05-25-2007, 11:16 PM
Here are the Today in Blazer History reports from December 2005
12/3/05 Nebraska
The Birth of the Bart
The Date:
December 3rd has been a great date for UAB to play games. The Blazers are 6-0 on this date, the first game in 1980 against Butler and the last game in 2003 against Birmingham Southern. UAB has won games by an average of 25 points on this date, although the number is slightly skewed by a 61 point win over Prairie View A&M in 1991.
Two games to look at on this date that stand out. First, on December 3, in 1988, the Blazers played their first game in Bartow Arena, known at the time as UAB Arena. The first opponent was Vanderbilt. The Commodores were coached by former Alabama coach, C.M. Newton.. The new arena cost $11 million to build and was one of the things that Gene Bartow wanted most of all...a true home court. The Blazers entered the game, somewhat in disarray as one of their players, Bruce Baker had left the team earlier in the week, citing personal problems. Vanderbilt came into the game riding a high, as they had beaten 13th ranked Louisville earlier in the week. The first game in the Arena had a crowd of 8397. The game started out badly for the Blazers as the Commodores jumped out to a 9-0 start. However, UAB tied the game at 11. The game went back and forth, but the Blazers took the lead for good with seven minutes to go in the game on an Andy Kennedy three pointer. The Blazers won the game 76-69, to open the new Arena. Kennedy led the Blazers with 26 points, despite missing his first five three pointers. UAB would be formidable in the Arena for the first couple of years. They only lost five games at home in their first four years in the Arena.
The other game to review for this date occurred 10 years ago in 1995 when UAB traveled to Auburn to play their in state rival, the Tigers. This would be Gene Bartow’s last game against the Tigers. Auburn was undefeated at 4-0 and coming off an impressive win over Louisville in the championship game of the San Juan Shootout. The Blazers were 1-1, but was troubled coming into the game as they had just learned that senior point guard Leonard Bush would be out for four to six weeks with a broken foot. Bush who had started 30 of 32 games in his career had broken his foot in the second half of a 105-52 route of Prairie View A&M in the previous game. The Blazers were very banged up, surprisingly so early in the season. Eight of UAB’s 11 players had some sort of injury. Jeremy Bearden was playing with a cast and Norman Williams had a sore elbow. However, the most important Blazer to the team, Carlos Williams was healthy. Auburn entered the game without Moochie Norris and Chris Davis because of questions about academic eligibility. The game started with UAB leading the entire first half and had a 23-21 halftime lead. Lance Weems put Auburn on top early in the second half with a three pointer, but freshman Damon Cobb introduced himself to Blazer fans by scoring the next nine points, including back to back three pointers, one of which was a four point play. A three point play by Carlos Williams put the Blazers up 37-28 and UAB never looked back as they won the game 66-54. Carlos Williams led the Blazers with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Cobb had 11 points and Anthony Thomas had 13 points. Coach Gene Bartow would finish his career with 8 wins and 5 losses to the Tigers.
The Opponent:
We all know the history behind tonight’s opponent. Nebraska was the very first foe that the Blazers ever faced on November 24, 1978. We lost that first game by the score of 64-55. Nebraska was a very good team that year, and had almost everyone back from a team that had won 22 games and was a quarterfinalist in the NIT the year before. In 1978, the Cornhuskers had been picked in the top 20 in several preseason polls. Joe Cipriano, coach at Nebraska, agreed to play UAB in a home and home series. It is a testament to Gene Bartow's connections that he got a big name school to agree to a home and home with a program who had never even played a game before. This team played a great first game, but lost to Nebraska, 64-55 before a crowd of 14,800. Leading scorer for the Blazers in that first game was George Jones with 14 points. He had four field goals, but was 6 for 6 from the line. Greg Leet had 11 points. A couple of memories of the game. They gave out buttons to fans that read, “I was there. UAB vs. Nebraska November 24, 1978”. They also gave out free candy bars at the game. A new candy bar was being introduced to the market. To me, that candy bar will always be tied to the birth of UAB athletics. That candy bar was none other than the Twix Bar.
Tonight’s game is the second in a home and home series with Nebraska. Last year, on December 2, the Cornhuskers came to Bartow Arena for the first game between the two schools in 25 years. It was a big night for Blazer fans as the 2004 Sweet 16 banner was raised to the roof and the football team was on hand to sign autographs and accept their invitation to the Hawaii Bowl. However, the night belonged to Marques Lewis who had a career high 19 points. Previously, he had never scored more than 10 points in a game, and he had that amount by halftime. Mike Anderson called it a “breakout game” for Lewis, who led the Blazers in scoring and to a 3-0 record. The Blazers jumped out to a 16-8 lead, including a Ronell to Donell Taylor alley-oop dunk. UAB led by 8 at halftime, and held a double digit lead for most of the second half. Donell Taylor had 15 points and Demario Eddins had 11 points as UAB won the game 80-66. Nebraska started four seniors, but was led in scoring by Joe McCray, a freshman off the bench with 24 points. It was Nebraska’s first loss of the season. They would finish the season 14-14. .
The Place: Lincoln, NE
The Blazers have only played in Lincoln, Nebraska on one occasion, on December 22, 1979, but the game was long enough for them to get their money’s worth. Just like this year, this was the return game for the home and home series with Nebraska. Moe Iba was the interim coach at Nebraksa. The game was a matchup of two former Memphis State coaches. Iba had been the coach at Memphis State in the early 1970's and had been replaced by Gene Bartow. The game was officiated by one Sun Belt ref and one high school referee, filling in for the Big 8 Conference. In the first half, Nebraska went to the free throw line 18 times, hitting 16. The Blazers went to the line 3 times. Larry Spicer was quoted as saying "The officials just weren't very good." This game is memorable because it is the longest game ever played by UAB. The two teams played four overtime periods. At the end of regulation, Keith McCord hit a shot with 6 seconds left to put the game into the first overtime. At the end of the second overtime, with the score tied 70-70, UAB had two shots rim out at the end. In the third overtime, Spicer hit a shot with seven seconds left to put the game into the fourth overtime with the score 78-78. Unfortunately, in the 4th overtime, the Blazers, tired from a long road trip, had the bottom drop out. UAB got down three points early, and could not catch up. Nebraska won 92-84 in an unprecedented four overtimes. Larry Spicer led with 22 points. Andre Smith had 33 points for Nebraska.
The Bench:
Barry Collier is 0-1 against the Blazers as a head coach, losing last year 80-66. He has faced UAB one other time as an assistant coach in 1986, when he was an assistant to Mike Montgomery and the Stanford Cardinal His team beat UAB 99-80 in Palo Alto, California. .
12/6/05 DePaul
Bulldogs and Blue Demons
The Date:
UAB has won four games and lost three on this date. Our first game on this date was a loss to Ole Miss in 1980 and our last game was a loss to Mississippi State in 2003. We are 1-3 on the road on this date.
On this date in 1986, the Blazers played in the championship game of the Apple Invitational in Palo Alto, California, hosted by the Stanford Cardinal. UAB had defeated Hawaii Pacific in the first round and was matched up against a team coached by Mike Montgomery in his first year at Stanford. Nothing went right for the Blazers and UAB found themselves down 55-31 at halftime. Meanwhile, Stanford led by Todd Lichti with 16 points shot 62% from the field coasted to 99-80 Cardinal win. UAB was led by Tracy Foste with 24 points. Foster was also named MVP of the tournament.
The last game played on this date was played in 2003 against Mississippi State in Starkville, Mississippi. The Bulldogs were led by Lawrence Roberts and Timmy Bowers. Both teams lit up the baskets in the first half. Mississippi State made 50% of their first half shots, but UAB was shooting a hot 64.5% in the first half, as the teams played to a 49-49 tie. The Blazers were hampered all night by fouls as the referees, led by SEC-loving official John Clougherty whistled UAB for 29 fouls to 15 for the Bulldogs. Mississippi State shot 43 free throws in the game making 26 of them while UAB shot only 13, including only three in the second half. Despite these obstacles, the Blazers hung tough behind an amazing performance by Mo Finley. Finley gave UAB its largest lead of the game at the eight minute mark with a 73-64 lead. However, the Bulldogs stormed back on a 9-3 run and Timmy Bowers gave the Bulldogs the lead, 84-83 with 1:06 minutes remaining in the game. Mo Finley tied the game at 84 seconds later with a free throw. The Bulldogs came down court and a missed three point shot was rebounded by Lawrence Roberts and allowed Mississippi State to set up for the last shot. The Bulldogs ran the clock down and got the ball in to Roberts who, surrounded by Blazers, hit a short hook with 3.1 seconds left in the game. The Bulldogs escaped with a victory 86-84. For Blazer fans, there were two stories: the inconsistent whistles by the referees and Mo Finley. Finley finished with 38 points, including the last 17 points scored by the Blazers. He hit 15 of 21 field goals and was 5 of 7 from three point range. His performance earned him CUSA player of the week, and he set records for most points scored by a UAB on an opponents court and in a losing effort. Finley would be injured in the next game against Western Michigan and miss a few games, but he would face another SEC team that 2003-04 season in the NCAA tournament in which he would make the winning shot and the cover of Sports Illustrated.
The Opponent:
Today marks the 31st meeting between DePaul and UAB, with DePaul holding the lead 18-12. Many of those wins for DePaul came in the early 1980’s when they were consistently one of the premier teams in the country. We have only won four out of fourteen games in Chicago, having last won there in 2001. This is also the third meeting between DePaul and UAB in 2005.
I was very glad to see that our series with DePaul is continuing even though they have left CUSA because in the past two years, this series has gotten very interesting. In today’s look back at the series, I am going to focus on the last three games of the series because the last three games have been three of the most exciting games in the UAB-DePaul series.
The first game took place March 12, 2004 in the semi finals of the CUSA tournament. The Blazers had lost at DePaul by 11 earlier in the season. Although both teams were co-champions in the regular season, tie breakers had given DePaul the #1 seed and UAB was the #4 seed. In the first half, UAB kept pressure on Drake Diener, denying him the opportunity to shoot threes, and the Blazers went to the half with 37-29 lead. They pushed the lead to 16 points early in the second half as their trapping defense forced DePaul into three turnovers in the first minute of the second half. However, the Blue Demons started protecting the ball and did not turn the ball over again after the 10 minute mark of the game. Led by Delonte Holland, the Blue Demons stormed back and took the lead, DePaul had a five point lead with 1:35 left in regulation when Mo Finley scored five straight points to tie the game, including a floating jumper to send the game to overtime. In overtime, there was only one field goal by both teams as they traded free throws and had six lead changes. Delonte Howard hit two free throws with 5.3 seconds left and blocked Sidney Ball’s shot with 0.3 seconds to go, to seal the victory for the Blue Demons 75-74. Finley led the Blazers with 20 points and Squeaky Johnson had 14 points and tied a tournament record with 11 assists.
The two teams would meet again on March 2, 2005 in the final home game of the 2004-05 season for the Blazers. Again they would play to overtime. DePaul entered the game with a 18-7 record and was 10-4 in conference play. UAB was 18-9 and 8-6 in conference play. Both teams was playing for seeding in the upcoming CUSA tournament. The game was tight throughout the first half with DePaul going to the lockers with a two point lead. They increased the lead to 8 points, 50-42 early in the second half on three point shooting by Drake Diener, who had six threes in the game. The Blazers fought back to close the gap and a three pointer by Demario Eddins tied the game at 75 with 45 seconds left in regulation. Donell Taylor hit two free throws early in the overtime and UAB maintained its lead. DePaul had a chance to tie the game at the end of ovetime, but Drake Diener missed a three pointer. DePaul got the offensive rebound and called timeout with 12 seconds left. The Blazers did not allow the Blue Demons a good shot at a three pointer and DePaul missed a desperation shot. Levar Seals for DePaul scored a put back with one second left to make it 81-80, the final score, giving UAB the victory. Demario Eddins led the Blazers with 22 points and Donell Taylor added 21.
