per game.

The 49ers enter the contest after coming off a 78-48 win over Tulane in the opening game of the C-USA Tournament on Wednesday. UAB and Charlotte played once this season, with UAB taking a 69-62 win in Halton Arena in Charlotte, N.C. on Jan. 24. Charlotte's Curtis Withers led all players with game-highs of 26 points and 11 boards, while Finley led UAB with 17 points on the night.

The game will be televised on ESPN Plus and will be carried in certain markets by CSS. The game can also be heard live on WYDE 101.1 FM with Gary Sanders doing play-by-play and Matt Coulter providing the color commentary.