Nov. 25, 2008

NIT Press Conference | NIT Semifinal Game Notes | NIT Bracket (PDF)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team will travel to New York, N.Y. to square off against No. 11/13 Oklahoma in the semifinal round of the 2008 Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off . The contest between the Blazers and Sooners will be nationally-televised on ESPN2 and will tip off at approximately 9 p.m. ET (8 p.m. CT).

The Blazers and Sooners are the second game of the evening at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The first game, slated for 7 p.m., features the Purdue Boilermakers and the Boston College Eagles, which will also air on ESPN2.

The NIT Season Tip-Off championship game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 28, with the consolation game beginning at 1:30 p.m. the same day. Both games on Friday will be broadcast on ESPN2.

UAB enters Wednesday's contest against Oklahoma on quite a roll to begin the 2008-09 season. The Blazers have opened the campaign with four consecutive victories, all coming on the road. Most recently, the Blazers captured an impressive 77-62 victory at Old Dominion last Saturday to improve to 4-0 for the first time since the 2004-05 campaign.

The Blazers are led by three seniors who average double figures. Senior guard/forward Robert Vaden, a Naismith Award candidate and Preseason C-USA Player of the Year recipient, leads the team in points (18.8) and is second in rebounding (6.0). He also leads the team with 15 treys on the season (15-of-34).

Senior guard Paul Delaney III is second on the team, averaging 17.3 ppg, to go along with 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Senior Lawrence Kinnard averages 15.3 points and a team-best 9.3 rebounds per contest.

Similar to UAB, the No. 12-ranked Oklahoma Sooners enter Wednesday's NIT Semifinals with a perfect 4-0 mark on the season. The Sooners, who are the tournament's No. 2 overall seed, captured the South Region championship with a pair of wins over Mississippi Valley State (94-53) and Davidson (82-78) on Nov. 17 and 18, respectively.

Most recently, Oklahoma squeaked past Gardner-Webb, 80-76, last Saturday thanks in large part to junior forward Blake Griffin, who accounted for 35 points and 21 rebounds in the contest. It marked his second straight 20-plus rebound performance, as Griffin also collected 21 boards to go with 25 points in the win over Davidson on Nov. 18.

On the season, Griffin's monster numbers of 26.0 points and 19.3 rebounds per contest lead Oklahoma. He is also leading the team in shooting percentage, converting 74.5 percent (38-of-51) from the floor and is a perfect 2-of-2 from the three-point line. He also has a team-leading 11 steals on the season (2.75 per game).

Griffin is not the only offensive weapon, as freshman guard Willie Warren averages 15.3 ppg, while senior forward Taylor Griffin, the older brother of Blake, collects 10.5 ppg. Senior guard Austin Johnson leads the team with an average of 4.5 assists per game.

UAB and Oklahoma will meet on the hardwood for the second time in series history. It will mark the first matchup between the two teams since March 18, 1983, when the squads met in the NCAA Tournament in Evansville, Ind. In that contest, the Sooners captured a 71-63 win over the Blazers in the first round of the NCAAs. Despite having only met once, Oklahoma head coach Jeff Capel is familiar with UAB basketball. While the head coach at VCU, Capel met the Blazers on two previous occasions, falling both times (68-58 on 12/18/03 and 79-55 on 11/27/04).