As if that game was not exciting enough, the two teams would meet yet again, eight days later in Memphis in the second round of the CUSA tournament on March 10. UAB opened the game missing 9 of their first 11 shots. DePaul had jumped out to a 24-13 lead with four minutes left in the half. However, the half closed with UAB making an 11-2 run and cutting the halftime deficit to two points. In the second half, DePaul held down their turnovers despite the troublesome defense by the Blazers and had built the lead back to ten points with nine minutes left to play. The Blazers battled back and a three point shot by Demario Eddins at the 1:28 point gave the Blazers their first lead of the game at 56-55. DePaul tied the game on a free throw and had the ball working to take the winning shot, when Drake Diener was called for walking with 28 seconds left in the game. It looked as if there would be yet another overtime in this series as the Blazers got the ball. However, Demario Eddins got the ball in the corner and hit a three point shot with .8 seconds left on the clock, and UAB won the game 59-56. Eddins and Donell Taylor each had 11 points to lead the Blazers.
So there you are. Three very exciting games between these two teams decided by only five points.
The Place:
The Blazers are 4-11 in Chicago. The only non DePaul game played in the Windy City was in the very first Great Midwest Tournament in 1992, when UAB lost in the first round to Memphis.
The Bench:
One thing missing this year from the DePaul – UAB series is coach Dave Leitao, who left for the ACC pastures as the new coach of Virginia. The new coach, Jerry Wainwright is very familiar with UAB. As the former coach of the Richmond Spiders, he and Mike Anderson have faced each other in each of the past five years. Wainwright holds a 2-1 edge over Anderson and UAB.
12/10/05 Alcorn State
The Date:
UAB is 3-4 in games played on December 10. The last game played on this date was just last year, when we played Oklahoma State. We have only played two games at home on December 10, but we won both of them in 1985 when we beat Auburn and in 1994, when we beat Cal Santa Barbara.
In 1985, on this date, UAB played Auburn for only the fourth time in the series. Auburn fans could hardly concentrate on basketball, as Bo Jackson had won the Heisman Trophy three days before the game. Auburn had been ranked #10 in the preseason poll, but had lost two games and came into the UAB game 3-2 and had dropped out of the top 25. UAB was 5-1 and ranked #16 in polls, with only a loss to #3 Duke. These were two of the greatest teams UAB and Auburn have ever fielded. The Tigers had Chris Morris, Chuck Person, Frank Ford, Gerald White, and Jeff Moore. UAB had Steve Mitchell, Jerome Mincy, James Ponder, Michael Charles and Archie Johnson. Despite being televised on ESPN, 15,502 showed up for the game, and some were even Auburn fans. UAB led 35-27 at the half and four minutes into the second half, the Blazers had the lead up to fourteen points. However, Auburn scored 10 unanswered points. With 51 seconds left, Auburn had pulled to within two points. UAB had struggled at the line in the second half, hitting 5 of 13 in the final seven minutes, including missing four straight front ends of one and ones. With 40 seconds left, Auburn fouled Michael Charles, a pitiful 33% free throw shooter, who had missed three straight front ends of one and ones. However, when it counted, he hit both free throws giving UAB a four point lead. The Blazers won the game 62-56. Chuck Person led Auburn with 17 points. Michael Charles led UAB with 12 points.
On this date in 1996, the Blazers traveled to Mobile to face their old Sun Belt rival, South Alabama. The big news in the newspaper, however, was not the UAB South Alabama game. It was that Mike Dubose had been hired as head coach of the Crimson Tide. Paul Bryant Jr. was quoted in the Birmingham News as saying “Papa would approve”. That has nothing to do with Blazer history, but I found it amusing when I was researching the game. Anyway, the Blazers started the game strong and had a 35-25 lead at the half. Carlos Williams had scored 14 of UAB’s first 16 points, all in the first 10 minutes of the half. However, he was shut down during the last ten minutes of the first half. In the second half, South Alabama came out hot and pulled to within three points, outscoring UAB 8-2 in three and a half minutes. Carlos Williams then sparked a 9-2 UAB run and pushed the lead back to ten points with five minutes gone in the second half. South Alabama would not give up though and cut the lead to foru, 53-49 with 4:35 to go in the game. The Blazers missed two front ends of one and ones and the Jaguars tied the game at 55 with 1:02 to go. The game went to overtime, but UAB had nothing left, while South Alabama was cruising along. The Jaguars outscored UAB 9-2 in the final 4:35 and then scored 19 points in overtime to only 8 points by UAB. South Alabama won the game 74-63. It is the last time that the Jaguars have beaten UAB in four tries. UAB was led in scoring by Carlos Williams with 27 points.
The Opponent:
The Blazers have faced Alcorn State five times and are undefeated against the Braves. Our biggest victory has been by 51 points, 104-53 in 1989. Our closest win was on January 2, 2001 when we won 76-68. UAB has topped the century mark against Alcorn State in three of the five games.
In that January 3, 2001 game, the Blazers entered the game struggling at 6-5. UAB led by as much as 15 points in the first half, but allowed Alcorn State to pull within four points with 1:58 left in the game. The managed to hang on to win by eight points in a flat showing for the Murry Bartow led team. There were a few high notes. David Walker led the Blazers with 26 points and 9 rebounds and Tony Johnson had seven steals.
The last game played against Alcorn State occurred on December 4, 2001. UAB entered the game with two wins and four losses and Coach Murry Bartow was hoping the game would spark his team. His starters began the game poorly, and had five turnovers in the first four minutes. Bartow benched all five starters at the 16:07 mark when Alcorn State took the lead 8-7. This tactic worked well in this game as the Blazers then began to play like the better team. UAB pulled away from a 21-21 tie to take a halftime lead of 42-29. The Blazers were unstoppable in the second half, as they made 70% of their field goals. The team tied a school record with 14 made three pointers and placed seven players in double figures as the Blazers won 102-61. PJ Arnold led the Blazers with 22 points and six three pointers. Asa Woods had 19 points. Will Campbell had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. One telling note however was that the game had a listed attendance of only 2917 Blazer fans. The handwriting was already on the wall for Murry Bartow in his last season as coach. A 13-17 record that year would seal his fate.
The Bench:
Third year coach, Samuel West, has never coached against UAB as a head coach. However, he was an assistant at Alcorn State during three previous games against UAB, in November 1998, January 2001, and December 2001.
12/14/05 Minnesota
Clem and those Gopher Boys
The Date:
The Blazers have a good record of 5-2 on December 14, although the two losses are among the worst in UAB history, to Monmouth in 1990 and to Ball State in 1996. This is the first true road game we have played on this date. The Ball State game was in Hawaii, and in 1985 we beat West Texas State in Hawaii as well. All other games this date have been played at home.
The Monmouth game in 1990 was even worse because it was in the first round of the UAB Classic. The tournament was designed for UAB to get two easy wins, including Pac 10 member Washington State in the championship game. UAB had won every Classic with the exception of 1982 when they lost to Murray State and in 1984 when they lost to George Mason. Those losses came in the championship game. In 1990, a determined Monmouth team made sure the Blazers did not get out of the first round of their own tournament. The Hawks played a slow down half court offense and UAB could not get going. Monmouth never lost control of the tempo, but UAB led at the half 29-22. The Hawk passed the ball around the perimeter all night until the shot clock was drained. Monmouth took their first lead at 41-40 with eight minutes to go in the game. By the 2:35 mark, UAB was down by seven points, but managed to cut it to three, 54-51, with just over a minute to go. However, a Monmouth three point play with 59 seconds left sealed the victory for the Hawks. They won 62-60. It was only the third loss ever at Bartow Arena in over two seasons. Elbert Rogers led the Blazers with 17 points. Andy Kennedy would score 14 points, well below the 21.8 average he had during his senior year.
Our biggest win on this date came against tonight’s opponent, Minnesota. On this date in 1991, Clem Haskins brought his “highly educated” Minnesota team to Bartow Arena for an early season matchup. It was the first time in six years that UAB had faced Haskins, former coach at Western Kentucky Gene Bartow had won 8 of 11 games, but Haskins had won the last game. Both teams entered with only one loss on the season; UAB was 6-1 and Minnesota was 5-1. Minnesota entered the game ranked 10th in the RPI, but unranked in the polls. Their only loss was 92-83 to an Arkansas team with Mike Anderson as assistant coach. UAB entered the game with a loss to #1UNLV. UAB was undersized against the Golden Gophers. The Blazers tallest player was 6’7” and Minnesota started two 6’8” players and a 7 foot center. A crowd of 7427 showed up to see the game. Minnesota played a matchup zone in the first half, virtually shutting down UAB’s leading scorer, Elbert Rogers. Carter Long managed to get the Gophers out of their zone with three long jumpers, two of them just before the half. UAB held a one point lead at the half, due to Long’s quick eight points just before the half. This was their first lead of the half. Minnesota took the lead 46-41 with just over 16 minutes left in the game. At that point, Elbert Rogers went to work and scored ten points as a part of a 13-2 run in three minutes, giving the Blazers a six point lead. Minnesota would not get any closer and UAB led by as many as 13 points. The Blazers won at home by the score of 86-80. Rogers would finish with 32 points, 26 of those points in the second half.
The Opponent:
In addition to that 1991 game, we have played Minnesota two other times. The Blazers are 1-2 against the Golden Gophers.
On January 2, 1993, the Blazers traveled to Minneapolis to play Clem and the Gopher boys again. UAB trailed by four points at half time, but only scored 4 points in the first 7:44 of the second half. Minnesota went on a 14-4 run in the second half to go up 45-31. Then, they just stayed ahead, despite the Blazers cutting the lead to six points with 6:13 to go. Stanley Jackson was the only player to score in double figures with 25 points. It was the Blazers 3rd consecutive loss.
The Place: Minneapolis MN
The Blazers have played Minnesota twice in Minneapolis and have lost both games. In addition to the January 2, 1993 game, they played there again on March 16, 1998 in the second round of the NIT tournament.
UAB had beaten Missouri on the road to advance and was 21-11. Minnesota had surprised many by getting an NIT bid with a 16-16 record. This was probably due to their 1997 Big 10 championship and trip to the 1997 Final Four. After a home win against Colorado State, the NIT committee awarded the Big team team with the horrible record with another home game over the CUSA team with 20 wins. UAB struggled early in the game with three turnovers in its first five possessions. Cedric Dixon, UAB’s floor leader got in foul trouble early. However, just like the weather outside, the Golden Gophers were cold. The game was tied at 32 at the half. Unfortunately, the Blazers were cold in the second half. They managed just four field goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half and Minnesota built a ten point lead with 8:55 to go. The Blazers managed to cut it to three with 3:35 left, despite Dixon fouling out at the 6:39 mark. Minnesota kept building the lead however and UAB could not catch them. Damon Cobb cut the lead to four points with 1:11 left when he was fouled and hit his first free throw. He was unable to cut it to three because he missed the second free throw. Minnesota then scored nine unanswered points and the game was over. Minnesota won 79-66 and UAB’s season was finished at 21-12. Damon Cobb led the Blazers with 15 points and Fred Williams had 11 points. Amazingly, Minnesota would be awarded another home game, which they won and they would eventually win the 1998 NIT tournament. However, coach Clem Haskins, who was named national coach of the year one year earlier in 1997, was only one year away from disgrace and ouster from the college basketball world.
The Bench:
The Minnesota coaching staff is loaded with UAB alumni. Head coach Dan Monson, who is in his sixth season at Minnesota, was instrumental in Gonzaga’s rise to national prominence when he was head coach there from 1994-97. He had been an assistant at Gonzaga since 1988. Prior to 1988, Monson was a graduate assistant coach at UAB under Gene Bartow. He received his Masters Degree in education with a concentration on athletic administration from UAB in 1988. This is the first time he has coached against UAB, his alma mater.
Assistant coach Bill Walker is also a graduate of UAB. Interestingly, his bio on the Minnesota athletics web site claims he was an assistant coach at UAB from 1987-1989 From the Minnesota website:
“Walker spent two years before his tenure at Missouri-St. Louis as an assistant at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he and Monson first crossed paths. Monson was also an assistant coach under Gene Bartow (1987-89), where their 1988-89 squad finished third in the NIT tournament.”
