03-03-2007, 09:09 AM
Senior Day
Today is a special day commonly known as Senior day, the last home game of the regular season, when the fans say goodbye to the departing seniors. This year, we do not have any four year seniors, but we say goodbye to Wen Mukubu and Morris Gibbs, who played two years for the Blazers. Here is a great stat for this special day. Throughout UAB’s history, the Blazers are 23-5 in games on Senior Day, the last home game of the regular season. UAB has won the last three Senior Day games. However, two of those five senior day losses came in the coach’s first season. Murry Bartow lost his first Senior Day game to Marquette. The seniors that day were Carlos Williams, Will Bailey, James Bristow, Chad Jones, Chris Lee, and Norman Williams. Mike Anderson also lost his first Senior Day game in 2003 to Memphis with seniors Eric Bush and Cedric Davis saying goodbye.
The Date:
The Blazers are 5-1 on this date. They are 3-1 at home on this date with two of the wins coming in the 1984 and 1990 Sun Belt Tournaments held in Birmingham. Our last win on this date came on the road against South Florida in 2004. This was a 61-59 win for the Blazers, in which Sidney Ball hit a three point basket with less than a second to go in the game. That win clinched a tie for the regular season championship for the Blazers and assured an invite to the NCAA tournament, where they would make some serious noise.
Let’s look at some other games played on this date.
UAB @ Saint Louis - March 3, 1993
On this date in 1993, the Blazers traveled to Saint Louis to play Great Midwest conference rival Saint Louis in the last game of the season. Saint Louis had a new coach with Charlie Spoonhour in his first season. The game was played in the old St. Louis Arena, which was built in 1929.
![[Image: oldfront.jpg]](http://hockey.ballparks.com/NHL/St.LouisBlues/oldfront.jpg)
The Arena was cold and dreary and leaked on the fans. There were not enough bathrooms for the 20,000 fans it seated, but still it held a special place in Gene Bartow’s heart. Twenty years earlier in 1973, he had brought his Memphis State team to the Arena for the Final Four and played UCLA in the championship game.
The trip to St. Louis for this game was as difficult as it might have been in 1926. Fog in St. Louis had shut down the airport and the UAB team was trapped in Nashville. They were about to get on a bus to travel from Nashville to St. Louis, when at the last minute, the fog lifted and they were able to fly in. Still it took eight hours to get from Birmingham to St. Louis.
The Billikins were 11-15 and last in the Great Midwest Conference. However, they were playing well at the time, and had won by 18 over Depaul and loss by only three points at Memphis. The Blazers, 16-12 were coming off a rare win over Cincinnati and had not won two games in a row since December.
The game was close to start, and Saint Louis led 20-15 after hitting a three pointer with 10:37 left in the half. However, the Blazer defense stepped up, and the Billikins would not make another field goal in the first half. UAB outscored them 21-6 and led by 10, 36-26 at the half. In the second half, the Blazers roared out to a 16 point lead, but Saint Louis cut the lead to nine points with 10:39 to go. The Blazers pushed the lead out again and won going away 77-57. Defensively, they shut down Erwin Claggett, the conference’s second leading scorer. He was scoreless in the second half. Robert Shannon led the Blazers with 23 points. Stanley Jackson had 16 points and Carter Long had 13.
UAB vs. Dayton March 3, 1994
The only Senior Day game played on this date occurred in 1994. when UAB hosted the Dayton Flyers. The Blazer fans were saying goodbye to six seniors on that day: Robert Shannon, Carter Long, George Wilkerson, Reginald Allen, Clarence Thrash and Frank Haywood. The opponent was Dayton, who was a member of the Great Midwest Conference, but had a poor record of 6-18 and 1-10 in conference. The coach, Jim O’brien, had just been fired, but would finish the rest of the season. O’brien, who went on to become an NBA coach had won 36 games in his first two years at Dayton, but just 10 games in his last two years. Dayton had lost 15 of their last 17 games.
