Nov. 24, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The national awards are starting to pile up following an outstanding week for the UAB men's basketball team. UAB senior guard/forward Robert Vaden has been named the Conference USA men's basketball Player of the Week, league officials announced on Monday. Additionally, the Blazers have been selected as ESPN.com's National Team of the Week.

"I am glad to see our performance on the court has given us some national attention," UAB head coach Mike Davis said. "However, there are still a lot of games left to be played. It is nice for our program to be recognized, but at the same time, we have to stay focused and continue to work hard and everything else will take care of itself."

Vaden's player of the week award, which is his third career C-USA weekly honor, marks the second time in two weeks that a UAB player has garnered the accolade (Lawrence Kinnard earned the recognition on Nov. 17).

"Robert played a big role for us this week," Davis said. "He is a big reason why we are 4-0 to start the season. He has worked extremely hard and it's good to see his hard work is paying off. I am very happy people around the league have taken notice."

Vaden led UAB to three road wins, including a berth into the 2008 NIT Season Tipoff semifinals in Madison Square Garden. During the week, Vaden averaged 23.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. He also shot 53.3 percent (24-of-45) from the floor and 53.6 percent (15-of-28) from three-point range in the three games.

Against Santa Clara on Nov. 17, he collected 23 points, hitting 8-of-8 free throws, and had nine rebounds to lead UAB to a 64-61 win. The next day against host Arizona, he tallied 20 points, five rebounds and three assists to lift the Blazers to the semifinals this week. Vaden capped his week with 28 points and six rebounds in a 77-62 win at Old Dominion. He accounted for 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting in the first half.

The awards did not stop there, as UAB was named ESPN.com's National Team of the Week. ESPN's basketball analyst Andy Katz was high on the Blazers' performance this past week.

"Beating Santa Clara and Arizona on successive nights in Tucson and then following that up by getting a win Saturday at Old Dominion in a difficult road assignment was as impressive a week as Mike Davis has had in his three years as coach in Birmingham," Katz wrote in his weekly column.

The Blazers will prepare for No. 11/13 Oklahoma on Wednesday in the Dicks Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals at Madison Square Garden. The contest will be televised live on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. ET (8 p.m. CT).