The truth is that neither Walker or Monson were assistant coaches for Gene Bartow. Monson, as stated earlier was a graduate assistant. Walker? He is listed as a staff assistant in the 1987-88 UAB media guide. He did get his Masters degree from UAB, although he may have padded his resume a little.
Also on the bench for Minnesota is Jim Molinari. He has faced UAB many times. As an assistant at DePaul from 1978-1989, he faced UAB nine times, and was on the winning side in eight contests. As head coach at Bradley from 1991-2002, he faced UAB twice and won in 2000 and lost to the Blazers in 2001.
12/19/05 Centenary
Georgia on my Mind
The Date:
The record for today’s date is 4-2. The two losses are against the same team, Georgia. The wins are against Idaho State, Prairie View A&M, Louisiana Tech, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Uhhh, we are going to talk about the losses.
On this date way back in 1981, UAB traveled to Atlanta Georgia to play in the annual Cotton States Classic. This tournament usually featured either Georgia or Georgia Tech and two other opponents. It is now the Chick-fila Peach Bowl Classic. In 1981, the other two teams were UAB and Southern Miss. UAB had defeated Southern Miss in the first round and next up was Georgia. The previous year, Hugh Durham and the Bulldogs had made the postseason for the first time in school history when they were selected to play in the NIT tournament. This year, they had all five starters returning, including someone by the name of Dominique Wilkins. UAB meanwhile, was ranked 16th in the nation with a 6-1 record. Georgia jumped out in front early with a 6-0 lead and led most of the game. However, the Blazers stayed close and took a one point lead with 3:35 to go in the game. Georgia would hit eight straight free throws and never trailed again. Georgia won the game 76-72. A look at stats shows that the home team went to the free throw line a lot more than UAB. The Bulldogs were 26 of 36 on free throws. UAB was 4 of 6, and only shot one free throw in the second half. UAB was also hurt in the game by the non production at the center spot. Blazer centers Donnie Speer, Norman Anchrum and Lex Drum combined for 8 points, 5 rebounds and 12 fouls. Dominique Wilkins was held to 12 points. Chris Giles came out of an early season slump to score 22 points and 18 rebounds, a record at the time. Oliver Robinson, who had 12 points was named to the All tournament team.
UAB would play Georgia six years later on December 19, this time in the unlikely locale of Tokyo, Japan. 1987 was a year in which earthquakes seemed to follow the Blazers around the world. Two weeks earlier, UAB had played in the Great Alaska Shootout, and had left Alaska the day before an earthquake hit. As they arrived for the Phenix NCAA Ball in Tokyo, a quake measuring 6.6 hit Japan, but the Birmingham News reports that an 18 hour trip and jet lag caused most of the players to sleep through it. The Phenix NCAA Ball featured UAB, Georgia, and New Orleans and the three teams played round robin rather than tournament style. UAB entered the game at 6-3. All three losses had come to teams that were ranked in the top 10 at the time they played. They had lost to preseason ranked #1 Syracuse and #9 Michigan in the Great Alaska Shootout, and they lost at home to #7 ranked Wyoming. Unfortunately this game was not close as Georgia led most of the game. There was a mismatch at the guard spot with Michael Charles going up against All-American Willie Anderson. Charles was 3 of 18 from the field. The Bulldogs won 85-66. UAB was led in scoring by Reginald Turner with 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Blazers would lose the following day to New Orleans as well. Gene Bartow was happy to get his team out of Japan. They had come to Japan thinking that their three losses to top ten teams might be a sign of a good team. They left with two bad losses and a 6-5 record. It would turn out to be Bartow’s worst team to date with a final record of 16-15.
The Opponent:
We have played Centenary one time, on February 12, 2001 and won the game 97-62. The only story in this game is that of Ronnie McCallum. McCallum played for Centenary and was leading the nation in scoring with 28.8 points a game. He was out of Fayette County High School and had been recruited by UAB, but was never offered a scholarship. This was because he was 230 pounds. Now, in his senior year at Centenary, he was 6’8” and 200 pounds and leading the nation in scoring by more than five points a game. This game was never in doubt as UAB had a 21 point lead by halftime. The students began calling for Bill Armstrong, UAB’s walk on four minutes into the second half. The Blazers won by 35 points and was led in scoring by Eric Batchelor with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Igor Nikolic had 15 points and Will Campbell had 14 points and 12 rebounds. McCallum had 26 points in his home state.
The Bench:
First year coach, Rob Flaska, has one thing in common with Mike Anderson. They both got their first Division I head coaching job after being an assistant at Arkansas. Prior to Arkansas, Flaska was an assistant at TCU, where he faced the Blazers twice in 2002. His team won one game and we won one.
Also on the Centenary bench will be assistant coach Mike Smith. He was a starting member of that New Orleans team mentioned earlier in this report that beat UAB in Tokyo, Japan.
12/22/05 Old Dominion
Not Everyone Loves Gene Bartow
The Date:
UAB is 7-6 in games played on December 22. We have lost our last three games played on this date, including last year’s game to Southern Cal. We are 5-1 in games played at home on this date.
On this date in 1983, the Blazers hosted Gene Bartow’s former school, Valparaiso. Bartow coached Valparaiso from 1964 to 1970, and led the Crusaders to a 93-69 record before leaving for Memphis State. Tom Smith, who was the coach of Valpo in 1983 had played for Bartow when Bartow coached the Crusaders. Coach Smith had his team play four corners defense, milking the 45 second shot before taking any shots. Meanwhile, UAB played poorly without intensity shooting only 36%. They led 30-22 at the half. After the break, UAB hit its first nine shots, with Steve Mitchell and McKinley Singleton doing most of the work. Valparaiso never led in the game, yet the Blazers could not get a comfortable lead. The Crusaders cut the lead to nine with a minute to play, and Bartow had to put the starters back into the game. In the last minute, the Blazers pushed the lead out to 15 points. They won the game 64-49. Mitchell led the Blazers in scoring with 17 points. Jerome Mincy had 14 points and 13 rebounds as the Blazers improved to 9-1.
Last year on this date, UAB played Southern Cal in the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii. UAB entered the semi finals of the tournament after beating Clemson the night before. Southern Cal led by six at the half, after shooting 50% in the first half. They stretched the lead to 13 points, 68-55 with under ten minutes left in the game. At that point the Blazers started a furious comeback to take a 75-73 lead with 2:41 to go. UAB had outscored the Trojans 20-5 in a seven minute run. The game appeared to be headed to overtime when the score was tied at 78, but Rory O’Neill hit a three pointer from the top of the key with five seconds to go, to give USC a 81-78 lead. Demario Eddins attempted three pointer to tie the game fell short and Southern Cal advanced to the championship. Donell Taylor led the Blazers with 19 points. Ronell Taylor and Demario Eddins each scored 11 points.
The Opponent:
The Blazers are 14-8 all time against Old Dominion. The Monarchs were in the Sun Belt Conference from 1982 to 1991 and was one of the better teams. UAB and Old Dominion have not played since 1991 when they both left the Sun Belt Conference. UAB is 9-1 against the Monarchs in Birmingham, and 3-0 in the Arena. The Blazers very last Sun Belt game was against the Old Dominion Monarchs. It came March 2, 1991 in the Sun Belt Tournament in Mobile. Both teams were leaving the Sun Belt. Old Dominion was moving to the Colonial Athletic Conference and UAB was headed to the newly formed Great Midwest Conference. In the first round, UAB entered the tournament with a 9-5 conference record and the 2nd seed. Their first round opponent was Old Dominion. The Monarchs led by seven points with seven minutes to go in the game. With Chris Gatling, Old Dominion had controlled the boards and their longest shot all night had been free throws. However, the Blazers scored seven straight points using a full court press and took an 83-80 lead with just seconds to go in the game. Old Dominion brought the ball down, and freshman Joe Leake hit Old Dominion's only three point shot they had even attempted with 10 seconds to go, and the Monarchs sent the game to overtime. In overtime, Chris Gatling took over for the Monarchs, hitting six points. He had 32 points and 13 rebounds in only 29 minutes of play. Old Dominion won the game 99-95 in overtime. Elbert Rogers had 30 points for the Blazers.
Of course, when talking about the Old Dominion series, one game really stands out. On January 30, 1986, UAB travelled to Norfolk to play Old Dominion with a 19-5 record. They had dropped out of the top 20 after two losses in ten days to Western Kentucky. This game was on ESPN but after it was over, probably everyone involved wished it had not been televised. Tempers flared for the second game in five days. On January 25, UAB had candy bars thrown at them by Western Kentucky fans. It got uglier in this game at Old Dominion. UAB led for most of the game, but Old Dominion had cut it to four points in the second half before the Blazers got the lead back to ten points. That was when the fight erupted. The Monarch fans began showering the court with rolls of toilet paper and plastic megaphones whenever they disapproved of an officials call. A fight erupted after a charging foul was called on Old Dominion's Ronnie Wade. ODU coach Tom Young protested and he and Gene Bartow got into a shouting match at mid court. "I told officials that he (Young) was inciting the crowd." Bartow said later. Meanwhile, as more debris littered the court, some of the UAB players headed into the stands after being hit by plastic megaphones. Bartow said later that fans were cursing the players and throwing things all night and "one of our players had enough and went after one of them." The few police officers on duty rushed onto the court, but went straight to the UAB bench. Before order was restored, a police officer and Blazer assistant coach John Prince got tangled up with each other. At that point, Bartow pulled his team into the locker room and stayed there for 20 minutes. As they went to the locker room, Monarch fans threw ice and drinks at the players. After a 20 minute cooling period, both teams returned to the court. The Old Dominion Athletic Director took the microphone and warned that if the students did not stay in their seats, the game would be forfeited. As the game resumed, the Blazers were energized and went on 7-2 run. Old Dominion never threatened again, and UAB won 71-58. After the game, police mulled filing charges against John Prince. Prince threatened to file a complaint against the police. Finally, the police decided to not file charges if Prince promised not to file a complaint. Gene Bartow put the blame squarely on the Old Dominion administration. "I cannot understand putting the most hostile fans directly behind the visitor's bench" As a result of this game and the WKU game, Sun Belt Commissioner Vic Bubas instituted new guidelines, putting more security around the visitor's bench. Cheerleaders and mascots were warned about taunting officials and opposing players. Also, handouts would occur as fans exited a game or the practice would be discontinued. Some of those guidelines were new and are still around today.
The Bench:
Fifth year ODU coach, Blaine Stewart is coaching against the Blazers for the first time.
12/28/05 Oklahoma State
“What Happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”
The Date:
A lot of games played on this date. UAB has played 16 times on December 28, the most so far this season. Most of the games have been post Christmas holiday tournaments, but they have played a few home games. UAB is 3-0 in games played at home on this date, but those games are against the likes of Missouri Rolla, Alaska Anchorage, and Alabama A&M. Oklahoma State will offer a bit more competition.