UAB started slowly and missed their first six shots of the game. Dayton took a 2-0 lead, but it did not last long, as the Blazers finally got on track. Led by a red hot Robert Shannon, UAB took a 4-2 lead and never relinquished the lead on their way to a 41-22 half time lead. At the half, the score was Robert Shannon 22 and Dayton Flyers 22. Shannon had broken the record for most points scored in the first half, previously held by Andy Kennedy with 21 points.
In the second half, Dayton put a box and one on Shannon and held him to only three shots and seven points in the second half. However, other seniors stepped up. Carter Long had 10 second half points and Reginald Allen had 14 second half points. UAB won the game 84-53. Shannon was the leading scorer with 29 points and a perfect 10 for 10 from the three point line. Reginald Allen had 21 points.
The Opponent:
After the Blazer win earlier in the season, UAB has won three straight games over Tulane. The Blazers are 14-11 against Tulane overall and 8-4 against the Green Wave in Bartow Arena. UAB has not lost to Tulane in Bartow Arena since February 2003.
UAB vs. Tulane February 15, 2006
The last time UAB placed Tulane in Bartow Arena was February 15, 2006. UAB had won 13 of 15 games entering the contest and Tulane was 9-13. Tulane jumped out to an early 7-5 lead, but UAB went on a 14-0 run to take the lead 19-7. In the second half, the Blazers had its biggest lead at 76-63 with 7:25 to play, but the Green Wave kept coming. Chris Moore hit two three point shots and Andrew Garcia hit another to lead Tulane on a 17-6 run to bring the Wave within two points.
With less than a minute to play, UAB had the ball and the lead at 82-80. They needed points to make it a two possession game. The shot clock was winding down and as it happened several times in the season, the needed points came from Squeaky Johnson. With 16.5 seconds to go in the game and as the shot clock buzzer sounded, Squeaky hit a three pointer to give the Blazers a five point lead. The Blazers won the game 87-82. Marvett McDonald and Paul Delaney led five Blazers in double figures with 13 points apiece. Squeaky Johnson had nine points, but tied his career high with 11 assists, which also moved him into fourth place on the all time assists list. Squeaky would finish with 474 assists, behind Steve Mitchell, Jack Kramer and Barry Bearden.
Today is a special day commonly known as Senior day, the last home game of the regular season, when the fans say goodbye to the departing seniors. This year, we do not have any four year seniors, but we say goodbye to Wen Mukubu and Morris Gibbs, who played two years for the Blazers. Here is a great stat for this special day. Throughout UAB’s history, the Blazers are 23-5 in games on Senior Day, the last home game of the regular season. UAB has won the last three Senior Day games. However, two of those five senior day losses came in the coach’s first season. Murry Bartow lost his first Senior Day game to Marquette. The seniors that day were Carlos Williams, Will Bailey, James Bristow, Chad Jones, Chris Lee, and Norman Williams. Mike Anderson also lost his first Senior Day game in 2003 to Memphis with seniors Eric Bush and Cedric Davis saying goodbye.
The Date:
The Blazers are 5-1 on this date. They are 3-1 at home on this date with two of the wins coming in the 1984 and 1990 Sun Belt Tournaments held in Birmingham. Our last win on this date came on the road against South Florida in 2004. This was a 61-59 win for the Blazers, in which Sidney Ball hit a three point basket with less than a second to go in the game. That win clinched a tie for the regular season championship for the Blazers and assured an invite to the NCAA tournament, where they would make some serious noise.
Let’s look at some other games played on this date.
UAB @ Saint Louis - March 3, 1993
On this date in 1993, the Blazers traveled to Saint Louis to play Great Midwest conference rival Saint Louis in the last game of the season. Saint Louis had a new coach with Charlie Spoonhour in his first season. The game was played in the old St. Louis Arena, which was built in 1929.
The Arena was cold and dreary and leaked on the fans. There were not enough bathrooms for the 20,000 fans it seated, but still it held a special place in Gene Bartow’s heart. Twenty years earlier in 1973, he had brought his Memphis State team to the Arena for the Final Four and played UCLA in the championship game.
