02-14-2007, 09:13 AM
The First 30 point scorer
The Date:
UAB is 4-2 on Saint Valentines Day. The Blazers have won their last three games on this date, and are 3-1 at home on this date. The one loss occurred against DePaul in 1987.
UAB vs. South Florida – February 14, 1980
The first game played on this date was in Birmingham against South Florida in 1980. The Bulls were in the midst of a horrible season in which everything went wrong. They had scheduled North Carolina, Auburn and Florida State at home for what would have been the first season in the new Sun Dome, but due to construction delays, the Dome did not get finished in time, and South Florida was forced to play games in three different locations. They only had four players returning from last year’s team and two of those players had left the team midseason. Also gone midseason was head coach Chip Conner who was fired. As a result of this turmoil, South Florida was 5-18 and 1-11 in the Sun Belt Conference.
UAB was in second place in the conference with a game against league leading South Alabama looming next. This was a dangerous trap game in which the Blazers could get caught looking ahead.
The Blazers trailed for much of the first half, and was down by as much as seven points. They did not take the lead until Greg Leet scored a jumper with 7:09 left in the first half. Leet then stole the ball and passed it to Keith McCord, who put UAB up by four points. The Blazers led the rest of the way and won the game 78-70.
This game is memorable because a scoring barrier was broken for the first time. Keith McCord became the first Blazer to score at least 30 points in a game. He scored 34 points and had 11 rebounds. Larry Spicer had 17 points and Greg Leet had 14. Since McCord’s accomplishment, the 30 point mark has been surpassed forty times in UAB’s history by 20 different players. Andy Kennedy scored 30 plus the most times in seven different games. Carlos Williams is close by with six 30-plus games. The most recent player to score more than 30 points was this season when Paul Delaney scored 32 points against Wyoming.
UAB vs. Marquette – February 14. 2001
Also, on this date in 2001, the Blazers hosted Marquette at Bartow Arena. UAB was 13-10 and 5-5 in CUSA. Marquette was 12-9 and leading the American Division of CUSA with a 7-3 record. The Blazers were without point guard, Leandrew Bass, who missed the game due to a sinus infection. His backups, Tony Johnson and Asa Woods had only one turnover the entire game. Tony Johnson had five assists while playing on an injured foot.
The Blazers led by three at the half, but had built up an eleven point lead with 9:36 left in the game. Marquette managed to cut the lead to three, 57-54, but Will Campbell scored six straight points for UAB to push the lead to 62-54 with 3:39 left. The Golden Eagles had one last surge in them, and cut the lead to one point, 66-65 with 32 seconds left. However, in the final 30 seconds, Eric Batchelor hit six straight free throws to seal the win, and the Blazers won 72-66. Brian Wardle scored 26 points for Marquette. PJ Arnold was the leading scorer for UAB with 22 points and Will Campbell had 19 points.
UAB vs. East Carolina – February 14, 2004
The last Valentines Day game was played in 2004 against East Carolina. UAB was down by eight points at the half after the Pirates had shot 55.6% in the first half. However, UAB opened the second half with a strong run to get back into the game. There were seven lead changes and four ties in the second half. Mo Finley hit a 12 foot jumper with 1:02 to go to give the Blazers a three point lead. Finley's shot fell short with seven seconds to go, giving the Pirates a chance to tie. However, Sidney Ball intercepted a pass and was fouled, sealing the victory. Gabe Kennedy and Demario Eddins scored 16 points each to lead the Blazers as UAB won 72-69.
The Opponent:
Jimmy Carter was president the last time Rice came to Birmingham to play UAB in basketball. On December 29, 1980, UAB and Rice played in the first round of the UAB Classic. The only other time the two teams have played was last year in Houston, which UAB won 75-68.
UAB vs. Rice – December 29, 1980
This game was in the first round of UAB’s tournament, which in its second year, was already dubbed the UAB Classic. The other participating teams were Southern Miss and Wagner, who was coached by PJ Carlisimo
Coach Gene Bartow was upset about attendance came to the game. All tickets for the lower level of the Birmingham Jefferson Coliseum had been sold, but only 6000 bothered to come to the game. The Owls were led by Southwest Conference Player of the Year and future NBA star, Ricky Pierce. Chris Giles was assigned to him and shut him down in the first half.
UAB maintained the lead the entire game and won the game 78-60. Pierce scored most of his points late in the game, when the outcome was already decided. He finished with 29 points. Chris Giles was UAB’s leading scorer with 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting.
The Bench:
Willis Wilson has been at Rice either as a player, assistant or head coach for 22 years. Everything Rice is in basketball, I guess can be attributed to him. He was a member of the Owl team that played UAB in 1980. As a coach, he is 0-1 against the Blazers.