On this date in 1985, the Blazers traveled to Las Vegas to play the Runnin Rebels in their UNLV Holiday Classic. UAB entered the game with only one loss, to Duke, who was ranked 3rd in the nation. UAB had lost to them in the Preseason NIT. In this tournament, the Blazers had beaten TCU 69-62 to advance to the championship game against UNLV, ranked #12 in the nation. UNLV was 36-1 at the Thomas and Mack center, with their only loss being in 198 to a Patrick Ewing-led Georgetown team who won a national championship. Jerome Mincy got into immediate foul trouble when he picked up his second foul with only two minutes gone in the half. Luckily, he did not foul out until seven seconds to go in the game. There was also some early excitement in the first half. UNLV led 10-7 with 15 minutes to go in the half, when James Ponder was elbowed in the mouth by UNLV player Fred Banks. No foul was called and when the referee ran down the court, a player on the UAB bench said something to the ref. The bench was hit with a technical. Coach Gene Bartow threw off his coat and had to be restrained. He yelled at the referees and screamed across the court at the UNLV athletic director. He also was awarded with a technical. Banks hit three of four technical shots. UNLV then got the ball and hit a basket. The five points gave the Rebels an 8 point lead, 15-7, which was the biggest lead of the game. By controlling the boards, UAB came back and took a 38-36 lead to halftime. As the 2nd half started, UNLV’s Fred Banks and Anthony Jones began hitting from outside because UAB was hutting down their 6’10” center, John Flowers. The Blazers still maintained the lead and led by four points with 1:56 to go in the game. UNLV cut the score to two and had the ball for the last shot. Anthony Jones took the shot from the corner with seven seconds left, but was fouled by Jerome Mincy, who received his fifth foul. Jones hit his first free throw to cut the lead to a single point. He missed the second free throw and Big Jack Gordon went up for the rebound to assure the win. Unfortunately, the ball was knocked out of his hands and out of bounds off the Blazers. The referee said that the ball was off Archie Johnson, but after the game, Archie denied that he touched the ball. UNLV’s Fred Banks got the inbound pass and shot a 20 footer over the fingertips of Steve Mitchell. The basketball swished through the net at the buzzer giving the Runnin Rebels a 73-72 victory. Steve Mitchell led the Blazers with 18 points and 6 assists. Ponder had 17 points. Anthony Jones led UNLV with 21 points and Fred Banks had 20. Coach Bartow said after the game “This one hurts so much because it was one we lost when we played well enough to win. Our kids gave a great effort. We played hard right to the wire and at the end, they did what we asked, but their man just stuck it in.” The Blazers’ record dropped to 12-2, and the Runnin’ Rebels would improve to 9-2. Their team would close the year in the Sweet 16 with a 31-4 record. Not all the Blazers left Las Vegas as losers, however. Dylan Howard won $1400 in the casinos, and broadcaster Gary Sanders picked up $100.
Also on this date in 1991, UAB played West Virginia in the Cable Car Classic Championship game in Santa Clara, California. The 10-1 Blazers had defeated the home team, Santa Clara to advance to the championship game. West Virginia had upset undefeated Boston College to advance. This game was neck and neck in the first half as there were 17 lead changes and 10 ties in the first half. UAB led by one point at halftime. The Blazers never trailed after intermission, and led by 10, 75-65 with 5:13 left in the game. However, a rash of turnovers and missed free throws helped the Mountaineers mount a comeback. The UAB lead disintegrated to a 76-73 advantage with less than two minutes to go. West Virginia had gone on an 8-1 run. With under two minutes to go and a UAB lead of 80-79, the Blazers needed a hero to step up. The Blazers only senior, Elbert Rogers was up to the task. UAB milked the 45 second shot clock down to eight seconds and got the ball to Rogers who sanked a 12 foot jumper with a hand in his face giving UAB a three point lead with 45 seconds left in the game. West Virginia was fouled and cut the lead back to one point on two made free throws and set up the half court press. The Blazers were having difficulty getting the ball across half court, so the 6’7” Rogers dribbled out of trouble like a seasoned point guard. Rogers also managed to block a shot with less than 20 seconds to go in the game to secure the Blazer victory. UAB won the Cable Car Classic by the score of 88-84. Elbert Rogers was named Most Valuable Player. He had scored 51 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in two games. He had also hit 17 of 19 free throws in the tournament. With 12 straight wins, the 1991-92 Blazers had set the record for the schools longest win streak. That record still stands today at 13.
The Opponent:
The Blazers have only played Oklahoma State on one occasion and that was last year on December 10. The undefeated Blazers traveled to Stillwater to take on the fifth ranked Cowboys. Oklahoma State led most of the first half, but UAB charged back and took a 22-20 lead when Donell Taylor hit two free throws with 6:05 remaining in the half. However, Oklahoma State went on a 10-0 run and took a 10 point lead to halftime. In the second half, John Lucas III, son of NBA coaching great John Lucas, scored half of his 18 points during a 14-0 run. Ronell Taylor had pulled the Blazers to within six points, 46-40, when the Cowboys went on their run. The Cowboy lead was never in jeopardy throughout the second half and Oklahoma State won 86-73. UAB was led in scoring by Donell Taylor with 17 points. Marques Lewis, and Oklahoma native, Richard Jones each had 11 points.
The Bench:
Eddie Sutton’s only game against the Blazers was last year. The legendary coach has 781 wins entering the season and is now 8th on the all time win list. He will be the winningest coach to ever coach a game at Bartow Arena. .
December 30, 2005 South Florida
The Gold Trophy Game
The Date:
UAB is great on December 30, with a fantastic record of 10-2. They lost their first game on this date in 1978 to Florida State, and they lost their last game on this date in 2003 to Marshall.
There have been some great milestones on this date, like in 1989 when the Blazers set the record for most points in a game when they beat Alabama State 118-85, or in 1995, when Carlos Williams scored 36 points in a win over Hawaii-Hilo. However, the game that sticks out as special to me is the game I have dubbed “The Gold Trophy game”
This game was played in 1986 and shows that the best laid plans sometimes do not pan out. Gene Bartow must have been very proud of his lineup for the UAB Classic Tournament that year. He had attracted Michigan with Glen Rice, Gary Grant and Antoine Joubert to play in the tournament. The Wolverines were 28-5 the previous season and were 7-2 coming into the tournament. Throw in two cupcakes for the first round, and the Blazers would be playing the Wolverines for the championship. That would get a good crowd to the BJCC. Also coming to town for the supposed Blazer-Wolverine matchup was ESPN and Dick Vitale. However, no one expected Middle Tennessee State to throw off the cupcake mantle and become a giant killer. In the first round, Middle Tennessee State upset Michigan by the score of 85-83 as Glen Rice’s three point shot rimmed out at the buzzer. Bartow’s dream matchup and full house fell short. The Blazers handled their first round opponent, Alaska Anchorage with ease, and prepared to take on the party-pooping Blue Raiders. UAB led most of the night, however, hot shooting by MTSU from the new three point line, being used that year as an experiment, kept them close. UAB had a six point lead with 1:54 left in the game, but Middle Tennessee State hit a three pointer and a two pointer to cut it to one. The Blazers got it back to three on two free throws, but with 13 seconds left, the Blue Raiders tied the game at 77, sending the game to overtime. In overtime, James Ponder took control, hitting 12 of the first 14 points, but again that newfangled three point shot kept MTSU in the game. From the final 1:42 of regulation until the end of overtime, they hit 5 out of 6 three pointers. “I didn’t like the three point shot when the rules committee put it in,” Bartow said after the game. “I like it even less now”. The game came down to a two point UAB lead with three seconds left and freshman Barry Bearden at the line. Bartow had sent his entire team to the other end to avoid a foul, so Bearden was surrounded by MTSU players at the line. He missed both free throws, but in a stroke of luck, the second miss came hard off the back of the rim, and the only Blazer in the area, Bearden got his own rebound. The game was over and UAB had won 93-91 on national TV. Eddie Collins was the leading scorer with 27 points. James Ponder had 25 points.I have a memory of Dick Vitale going crazy at the end of this game and yelling in the way only Vitale can, “ED-DEE COLLINS!!!, He wants the Gold Trophy!!!!”
The Opponent:
I wrote last year about the South Florida game: “It is hard to believe with them leaving CUSA that this may be the last time we play them for a while”. Well, I was wrong. I had forgot that we have played South Florida every year we have had a team with the exception of one year, and that we will go on playing them because that is what we do as Blazers. Tonight’s game is the 54th game between the two schools with UAB holding a 34-19 advantage. With numbers like that, you would think that the Blazers had been around for a long time.
I could go through all 53 games and pick the most interesting ones, but frankly, most of the games have been uneventful. Instead, I will do as I did last year, and present my Top 10 Most Interesting Moments in the South Florida series, in no particular order.
1. In 1980, UAB won the game 92-83, played in Lakeland Florida because South Florida did not have a home arena, as the Sun Dome was being built. The game was played in front of 336 fans.
2. Also in 1980, in Birmingham, Keith McCord scores 34 points and 11 rebounds as UAB wins 78-70. McCord becomes the first Blazer to score at least 30 points in a game.
3. In 2003, Mo Finley scoring 25 second half points, including 16 of the last 18 points to seal a 10 point victory on the road
4. In 1990, South Florida students wearing Alan Ogg masks in our game in Tampa trying to intimidate him. Did not work as he scored 14 points and the Blazers won 83-66.
5. In 2002, rowdy South Florida students travel to Bartow Arena to watch their Bulls lose 83-78 to the Blazers. UAB fans are shocked and angered when they cheer and hoot during the performance of the National Anthem.
6. In 1985, the Bulls prolific scorer, Charlie Bailey missing the front end of a one and one with seven seconds to go to ice a Bulls win. It was his first free throw miss in 29 tries. Seconds later, Steve Mitchell hits two free throws to give the Blazers a one point victory.
7. The worst Blazers home loss ever on February 21, 2001 when South Florida defeats UAB at home 75-47.
8. Defeating the Bulls in the 1983 Sun Belt Conference Tournament title game to win the Sun Belt Championship. It was UAB's 100th victory.
9. In 1999, Myron Ransom and BB Walden go face to face after Ransom gets a forearm to the throat. Ransom has to be restrained from going after the fans as he is escorted to the lockerroom. UAB wins a close one by three.
10. Sidney Ball's three pointer with 0.8 seconds to go in the game in 2004 to give us a two point victory and assure UAB of a spot in the NCAA tournament.
The Place: Tampa, FL
Let’s look at two games in the South Florida series to show how dangerous Tampa Florida is to play for the Blazers, especially recently. UAB is 14-10 in Tampa, with all of the games coming against South Florida. UAB has almost always struggled in Tampa. Gene Bartow once complained about the South Florida tradition of firing a cannon whenever someone dunked the ball. He was quoted as saying “It’s nauseating and classless in my opinion. There were a couple of places around the Sun Belt where there were a lack of class in those arenas. The nuts stand out more in a little place”
In recent years, UAB has gone to Tampa a heavy favorite and high expectations for a blowout over the Bulls, but in the past two years, the Blazers have struggled and heroics from unlikely players have had to save the day (and a bid to the NCAA tournament) for UAB.
In 2004, the 17-8 Blazers were battling for first place in CUSA with a 10-4 conference record when they went to Tampa to take on the Bulls, who was probably the worse team in CUSA. UAB seemed to be taking care of business early and led by 12 points at halftime, 36-24. However, the Blazers who shot 44.7% in the first half, only shot 29% in the second half, and allowed the Bulls back in the game. South Florida was down two points late in the game when Terrence Leather, hit a driving layup and was fouled on the play. He converted the free throw giving the Bulls a 59-58 lead with 11 seconds to go. Mo Finley brought the ball to midcourt and found a wide open Sidney Ball in the corner. Ball hit a three point shot with 0.8 seconds on the clock, allowing the Blazers to escape with a 61-59 win.
In 2005 Marques Lewis was the hero when UAB traveled to Tampa early in the conference season. Again, the Blazers blew a comfortable halftime lead. This time the lead at the break was 11 points. In the second half, UAB managed to hit just six field goals, and South Florida tied the game at 60 with 1:37 to go in the game. With 1:09 to go, Donell Taylor stole the ball and was fouled. He hit one of two free throws, giving the Blazers a 1 point lead. With 10 seconds to go in the game, South Florida’s Collin Dennis tied the game at 61 with a free throw. UAB had the last possession and it appeared to everyone that an overtime game would result in a loss due to UAB’s inability to score and South Florida’s momentum. Marques Lewis got the ball underneath and went up for the shot. He was fouled, putting him to the free throw line for two shots with three seconds to go in the game. Lewis missed the first one. He converted the second free throw, giving the Blazers a 62-61 lead, the final score. For the second straight year, UAB escaped Tampa with a close victory. Will it happen in today’s game as well?
The Bench:
Third year South Florida head coach, Robert McCullum is a native of Birmingham and is very familar with the city and UAB. He played in the mid 1970's for two years at Birmingham Southern, and was a coach from 1978-1982 at Ramsey High School. As an assistant at South Alabama, he coached against the Blazers many times, but he has a poor 2-8 record against UAB while at South Alabama. As a head coach at South Florida, he is 0-4 against the Blazers.