The trip to St. Louis for this game was as difficult as it might have been in 1926. Fog in St. Louis had shut down the airport and the UAB team was trapped in Nashville. They were about to get on a bus to travel from Nashville to St. Louis, when at the last minute, the fog lifted and they were able to fly in. Still it took eight hours to get from Birmingham to St. Louis.
The Billikins were 11-15 and last in the Great Midwest Conference. However, they were playing well at the time, and had won by 18 over Depaul and loss by only three points at Memphis. The Blazers, 16-12 were coming off a rare win over Cincinnati and had not won two games in a row since December.
The game was close to start, and Saint Louis led 20-15 after hitting a three pointer with 10:37 left in the half. However, the Blazer defense stepped up, and the Billikins would not make another field goal in the first half. UAB outscored them 21-6 and led by 10, 36-26 at the half. In the second half, the Blazers roared out to a 16 point lead, but Saint Louis cut the lead to nine points with 10:39 to go. The Blazers pushed the lead out again and won going away 77-57. Defensively, they shut down Erwin Claggett, the conference’s second leading scorer. He was scoreless in the second half. Robert Shannon led the Blazers with 23 points. Stanley Jackson had 16 points and Carter Long had 13.
UAB vs. Dayton March 3, 1994
The only Senior Day game played on this date occurred in 1994. when UAB hosted the Dayton Flyers. The Blazer fans were saying goodbye to six seniors on that day: Robert Shannon, Carter Long, George Wilkerson, Reginald Allen, Clarence Thrash and Frank Haywood. The opponent was Dayton, who was a member of the Great Midwest Conference, but had a poor record of 6-18 and 1-10 in conference. The coach, Jim O’brien, had just been fired, but would finish the rest of the season. O’brien, who went on to become an NBA coach had won 36 games in his first two years at Dayton, but just 10 games in his last two years. Dayton had lost 15 of their last 17 games.
UAB started slowly and missed their first six shots of the game. Dayton took a 2-0 lead, but it did not last long, as the Blazers finally got on track. Led by a red hot Robert Shannon, UAB took a 4-2 lead and never relinquished the lead on their way to a 41-22 half time lead. At the half, the score was Robert Shannon 22 and Dayton Flyers 22. Shannon had broken the record for most points scored in the first half, previously held by Andy Kennedy with 21 points.
In the second half, Dayton put a box and one on Shannon and held him to only three shots and seven points in the second half. However, other seniors stepped up. Carter Long had 10 second half points and Reginald Allen had 14 second half points. UAB won the game 84-53. Shannon was the leading scorer with 29 points and a perfect 10 for 10 from the three point line. Reginald Allen had 21 points.
The Opponent:
After the Blazer win earlier in the season, UAB has won three straight games over Tulane. The Blazers are 14-11 against Tulane overall and 8-4 against the Green Wave in Bartow Arena. UAB has not lost to Tulane in Bartow Arena since February 2003.
UAB vs. Tulane February 15, 2006
The last time UAB placed Tulane in Bartow Arena was February 15, 2006. UAB had won 13 of 15 games entering the contest and Tulane was 9-13. Tulane jumped out to an early 7-5 lead, but UAB went on a 14-0 run to take the lead 19-7. In the second half, the Blazers had its biggest lead at 76-63 with 7:25 to play, but the Green Wave kept coming. Chris Moore hit two three point shots and Andrew Garcia hit another to lead Tulane on a 17-6 run to bring the Wave within two points.
With less than a minute to play, UAB had the ball and the lead at 82-80. They needed points to make it a two possession game. The shot clock was winding down and as it happened several times in the season, the needed points came from Squeaky Johnson. With 16.5 seconds to go in the game and as the shot clock buzzer sounded, Squeaky hit a three pointer to give the Blazers a five point lead. The Blazers won the game 87-82. Marvett McDonald and Paul Delaney led five Blazers in double figures with 13 points apiece. Squeaky Johnson had nine points, but tied his career high with 11 assists, which also moved him into fourth place on the all time assists list. Squeaky would finish with 474 assists, behind Steve Mitchell, Jack Kramer and Barry Bearden.