The Date:
UAB is 4-2 on Saint Valentines Day. The Blazers have won their last three games on this date, and are 3-1 at home on this date. The one loss occurred against DePaul in 1987.
UAB vs. South Florida – February 14, 1980
The first game played on this date was in Birmingham against South Florida in 1980. The Bulls were in the midst of a horrible season in which everything went wrong. They had scheduled North Carolina, Auburn and Florida State at home for what would have been the first season in the new Sun Dome, but due to construction delays, the Dome did not get finished in time, and South Florida was forced to play games in three different locations. They only had four players returning from last year’s team and two of those players had left the team midseason. Also gone midseason was head coach Chip Conner who was fired. As a result of this turmoil, South Florida was 5-18 and 1-11 in the Sun Belt Conference.
UAB was in second place in the conference with a game against league leading South Alabama looming next. This was a dangerous trap game in which the Blazers could get caught looking ahead.
The Blazers trailed for much of the first half, and was down by as much as seven points. They did not take the lead until Greg Leet scored a jumper with 7:09 left in the first half. Leet then stole the ball and passed it to Keith McCord, who put UAB up by four points. The Blazers led the rest of the way and won the game 78-70.
This game is memorable because a scoring barrier was broken for the first time. Keith McCord became the first Blazer to score at least 30 points in a game. He scored 34 points and had 11 rebounds. Larry Spicer had 17 points and Greg Leet had 14. Since McCord’s accomplishment, the 30 point mark has been surpassed forty times in UAB’s history by 20 different players. Andy Kennedy scored 30 plus the most times in seven different games. Carlos Williams is close by with six 30-plus games. The most recent player to score more than 30 points was this season when Paul Delaney scored 32 points against Wyoming.
UAB vs. Marquette – February 14. 2001
Also, on this date in 2001, the Blazers hosted Marquette at Bartow Arena. UAB was 13-10 and 5-5 in CUSA. Marquette was 12-9 and leading the American Division of CUSA with a 7-3 record. The Blazers were without point guard, Leandrew Bass, who missed the game due to a sinus infection. His backups, Tony Johnson and Asa Woods had only one turnover the entire game. Tony Johnson had five assists while playing on an injured foot.
The Blazers led by three at the half, but had built up an eleven point lead with 9:36 left in the game. Marquette managed to cut the lead to three, 57-54, but Will Campbell scored six straight points for UAB to push the lead to 62-54 with 3:39 left. The Golden Eagles had one last surge in them, and cut the lead to one point, 66-65 with 32 seconds left. However, in the final 30 seconds, Eric Batchelor hit six straight free throws to seal the win, and the Blazers won 72-66. Brian Wardle scored 26 points for Marquette. PJ Arnold was the leading scorer for UAB with 22 points and Will Campbell had 19 points.
UAB vs. East Carolina – February 14, 2004
The last Valentines Day game was played in 2004 against East Carolina. UAB was down by eight points at the half after the Pirates had shot 55.6% in the first half. However, UAB opened the second half with a strong run to get back into the game. There were seven lead changes and four ties in the second half. Mo Finley hit a 12 foot jumper with 1:02 to go to give the Blazers a three point lead. Finley's shot fell short with seven seconds to go, giving the Pirates a chance to tie. However, Sidney Ball intercepted a pass and was fouled, sealing the victory. Gabe Kennedy and Demario Eddins scored 16 points each to lead the Blazers as UAB won 72-69.
The Opponent:
Jimmy Carter was president the last time Rice came to Birmingham to play UAB in basketball. On December 29, 1980, UAB and Rice played in the first round of the UAB Classic. The only other time the two teams have played was last year in Houston, which UAB won 75-68.
UAB vs. Rice – December 29, 1980
This game was in the first round of UAB’s tournament, which in its second year, was already dubbed the UAB Classic. The other participating teams were Southern Miss and Wagner, who was coached by PJ Carlisimo
Coach Gene Bartow was upset about attendance came to the game. All tickets for the lower level of the Birmingham Jefferson Coliseum had been sold, but only 6000 bothered to come to the game. The Owls were led by Southwest Conference Player of the Year and future NBA star, Ricky Pierce. Chris Giles was assigned to him and shut him down in the first half.
UAB maintained the lead the entire game and won the game 78-60. Pierce scored most of his points late in the game, when the outcome was already decided. He finished with 29 points. Chris Giles was UAB’s leading scorer with 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting.
The Bench:
Willis Wilson has been at Rice either as a player, assistant or head coach for 22 years. Everything Rice is in basketball, I guess can be attributed to him. He was a member of the Owl team that played UAB in 1980. As a coach, he is 0-1 against the Blazers.