12/3/05 Nebraska
The Birth of the Bart
The Date:
December 3rd has been a great date for UAB to play games. The Blazers are 6-0 on this date, the first game in 1980 against Butler and the last game in 2003 against Birmingham Southern. UAB has won games by an average of 25 points on this date, although the number is slightly skewed by a 61 point win over Prairie View A&M in 1991.
Two games to look at on this date that stand out. First, on December 3, in 1988, the Blazers played their first game in Bartow Arena, known at the time as UAB Arena. The first opponent was Vanderbilt. The Commodores were coached by former Alabama coach, C.M. Newton.. The new arena cost $11 million to build and was one of the things that Gene Bartow wanted most of all...a true home court. The Blazers entered the game, somewhat in disarray as one of their players, Bruce Baker had left the team earlier in the week, citing personal problems. Vanderbilt came into the game riding a high, as they had beaten 13th ranked Louisville earlier in the week. The first game in the Arena had a crowd of 8397. The game started out badly for the Blazers as the Commodores jumped out to a 9-0 start. However, UAB tied the game at 11. The game went back and forth, but the Blazers took the lead for good with seven minutes to go in the game on an Andy Kennedy three pointer. The Blazers won the game 76-69, to open the new Arena. Kennedy led the Blazers with 26 points, despite missing his first five three pointers. UAB would be formidable in the Arena for the first couple of years. They only lost five games at home in their first four years in the Arena.
The other game to review for this date occurred 10 years ago in 1995 when UAB traveled to Auburn to play their in state rival, the Tigers. This would be Gene Bartow’s last game against the Tigers. Auburn was undefeated at 4-0 and coming off an impressive win over Louisville in the championship game of the San Juan Shootout. The Blazers were 1-1, but was troubled coming into the game as they had just learned that senior point guard Leonard Bush would be out for four to six weeks with a broken foot. Bush who had started 30 of 32 games in his career had broken his foot in the second half of a 105-52 route of Prairie View A&M in the previous game. The Blazers were very banged up, surprisingly so early in the season. Eight of UAB’s 11 players had some sort of injury. Jeremy Bearden was playing with a cast and Norman Williams had a sore elbow. However, the most important Blazer to the team, Carlos Williams was healthy. Auburn entered the game without Moochie Norris and Chris Davis because of questions about academic eligibility. The game started with UAB leading the entire first half and had a 23-21 halftime lead. Lance Weems put Auburn on top early in the second half with a three pointer, but freshman Damon Cobb introduced himself to Blazer fans by scoring the next nine points, including back to back three pointers, one of which was a four point play. A three point play by Carlos Williams put the Blazers up 37-28 and UAB never looked back as they won the game 66-54. Carlos Williams led the Blazers with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Cobb had 11 points and Anthony Thomas had 13 points. Coach Gene Bartow would finish his career with 8 wins and 5 losses to the Tigers.
The Opponent:
We all know the history behind tonight’s opponent. Nebraska was the very first foe that the Blazers ever faced on November 24, 1978. We lost that first game by the score of 64-55. Nebraska was a very good team that year, and had almost everyone back from a team that had won 22 games and was a quarterfinalist in the NIT the year before. In 1978, the Cornhuskers had been picked in the top 20 in several preseason polls. Joe Cipriano, coach at Nebraska, agreed to play UAB in a home and home series. It is a testament to Gene Bartow's connections that he got a big name school to agree to a home and home with a program who had never even played a game before. This team played a great first game, but lost to Nebraska, 64-55 before a crowd of 14,800. Leading scorer for the Blazers in that first game was George Jones with 14 points. He had four field goals, but was 6 for 6 from the line. Greg Leet had 11 points. A couple of memories of the game. They gave out buttons to fans that read, “I was there. UAB vs. Nebraska November 24, 1978”. They also gave out free candy bars at the game. A new candy bar was being introduced to the market. To me, that candy bar will always be tied to the birth of UAB athletics. That candy bar was none other than the Twix Bar.
Tonight’s game is the second in a home and home series with Nebraska. Last year, on December 2, the Cornhuskers came to Bartow Arena for the first game between the two schools in 25 years. It was a big night for Blazer fans as the 2004 Sweet 16 banner was raised to the roof and the football team was on hand to sign autographs and accept their invitation to the Hawaii Bowl. However, the night belonged to Marques Lewis who had a career high 19 points. Previously, he had never scored more than 10 points in a game, and he had that amount by halftime. Mike Anderson called it a “breakout game” for Lewis, who led the Blazers in scoring and to a 3-0 record. The Blazers jumped out to a 16-8 lead, including a Ronell to Donell Taylor alley-oop dunk. UAB led by 8 at halftime, and held a double digit lead for most of the second half. Donell Taylor had 15 points and Demario Eddins had 11 points as UAB won the game 80-66. Nebraska started four seniors, but was led in scoring by Joe McCray, a freshman off the bench with 24 points. It was Nebraska’s first loss of the season. They would finish the season 14-14. .
The Place: Lincoln, NE
The Blazers have only played in Lincoln, Nebraska on one occasion, on December 22, 1979, but the game was long enough for them to get their money’s worth. Just like this year, this was the return game for the home and home series with Nebraska. Moe Iba was the interim coach at Nebraksa. The game was a matchup of two former Memphis State coaches. Iba had been the coach at Memphis State in the early 1970's and had been replaced by Gene Bartow. The game was officiated by one Sun Belt ref and one high school referee, filling in for the Big 8 Conference. In the first half, Nebraska went to the free throw line 18 times, hitting 16. The Blazers went to the line 3 times. Larry Spicer was quoted as saying "The officials just weren't very good." This game is memorable because it is the longest game ever played by UAB. The two teams played four overtime periods. At the end of regulation, Keith McCord hit a shot with 6 seconds left to put the game into the first overtime. At the end of the second overtime, with the score tied 70-70, UAB had two shots rim out at the end. In the third overtime, Spicer hit a shot with seven seconds left to put the game into the fourth overtime with the score 78-78. Unfortunately, in the 4th overtime, the Blazers, tired from a long road trip, had the bottom drop out. UAB got down three points early, and could not catch up. Nebraska won 92-84 in an unprecedented four overtimes. Larry Spicer led with 22 points. Andre Smith had 33 points for Nebraska.
The Bench:
Barry Collier is 0-1 against the Blazers as a head coach, losing last year 80-66. He has faced UAB one other time as an assistant coach in 1986, when he was an assistant to Mike Montgomery and the Stanford Cardinal His team beat UAB 99-80 in Palo Alto, California. .
12/6/05 DePaul
Bulldogs and Blue Demons
The Date:
UAB has won four games and lost three on this date. Our first game on this date was a loss to Ole Miss in 1980 and our last game was a loss to Mississippi State in 2003. We are 1-3 on the road on this date.
On this date in 1986, the Blazers played in the championship game of the Apple Invitational in Palo Alto, California, hosted by the Stanford Cardinal. UAB had defeated Hawaii Pacific in the first round and was matched up against a team coached by Mike Montgomery in his first year at Stanford. Nothing went right for the Blazers and UAB found themselves down 55-31 at halftime. Meanwhile, Stanford led by Todd Lichti with 16 points shot 62% from the field coasted to 99-80 Cardinal win. UAB was led by Tracy Foste with 24 points. Foster was also named MVP of the tournament.
The last game played on this date was played in 2003 against Mississippi State in Starkville, Mississippi. The Bulldogs were led by Lawrence Roberts and Timmy Bowers. Both teams lit up the baskets in the first half. Mississippi State made 50% of their first half shots, but UAB was shooting a hot 64.5% in the first half, as the teams played to a 49-49 tie. The Blazers were hampered all night by fouls as the referees, led by SEC-loving official John Clougherty whistled UAB for 29 fouls to 15 for the Bulldogs. Mississippi State shot 43 free throws in the game making 26 of them while UAB shot only 13, including only three in the second half. Despite these obstacles, the Blazers hung tough behind an amazing performance by Mo Finley. Finley gave UAB its largest lead of the game at the eight minute mark with a 73-64 lead. However, the Bulldogs stormed back on a 9-3 run and Timmy Bowers gave the Bulldogs the lead, 84-83 with 1:06 minutes remaining in the game. Mo Finley tied the game at 84 seconds later with a free throw. The Bulldogs came down court and a missed three point shot was rebounded by Lawrence Roberts and allowed Mississippi State to set up for the last shot. The Bulldogs ran the clock down and got the ball in to Roberts who, surrounded by Blazers, hit a short hook with 3.1 seconds left in the game. The Bulldogs escaped with a victory 86-84. For Blazer fans, there were two stories: the inconsistent whistles by the referees and Mo Finley. Finley finished with 38 points, including the last 17 points scored by the Blazers. He hit 15 of 21 field goals and was 5 of 7 from three point range. His performance earned him CUSA player of the week, and he set records for most points scored by a UAB on an opponents court and in a losing effort. Finley would be injured in the next game against Western Michigan and miss a few games, but he would face another SEC team that 2003-04 season in the NCAA tournament in which he would make the winning shot and the cover of Sports Illustrated.
The Opponent:
Today marks the 31st meeting between DePaul and UAB, with DePaul holding the lead 18-12. Many of those wins for DePaul came in the early 1980’s when they were consistently one of the premier teams in the country. We have only won four out of fourteen games in Chicago, having last won there in 2001. This is also the third meeting between DePaul and UAB in 2005.
I was very glad to see that our series with DePaul is continuing even though they have left CUSA because in the past two years, this series has gotten very interesting. In today’s look back at the series, I am going to focus on the last three games of the series because the last three games have been three of the most exciting games in the UAB-DePaul series.
The first game took place March 12, 2004 in the semi finals of the CUSA tournament. The Blazers had lost at DePaul by 11 earlier in the season. Although both teams were co-champions in the regular season, tie breakers had given DePaul the #1 seed and UAB was the #4 seed. In the first half, UAB kept pressure on Drake Diener, denying him the opportunity to shoot threes, and the Blazers went to the half with 37-29 lead. They pushed the lead to 16 points early in the second half as their trapping defense forced DePaul into three turnovers in the first minute of the second half. However, the Blue Demons started protecting the ball and did not turn the ball over again after the 10 minute mark of the game. Led by Delonte Holland, the Blue Demons stormed back and took the lead, DePaul had a five point lead with 1:35 left in regulation when Mo Finley scored five straight points to tie the game, including a floating jumper to send the game to overtime. In overtime, there was only one field goal by both teams as they traded free throws and had six lead changes. Delonte Howard hit two free throws with 5.3 seconds left and blocked Sidney Ball’s shot with 0.3 seconds to go, to seal the victory for the Blue Demons 75-74. Finley led the Blazers with 20 points and Squeaky Johnson had 14 points and tied a tournament record with 11 assists.
The two teams would meet again on March 2, 2005 in the final home game of the 2004-05 season for the Blazers. Again they would play to overtime. DePaul entered the game with a 18-7 record and was 10-4 in conference play. UAB was 18-9 and 8-6 in conference play. Both teams was playing for seeding in the upcoming CUSA tournament. The game was tight throughout the first half with DePaul going to the lockers with a two point lead. They increased the lead to 8 points, 50-42 early in the second half on three point shooting by Drake Diener, who had six threes in the game. The Blazers fought back to close the gap and a three pointer by Demario Eddins tied the game at 75 with 45 seconds left in regulation. Donell Taylor hit two free throws early in the overtime and UAB maintained its lead. DePaul had a chance to tie the game at the end of ovetime, but Drake Diener missed a three pointer. DePaul got the offensive rebound and called timeout with 12 seconds left. The Blazers did not allow the Blue Demons a good shot at a three pointer and DePaul missed a desperation shot. Levar Seals for DePaul scored a put back with one second left to make it 81-80, the final score, giving UAB the victory. Demario Eddins led the Blazers with 22 points and Donell Taylor added 21.
As if that game was not exciting enough, the two teams would meet yet again, eight days later in Memphis in the second round of the CUSA tournament on March 10. UAB opened the game missing 9 of their first 11 shots. DePaul had jumped out to a 24-13 lead with four minutes left in the half. However, the half closed with UAB making an 11-2 run and cutting the halftime deficit to two points. In the second half, DePaul held down their turnovers despite the troublesome defense by the Blazers and had built the lead back to ten points with nine minutes left to play. The Blazers battled back and a three point shot by Demario Eddins at the 1:28 point gave the Blazers their first lead of the game at 56-55. DePaul tied the game on a free throw and had the ball working to take the winning shot, when Drake Diener was called for walking with 28 seconds left in the game. It looked as if there would be yet another overtime in this series as the Blazers got the ball. However, Demario Eddins got the ball in the corner and hit a three point shot with .8 seconds left on the clock, and UAB won the game 59-56. Eddins and Donell Taylor each had 11 points to lead the Blazers.
So there you are. Three very exciting games between these two teams decided by only five points.
The Place:
The Blazers are 4-11 in Chicago. The only non DePaul game played in the Windy City was in the very first Great Midwest Tournament in 1992, when UAB lost in the first round to Memphis.
The Bench:
One thing missing this year from the DePaul – UAB series is coach Dave Leitao, who left for the ACC pastures as the new coach of Virginia. The new coach, Jerry Wainwright is very familiar with UAB. As the former coach of the Richmond Spiders, he and Mike Anderson have faced each other in each of the past five years. Wainwright holds a 2-1 edge over Anderson and UAB.
12/10/05 Alcorn State
The Date:
UAB is 3-4 in games played on December 10. The last game played on this date was just last year, when we played Oklahoma State. We have only played two games at home on December 10, but we won both of them in 1985 when we beat Auburn and in 1994, when we beat Cal Santa Barbara.
In 1985, on this date, UAB played Auburn for only the fourth time in the series. Auburn fans could hardly concentrate on basketball, as Bo Jackson had won the Heisman Trophy three days before the game. Auburn had been ranked #10 in the preseason poll, but had lost two games and came into the UAB game 3-2 and had dropped out of the top 25. UAB was 5-1 and ranked #16 in polls, with only a loss to #3 Duke. These were two of the greatest teams UAB and Auburn have ever fielded. The Tigers had Chris Morris, Chuck Person, Frank Ford, Gerald White, and Jeff Moore. UAB had Steve Mitchell, Jerome Mincy, James Ponder, Michael Charles and Archie Johnson. Despite being televised on ESPN, 15,502 showed up for the game, and some were even Auburn fans. UAB led 35-27 at the half and four minutes into the second half, the Blazers had the lead up to fourteen points. However, Auburn scored 10 unanswered points. With 51 seconds left, Auburn had pulled to within two points. UAB had struggled at the line in the second half, hitting 5 of 13 in the final seven minutes, including missing four straight front ends of one and ones. With 40 seconds left, Auburn fouled Michael Charles, a pitiful 33% free throw shooter, who had missed three straight front ends of one and ones. However, when it counted, he hit both free throws giving UAB a four point lead. The Blazers won the game 62-56. Chuck Person led Auburn with 17 points. Michael Charles led UAB with 12 points.
On this date in 1996, the Blazers traveled to Mobile to face their old Sun Belt rival, South Alabama. The big news in the newspaper, however, was not the UAB South Alabama game. It was that Mike Dubose had been hired as head coach of the Crimson Tide. Paul Bryant Jr. was quoted in the Birmingham News as saying “Papa would approve”. That has nothing to do with Blazer history, but I found it amusing when I was researching the game. Anyway, the Blazers started the game strong and had a 35-25 lead at the half. Carlos Williams had scored 14 of UAB’s first 16 points, all in the first 10 minutes of the half. However, he was shut down during the last ten minutes of the first half. In the second half, South Alabama came out hot and pulled to within three points, outscoring UAB 8-2 in three and a half minutes. Carlos Williams then sparked a 9-2 UAB run and pushed the lead back to ten points with five minutes gone in the second half. South Alabama would not give up though and cut the lead to foru, 53-49 with 4:35 to go in the game. The Blazers missed two front ends of one and ones and the Jaguars tied the game at 55 with 1:02 to go. The game went to overtime, but UAB had nothing left, while South Alabama was cruising along. The Jaguars outscored UAB 9-2 in the final 4:35 and then scored 19 points in overtime to only 8 points by UAB. South Alabama won the game 74-63. It is the last time that the Jaguars have beaten UAB in four tries. UAB was led in scoring by Carlos Williams with 27 points.
The Opponent:
The Blazers have faced Alcorn State five times and are undefeated against the Braves. Our biggest victory has been by 51 points, 104-53 in 1989. Our closest win was on January 2, 2001 when we won 76-68. UAB has topped the century mark against Alcorn State in three of the five games.
In that January 3, 2001 game, the Blazers entered the game struggling at 6-5. UAB led by as much as 15 points in the first half, but allowed Alcorn State to pull within four points with 1:58 left in the game. The managed to hang on to win by eight points in a flat showing for the Murry Bartow led team. There were a few high notes. David Walker led the Blazers with 26 points and 9 rebounds and Tony Johnson had seven steals.
The last game played against Alcorn State occurred on December 4, 2001. UAB entered the game with two wins and four losses and Coach Murry Bartow was hoping the game would spark his team. His starters began the game poorly, and had five turnovers in the first four minutes. Bartow benched all five starters at the 16:07 mark when Alcorn State took the lead 8-7. This tactic worked well in this game as the Blazers then began to play like the better team. UAB pulled away from a 21-21 tie to take a halftime lead of 42-29. The Blazers were unstoppable in the second half, as they made 70% of their field goals. The team tied a school record with 14 made three pointers and placed seven players in double figures as the Blazers won 102-61. PJ Arnold led the Blazers with 22 points and six three pointers. Asa Woods had 19 points. Will Campbell had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. One telling note however was that the game had a listed attendance of only 2917 Blazer fans. The handwriting was already on the wall for Murry Bartow in his last season as coach. A 13-17 record that year would seal his fate.
The Bench:
Third year coach, Samuel West, has never coached against UAB as a head coach. However, he was an assistant at Alcorn State during three previous games against UAB, in November 1998, January 2001, and December 2001.
12/14/05 Minnesota
Clem and those Gopher Boys
The Date:
The Blazers have a good record of 5-2 on December 14, although the two losses are among the worst in UAB history, to Monmouth in 1990 and to Ball State in 1996. This is the first true road game we have played on this date. The Ball State game was in Hawaii, and in 1985 we beat West Texas State in Hawaii as well. All other games this date have been played at home.
The Monmouth game in 1990 was even worse because it was in the first round of the UAB Classic. The tournament was designed for UAB to get two easy wins, including Pac 10 member Washington State in the championship game. UAB had won every Classic with the exception of 1982 when they lost to Murray State and in 1984 when they lost to George Mason. Those losses came in the championship game. In 1990, a determined Monmouth team made sure the Blazers did not get out of the first round of their own tournament. The Hawks played a slow down half court offense and UAB could not get going. Monmouth never lost control of the tempo, but UAB led at the half 29-22. The Hawk passed the ball around the perimeter all night until the shot clock was drained. Monmouth took their first lead at 41-40 with eight minutes to go in the game. By the 2:35 mark, UAB was down by seven points, but managed to cut it to three, 54-51, with just over a minute to go. However, a Monmouth three point play with 59 seconds left sealed the victory for the Hawks. They won 62-60. It was only the third loss ever at Bartow Arena in over two seasons. Elbert Rogers led the Blazers with 17 points. Andy Kennedy would score 14 points, well below the 21.8 average he had during his senior year.
Our biggest win on this date came against tonight’s opponent, Minnesota. On this date in 1991, Clem Haskins brought his “highly educated” Minnesota team to Bartow Arena for an early season matchup. It was the first time in six years that UAB had faced Haskins, former coach at Western Kentucky Gene Bartow had won 8 of 11 games, but Haskins had won the last game. Both teams entered with only one loss on the season; UAB was 6-1 and Minnesota was 5-1. Minnesota entered the game ranked 10th in the RPI, but unranked in the polls. Their only loss was 92-83 to an Arkansas team with Mike Anderson as assistant coach. UAB entered the game with a loss to #1UNLV. UAB was undersized against the Golden Gophers. The Blazers tallest player was 6’7” and Minnesota started two 6’8” players and a 7 foot center. A crowd of 7427 showed up to see the game. Minnesota played a matchup zone in the first half, virtually shutting down UAB’s leading scorer, Elbert Rogers. Carter Long managed to get the Gophers out of their zone with three long jumpers, two of them just before the half. UAB held a one point lead at the half, due to Long’s quick eight points just before the half. This was their first lead of the half. Minnesota took the lead 46-41 with just over 16 minutes left in the game. At that point, Elbert Rogers went to work and scored ten points as a part of a 13-2 run in three minutes, giving the Blazers a six point lead. Minnesota would not get any closer and UAB led by as many as 13 points. The Blazers won at home by the score of 86-80. Rogers would finish with 32 points, 26 of those points in the second half.
The Opponent:
In addition to that 1991 game, we have played Minnesota two other times. The Blazers are 1-2 against the Golden Gophers.
On January 2, 1993, the Blazers traveled to Minneapolis to play Clem and the Gopher boys again. UAB trailed by four points at half time, but only scored 4 points in the first 7:44 of the second half. Minnesota went on a 14-4 run in the second half to go up 45-31. Then, they just stayed ahead, despite the Blazers cutting the lead to six points with 6:13 to go. Stanley Jackson was the only player to score in double figures with 25 points. It was the Blazers 3rd consecutive loss.
The Place: Minneapolis MN
The Blazers have played Minnesota twice in Minneapolis and have lost both games. In addition to the January 2, 1993 game, they played there again on March 16, 1998 in the second round of the NIT tournament.
UAB had beaten Missouri on the road to advance and was 21-11. Minnesota had surprised many by getting an NIT bid with a 16-16 record. This was probably due to their 1997 Big 10 championship and trip to the 1997 Final Four. After a home win against Colorado State, the NIT committee awarded the Big team team with the horrible record with another home game over the CUSA team with 20 wins. UAB struggled early in the game with three turnovers in its first five possessions. Cedric Dixon, UAB’s floor leader got in foul trouble early. However, just like the weather outside, the Golden Gophers were cold. The game was tied at 32 at the half. Unfortunately, the Blazers were cold in the second half. They managed just four field goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half and Minnesota built a ten point lead with 8:55 to go. The Blazers managed to cut it to three with 3:35 left, despite Dixon fouling out at the 6:39 mark. Minnesota kept building the lead however and UAB could not catch them. Damon Cobb cut the lead to four points with 1:11 left when he was fouled and hit his first free throw. He was unable to cut it to three because he missed the second free throw. Minnesota then scored nine unanswered points and the game was over. Minnesota won 79-66 and UAB’s season was finished at 21-12. Damon Cobb led the Blazers with 15 points and Fred Williams had 11 points. Amazingly, Minnesota would be awarded another home game, which they won and they would eventually win the 1998 NIT tournament. However, coach Clem Haskins, who was named national coach of the year one year earlier in 1997, was only one year away from disgrace and ouster from the college basketball world.
The Bench:
The Minnesota coaching staff is loaded with UAB alumni. Head coach Dan Monson, who is in his sixth season at Minnesota, was instrumental in Gonzaga’s rise to national prominence when he was head coach there from 1994-97. He had been an assistant at Gonzaga since 1988. Prior to 1988, Monson was a graduate assistant coach at UAB under Gene Bartow. He received his Masters Degree in education with a concentration on athletic administration from UAB in 1988. This is the first time he has coached against UAB, his alma mater.
Assistant coach Bill Walker is also a graduate of UAB. Interestingly, his bio on the Minnesota athletics web site claims he was an assistant coach at UAB from 1987-1989 From the Minnesota website:
“Walker spent two years before his tenure at Missouri-St. Louis as an assistant at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he and Monson first crossed paths. Monson was also an assistant coach under Gene Bartow (1987-89), where their 1988-89 squad finished third in the NIT tournament.”
The truth is that neither Walker or Monson were assistant coaches for Gene Bartow. Monson, as stated earlier was a graduate assistant. Walker? He is listed as a staff assistant in the 1987-88 UAB media guide. He did get his Masters degree from UAB, although he may have padded his resume a little.
Also on the bench for Minnesota is Jim Molinari. He has faced UAB many times. As an assistant at DePaul from 1978-1989, he faced UAB nine times, and was on the winning side in eight contests. As head coach at Bradley from 1991-2002, he faced UAB twice and won in 2000 and lost to the Blazers in 2001.
12/19/05 Centenary
Georgia on my Mind
The Date:
The record for today’s date is 4-2. The two losses are against the same team, Georgia. The wins are against Idaho State, Prairie View A&M, Louisiana Tech, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Uhhh, we are going to talk about the losses.
On this date way back in 1981, UAB traveled to Atlanta Georgia to play in the annual Cotton States Classic. This tournament usually featured either Georgia or Georgia Tech and two other opponents. It is now the Chick-fila Peach Bowl Classic. In 1981, the other two teams were UAB and Southern Miss. UAB had defeated Southern Miss in the first round and next up was Georgia. The previous year, Hugh Durham and the Bulldogs had made the postseason for the first time in school history when they were selected to play in the NIT tournament. This year, they had all five starters returning, including someone by the name of Dominique Wilkins. UAB meanwhile, was ranked 16th in the nation with a 6-1 record. Georgia jumped out in front early with a 6-0 lead and led most of the game. However, the Blazers stayed close and took a one point lead with 3:35 to go in the game. Georgia would hit eight straight free throws and never trailed again. Georgia won the game 76-72. A look at stats shows that the home team went to the free throw line a lot more than UAB. The Bulldogs were 26 of 36 on free throws. UAB was 4 of 6, and only shot one free throw in the second half. UAB was also hurt in the game by the non production at the center spot. Blazer centers Donnie Speer, Norman Anchrum and Lex Drum combined for 8 points, 5 rebounds and 12 fouls. Dominique Wilkins was held to 12 points. Chris Giles came out of an early season slump to score 22 points and 18 rebounds, a record at the time. Oliver Robinson, who had 12 points was named to the All tournament team.
UAB would play Georgia six years later on December 19, this time in the unlikely locale of Tokyo, Japan. 1987 was a year in which earthquakes seemed to follow the Blazers around the world. Two weeks earlier, UAB had played in the Great Alaska Shootout, and had left Alaska the day before an earthquake hit. As they arrived for the Phenix NCAA Ball in Tokyo, a quake measuring 6.6 hit Japan, but the Birmingham News reports that an 18 hour trip and jet lag caused most of the players to sleep through it. The Phenix NCAA Ball featured UAB, Georgia, and New Orleans and the three teams played round robin rather than tournament style. UAB entered the game at 6-3. All three losses had come to teams that were ranked in the top 10 at the time they played. They had lost to preseason ranked #1 Syracuse and #9 Michigan in the Great Alaska Shootout, and they lost at home to #7 ranked Wyoming. Unfortunately this game was not close as Georgia led most of the game. There was a mismatch at the guard spot with Michael Charles going up against All-American Willie Anderson. Charles was 3 of 18 from the field. The Bulldogs won 85-66. UAB was led in scoring by Reginald Turner with 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Blazers would lose the following day to New Orleans as well. Gene Bartow was happy to get his team out of Japan. They had come to Japan thinking that their three losses to top ten teams might be a sign of a good team. They left with two bad losses and a 6-5 record. It would turn out to be Bartow’s worst team to date with a final record of 16-15.
The Opponent:
We have played Centenary one time, on February 12, 2001 and won the game 97-62. The only story in this game is that of Ronnie McCallum. McCallum played for Centenary and was leading the nation in scoring with 28.8 points a game. He was out of Fayette County High School and had been recruited by UAB, but was never offered a scholarship. This was because he was 230 pounds. Now, in his senior year at Centenary, he was 6’8” and 200 pounds and leading the nation in scoring by more than five points a game. This game was never in doubt as UAB had a 21 point lead by halftime. The students began calling for Bill Armstrong, UAB’s walk on four minutes into the second half. The Blazers won by 35 points and was led in scoring by Eric Batchelor with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Igor Nikolic had 15 points and Will Campbell had 14 points and 12 rebounds. McCallum had 26 points in his home state.
The Bench:
First year coach, Rob Flaska, has one thing in common with Mike Anderson. They both got their first Division I head coaching job after being an assistant at Arkansas. Prior to Arkansas, Flaska was an assistant at TCU, where he faced the Blazers twice in 2002. His team won one game and we won one.
Also on the Centenary bench will be assistant coach Mike Smith. He was a starting member of that New Orleans team mentioned earlier in this report that beat UAB in Tokyo, Japan.
12/22/05 Old Dominion
Not Everyone Loves Gene Bartow
The Date:
UAB is 7-6 in games played on December 22. We have lost our last three games played on this date, including last year’s game to Southern Cal. We are 5-1 in games played at home on this date.
On this date in 1983, the Blazers hosted Gene Bartow’s former school, Valparaiso. Bartow coached Valparaiso from 1964 to 1970, and led the Crusaders to a 93-69 record before leaving for Memphis State. Tom Smith, who was the coach of Valpo in 1983 had played for Bartow when Bartow coached the Crusaders. Coach Smith had his team play four corners defense, milking the 45 second shot before taking any shots. Meanwhile, UAB played poorly without intensity shooting only 36%. They led 30-22 at the half. After the break, UAB hit its first nine shots, with Steve Mitchell and McKinley Singleton doing most of the work. Valparaiso never led in the game, yet the Blazers could not get a comfortable lead. The Crusaders cut the lead to nine with a minute to play, and Bartow had to put the starters back into the game. In the last minute, the Blazers pushed the lead out to 15 points. They won the game 64-49. Mitchell led the Blazers in scoring with 17 points. Jerome Mincy had 14 points and 13 rebounds as the Blazers improved to 9-1.
Last year on this date, UAB played Southern Cal in the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii. UAB entered the semi finals of the tournament after beating Clemson the night before. Southern Cal led by six at the half, after shooting 50% in the first half. They stretched the lead to 13 points, 68-55 with under ten minutes left in the game. At that point the Blazers started a furious comeback to take a 75-73 lead with 2:41 to go. UAB had outscored the Trojans 20-5 in a seven minute run. The game appeared to be headed to overtime when the score was tied at 78, but Rory O’Neill hit a three pointer from the top of the key with five seconds to go, to give USC a 81-78 lead. Demario Eddins attempted three pointer to tie the game fell short and Southern Cal advanced to the championship. Donell Taylor led the Blazers with 19 points. Ronell Taylor and Demario Eddins each scored 11 points.
The Opponent:
The Blazers are 14-8 all time against Old Dominion. The Monarchs were in the Sun Belt Conference from 1982 to 1991 and was one of the better teams. UAB and Old Dominion have not played since 1991 when they both left the Sun Belt Conference. UAB is 9-1 against the Monarchs in Birmingham, and 3-0 in the Arena. The Blazers very last Sun Belt game was against the Old Dominion Monarchs. It came March 2, 1991 in the Sun Belt Tournament in Mobile. Both teams were leaving the Sun Belt. Old Dominion was moving to the Colonial Athletic Conference and UAB was headed to the newly formed Great Midwest Conference. In the first round, UAB entered the tournament with a 9-5 conference record and the 2nd seed. Their first round opponent was Old Dominion. The Monarchs led by seven points with seven minutes to go in the game. With Chris Gatling, Old Dominion had controlled the boards and their longest shot all night had been free throws. However, the Blazers scored seven straight points using a full court press and took an 83-80 lead with just seconds to go in the game. Old Dominion brought the ball down, and freshman Joe Leake hit Old Dominion's only three point shot they had even attempted with 10 seconds to go, and the Monarchs sent the game to overtime. In overtime, Chris Gatling took over for the Monarchs, hitting six points. He had 32 points and 13 rebounds in only 29 minutes of play. Old Dominion won the game 99-95 in overtime. Elbert Rogers had 30 points for the Blazers.
Of course, when talking about the Old Dominion series, one game really stands out. On January 30, 1986, UAB travelled to Norfolk to play Old Dominion with a 19-5 record. They had dropped out of the top 20 after two losses in ten days to Western Kentucky. This game was on ESPN but after it was over, probably everyone involved wished it had not been televised. Tempers flared for the second game in five days. On January 25, UAB had candy bars thrown at them by Western Kentucky fans. It got uglier in this game at Old Dominion. UAB led for most of the game, but Old Dominion had cut it to four points in the second half before the Blazers got the lead back to ten points. That was when the fight erupted. The Monarch fans began showering the court with rolls of toilet paper and plastic megaphones whenever they disapproved of an officials call. A fight erupted after a charging foul was called on Old Dominion's Ronnie Wade. ODU coach Tom Young protested and he and Gene Bartow got into a shouting match at mid court. "I told officials that he (Young) was inciting the crowd." Bartow said later. Meanwhile, as more debris littered the court, some of the UAB players headed into the stands after being hit by plastic megaphones. Bartow said later that fans were cursing the players and throwing things all night and "one of our players had enough and went after one of them." The few police officers on duty rushed onto the court, but went straight to the UAB bench. Before order was restored, a police officer and Blazer assistant coach John Prince got tangled up with each other. At that point, Bartow pulled his team into the locker room and stayed there for 20 minutes. As they went to the locker room, Monarch fans threw ice and drinks at the players. After a 20 minute cooling period, both teams returned to the court. The Old Dominion Athletic Director took the microphone and warned that if the students did not stay in their seats, the game would be forfeited. As the game resumed, the Blazers were energized and went on 7-2 run. Old Dominion never threatened again, and UAB won 71-58. After the game, police mulled filing charges against John Prince. Prince threatened to file a complaint against the police. Finally, the police decided to not file charges if Prince promised not to file a complaint. Gene Bartow put the blame squarely on the Old Dominion administration. "I cannot understand putting the most hostile fans directly behind the visitor's bench" As a result of this game and the WKU game, Sun Belt Commissioner Vic Bubas instituted new guidelines, putting more security around the visitor's bench. Cheerleaders and mascots were warned about taunting officials and opposing players. Also, handouts would occur as fans exited a game or the practice would be discontinued. Some of those guidelines were new and are still around today.
The Bench:
Fifth year ODU coach, Blaine Stewart is coaching against the Blazers for the first time.
12/28/05 Oklahoma State
“What Happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”
The Date:
A lot of games played on this date. UAB has played 16 times on December 28, the most so far this season. Most of the games have been post Christmas holiday tournaments, but they have played a few home games. UAB is 3-0 in games played at home on this date, but those games are against the likes of Missouri Rolla, Alaska Anchorage, and Alabama A&M. Oklahoma State will offer a bit more competition.
On this date in 1985, the Blazers traveled to Las Vegas to play the Runnin Rebels in their UNLV Holiday Classic. UAB entered the game with only one loss, to Duke, who was ranked 3rd in the nation. UAB had lost to them in the Preseason NIT. In this tournament, the Blazers had beaten TCU 69-62 to advance to the championship game against UNLV, ranked #12 in the nation. UNLV was 36-1 at the Thomas and Mack center, with their only loss being in 198 to a Patrick Ewing-led Georgetown team who won a national championship. Jerome Mincy got into immediate foul trouble when he picked up his second foul with only two minutes gone in the half. Luckily, he did not foul out until seven seconds to go in the game. There was also some early excitement in the first half. UNLV led 10-7 with 15 minutes to go in the half, when James Ponder was elbowed in the mouth by UNLV player Fred Banks. No foul was called and when the referee ran down the court, a player on the UAB bench said something to the ref. The bench was hit with a technical. Coach Gene Bartow threw off his coat and had to be restrained. He yelled at the referees and screamed across the court at the UNLV athletic director. He also was awarded with a technical. Banks hit three of four technical shots. UNLV then got the ball and hit a basket. The five points gave the Rebels an 8 point lead, 15-7, which was the biggest lead of the game. By controlling the boards, UAB came back and took a 38-36 lead to halftime. As the 2nd half started, UNLV’s Fred Banks and Anthony Jones began hitting from outside because UAB was hutting down their 6’10” center, John Flowers. The Blazers still maintained the lead and led by four points with 1:56 to go in the game. UNLV cut the score to two and had the ball for the last shot. Anthony Jones took the shot from the corner with seven seconds left, but was fouled by Jerome Mincy, who received his fifth foul. Jones hit his first free throw to cut the lead to a single point. He missed the second free throw and Big Jack Gordon went up for the rebound to assure the win. Unfortunately, the ball was knocked out of his hands and out of bounds off the Blazers. The referee said that the ball was off Archie Johnson, but after the game, Archie denied that he touched the ball. UNLV’s Fred Banks got the inbound pass and shot a 20 footer over the fingertips of Steve Mitchell. The basketball swished through the net at the buzzer giving the Runnin Rebels a 73-72 victory. Steve Mitchell led the Blazers with 18 points and 6 assists. Ponder had 17 points. Anthony Jones led UNLV with 21 points and Fred Banks had 20. Coach Bartow said after the game “This one hurts so much because it was one we lost when we played well enough to win. Our kids gave a great effort. We played hard right to the wire and at the end, they did what we asked, but their man just stuck it in.” The Blazers’ record dropped to 12-2, and the Runnin’ Rebels would improve to 9-2. Their team would close the year in the Sweet 16 with a 31-4 record. Not all the Blazers left Las Vegas as losers, however. Dylan Howard won $1400 in the casinos, and broadcaster Gary Sanders picked up $100.
Also on this date in 1991, UAB played West Virginia in the Cable Car Classic Championship game in Santa Clara, California. The 10-1 Blazers had defeated the home team, Santa Clara to advance to the championship game. West Virginia had upset undefeated Boston College to advance. This game was neck and neck in the first half as there were 17 lead changes and 10 ties in the first half. UAB led by one point at halftime. The Blazers never trailed after intermission, and led by 10, 75-65 with 5:13 left in the game. However, a rash of turnovers and missed free throws helped the Mountaineers mount a comeback. The UAB lead disintegrated to a 76-73 advantage with less than two minutes to go. West Virginia had gone on an 8-1 run. With under two minutes to go and a UAB lead of 80-79, the Blazers needed a hero to step up. The Blazers only senior, Elbert Rogers was up to the task. UAB milked the 45 second shot clock down to eight seconds and got the ball to Rogers who sanked a 12 foot jumper with a hand in his face giving UAB a three point lead with 45 seconds left in the game. West Virginia was fouled and cut the lead back to one point on two made free throws and set up the half court press. The Blazers were having difficulty getting the ball across half court, so the 6’7” Rogers dribbled out of trouble like a seasoned point guard. Rogers also managed to block a shot with less than 20 seconds to go in the game to secure the Blazer victory. UAB won the Cable Car Classic by the score of 88-84. Elbert Rogers was named Most Valuable Player. He had scored 51 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in two games. He had also hit 17 of 19 free throws in the tournament. With 12 straight wins, the 1991-92 Blazers had set the record for the schools longest win streak. That record still stands today at 13.
The Opponent:
The Blazers have only played Oklahoma State on one occasion and that was last year on December 10. The undefeated Blazers traveled to Stillwater to take on the fifth ranked Cowboys. Oklahoma State led most of the first half, but UAB charged back and took a 22-20 lead when Donell Taylor hit two free throws with 6:05 remaining in the half. However, Oklahoma State went on a 10-0 run and took a 10 point lead to halftime. In the second half, John Lucas III, son of NBA coaching great John Lucas, scored half of his 18 points during a 14-0 run. Ronell Taylor had pulled the Blazers to within six points, 46-40, when the Cowboys went on their run. The Cowboy lead was never in jeopardy throughout the second half and Oklahoma State won 86-73. UAB was led in scoring by Donell Taylor with 17 points. Marques Lewis, and Oklahoma native, Richard Jones each had 11 points.
The Bench:
Eddie Sutton’s only game against the Blazers was last year. The legendary coach has 781 wins entering the season and is now 8th on the all time win list. He will be the winningest coach to ever coach a game at Bartow Arena. .
December 30, 2005 South Florida
The Gold Trophy Game
The Date:
UAB is great on December 30, with a fantastic record of 10-2. They lost their first game on this date in 1978 to Florida State, and they lost their last game on this date in 2003 to Marshall.
There have been some great milestones on this date, like in 1989 when the Blazers set the record for most points in a game when they beat Alabama State 118-85, or in 1995, when Carlos Williams scored 36 points in a win over Hawaii-Hilo. However, the game that sticks out as special to me is the game I have dubbed “The Gold Trophy game”
This game was played in 1986 and shows that the best laid plans sometimes do not pan out. Gene Bartow must have been very proud of his lineup for the UAB Classic Tournament that year. He had attracted Michigan with Glen Rice, Gary Grant and Antoine Joubert to play in the tournament. The Wolverines were 28-5 the previous season and were 7-2 coming into the tournament. Throw in two cupcakes for the first round, and the Blazers would be playing the Wolverines for the championship. That would get a good crowd to the BJCC. Also coming to town for the supposed Blazer-Wolverine matchup was ESPN and Dick Vitale. However, no one expected Middle Tennessee State to throw off the cupcake mantle and become a giant killer. In the first round, Middle Tennessee State upset Michigan by the score of 85-83 as Glen Rice’s three point shot rimmed out at the buzzer. Bartow’s dream matchup and full house fell short. The Blazers handled their first round opponent, Alaska Anchorage with ease, and prepared to take on the party-pooping Blue Raiders. UAB led most of the night, however, hot shooting by MTSU from the new three point line, being used that year as an experiment, kept them close. UAB had a six point lead with 1:54 left in the game, but Middle Tennessee State hit a three pointer and a two pointer to cut it to one. The Blazers got it back to three on two free throws, but with 13 seconds left, the Blue Raiders tied the game at 77, sending the game to overtime. In overtime, James Ponder took control, hitting 12 of the first 14 points, but again that newfangled three point shot kept MTSU in the game. From the final 1:42 of regulation until the end of overtime, they hit 5 out of 6 three pointers. “I didn’t like the three point shot when the rules committee put it in,” Bartow said after the game. “I like it even less now”. The game came down to a two point UAB lead with three seconds left and freshman Barry Bearden at the line. Bartow had sent his entire team to the other end to avoid a foul, so Bearden was surrounded by MTSU players at the line. He missed both free throws, but in a stroke of luck, the second miss came hard off the back of the rim, and the only Blazer in the area, Bearden got his own rebound. The game was over and UAB had won 93-91 on national TV. Eddie Collins was the leading scorer with 27 points. James Ponder had 25 points.I have a memory of Dick Vitale going crazy at the end of this game and yelling in the way only Vitale can, “ED-DEE COLLINS!!!, He wants the Gold Trophy!!!!”
The Opponent:
I wrote last year about the South Florida game: “It is hard to believe with them leaving CUSA that this may be the last time we play them for a while”. Well, I was wrong. I had forgot that we have played South Florida every year we have had a team with the exception of one year, and that we will go on playing them because that is what we do as Blazers. Tonight’s game is the 54th game between the two schools with UAB holding a 34-19 advantage. With numbers like that, you would think that the Blazers had been around for a long time.
I could go through all 53 games and pick the most interesting ones, but frankly, most of the games have been uneventful. Instead, I will do as I did last year, and present my Top 10 Most Interesting Moments in the South Florida series, in no particular order.
1. In 1980, UAB won the game 92-83, played in Lakeland Florida because South Florida did not have a home arena, as the Sun Dome was being built. The game was played in front of 336 fans.
2. Also in 1980, in Birmingham, Keith McCord scores 34 points and 11 rebounds as UAB wins 78-70. McCord becomes the first Blazer to score at least 30 points in a game.
3. In 2003, Mo Finley scoring 25 second half points, including 16 of the last 18 points to seal a 10 point victory on the road
4. In 1990, South Florida students wearing Alan Ogg masks in our game in Tampa trying to intimidate him. Did not work as he scored 14 points and the Blazers won 83-66.
5. In 2002, rowdy South Florida students travel to Bartow Arena to watch their Bulls lose 83-78 to the Blazers. UAB fans are shocked and angered when they cheer and hoot during the performance of the National Anthem.
6. In 1985, the Bulls prolific scorer, Charlie Bailey missing the front end of a one and one with seven seconds to go to ice a Bulls win. It was his first free throw miss in 29 tries. Seconds later, Steve Mitchell hits two free throws to give the Blazers a one point victory.
7. The worst Blazers home loss ever on February 21, 2001 when South Florida defeats UAB at home 75-47.
8. Defeating the Bulls in the 1983 Sun Belt Conference Tournament title game to win the Sun Belt Championship. It was UAB's 100th victory.
9. In 1999, Myron Ransom and BB Walden go face to face after Ransom gets a forearm to the throat. Ransom has to be restrained from going after the fans as he is escorted to the lockerroom. UAB wins a close one by three.
10. Sidney Ball's three pointer with 0.8 seconds to go in the game in 2004 to give us a two point victory and assure UAB of a spot in the NCAA tournament.
The Place: Tampa, FL
Let’s look at two games in the South Florida series to show how dangerous Tampa Florida is to play for the Blazers, especially recently. UAB is 14-10 in Tampa, with all of the games coming against South Florida. UAB has almost always struggled in Tampa. Gene Bartow once complained about the South Florida tradition of firing a cannon whenever someone dunked the ball. He was quoted as saying “It’s nauseating and classless in my opinion. There were a couple of places around the Sun Belt where there were a lack of class in those arenas. The nuts stand out more in a little place”
In recent years, UAB has gone to Tampa a heavy favorite and high expectations for a blowout over the Bulls, but in the past two years, the Blazers have struggled and heroics from unlikely players have had to save the day (and a bid to the NCAA tournament) for UAB.
In 2004, the 17-8 Blazers were battling for first place in CUSA with a 10-4 conference record when they went to Tampa to take on the Bulls, who was probably the worse team in CUSA. UAB seemed to be taking care of business early and led by 12 points at halftime, 36-24. However, the Blazers who shot 44.7% in the first half, only shot 29% in the second half, and allowed the Bulls back in the game. South Florida was down two points late in the game when Terrence Leather, hit a driving layup and was fouled on the play. He converted the free throw giving the Bulls a 59-58 lead with 11 seconds to go. Mo Finley brought the ball to midcourt and found a wide open Sidney Ball in the corner. Ball hit a three point shot with 0.8 seconds on the clock, allowing the Blazers to escape with a 61-59 win.
In 2005 Marques Lewis was the hero when UAB traveled to Tampa early in the conference season. Again, the Blazers blew a comfortable halftime lead. This time the lead at the break was 11 points. In the second half, UAB managed to hit just six field goals, and South Florida tied the game at 60 with 1:37 to go in the game. With 1:09 to go, Donell Taylor stole the ball and was fouled. He hit one of two free throws, giving the Blazers a 1 point lead. With 10 seconds to go in the game, South Florida’s Collin Dennis tied the game at 61 with a free throw. UAB had the last possession and it appeared to everyone that an overtime game would result in a loss due to UAB’s inability to score and South Florida’s momentum. Marques Lewis got the ball underneath and went up for the shot. He was fouled, putting him to the free throw line for two shots with three seconds to go in the game. Lewis missed the first one. He converted the second free throw, giving the Blazers a 62-61 lead, the final score. For the second straight year, UAB escaped Tampa with a close victory. Will it happen in today’s game as well?
The Bench:
Third year South Florida head coach, Robert McCullum is a native of Birmingham and is very familar with the city and UAB. He played in the mid 1970's for two years at Birmingham Southern, and was a coach from 1978-1982 at Ramsey High School. As an assistant at South Alabama, he coached against the Blazers many times, but he has a poor 2-8 record against UAB while at South Alabama. As a head coach at South Florida, he is 0-4 against the Blazers.