Nov. 20, 2009
UAB-Georgia Game Notes | Gametracker
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's basketball team will play its first home contest of the 2009-10 campaign when it hosts Southeastern Conference foe Georgia on Saturday night at 7 p.m. The contest marks the first time UAB has played an opponent from the Southeastern Conference at Bartow Arena since Jan. 2, 2003 when the Blazers hosted Mississippi State.
The contest will be televised live on CSS and can also be heard on the Blazers ISP Radio Network, 107.7 FM WUHT, with J.D. Byars and Steve Mitchell on the call.
UAB enters the contest at Georgia game with a 3-1 overall record, following its 85-62 win over Jacksonville State last Tuesday night. Junior guards Elijah Millsap (18 points and 11 boards) and Aaron Johnson (career-high 17 points) led five Blazers in double-figures en route to the win.
Millsap leads UAB in scoring (17.0 ppg), rebounding (8.3 rpg) and steals (2.0 spg) entering Saturday's game. The Louisiana-Lafayette transfer has led the Blazers in either scoring and rebounding in a contest in three of their four games this season.
Senior Howard Crawford is the only other Blazer to average double figures, collecting 13.3 points per contest, while Johnson adds 8.8 points and a team-best 3.0 assists per game.
As a team, the Blazers are shooting 43.4 percent from the floor and 38.1 percent from beyond the arc on the year. UAB also boasts a 5.0 advantage on the boards (35.8-31.8).
UAB head coach Mike Davis is now in his fourth season at the helm of the Blazers' basketball program and his 10th season as a head coach. He boasts a record of 63-40 (.596) at UAB and a 178-119 (.598) record overall.
Georgia comes into the UAB game with a 1-1 record on the season. The Bulldogs opened the year with a 67-59 win over New Orleans (11/13), but dropped their most recent contest, 60-57, to Wofford last Tuesday night. Saturday's matchup will mark the first road game for Georgia this season.
The Bulldogs are led sophomore all-conference player Trey Thompkins, who leads his team with an average of 19.5 points and 14.0 rebounds per contest. Junior forward Jeremy Price is second on the team with 10.5 rebounds a game, while junior forward Chris Brown collects 7.5 points and 8.0 rebounds a game to help the cause.
The Bulldogs have averaged outrebounding opponents by 8.0 rebounds per contest (40.0-32.0) over the first two games. As a team, Georgia is shooting 42.3 percent from the floor, but just hitting 20.0 percent from beyond the arc on the year.
Head coach Mark Fox is in his first season at Georgia. Now in his sixth season as a head coach, Fox owns a 124-44 (.740) overall record.
UAB-Georgia The Series
UAB and Georgia are playing for third time in series history with Georgia owning a 2-0 advantage. The first time the two teams met came on Dec. 19, 1981 with the Bulldogs squeaking out a 76-72 victory. The last meeting, which game exactly six years later to the day on Dec. 19, 1987, resulted in an 85-66 Georgia victory. The game was played as part of the Phenix NCAA Ball in Tokyo, Japan.
UAB vs. The SEC
The contest on Saturday will mark the 54th time UAB will have taken on an SEC opponent in program history. The Blazers have an overall record of 25-28 (.472) in all-time games against SEC schools. Below is a breakdown of how UAB has fared against the SEC (italics indicates 2009-10 opponent):
Alabama 1-0
Auburn 10-7
Arkansas 0-1
Florida 1-1
Georgia 0-2
Kentucky 3-2
LSU 1-1
Ole Miss 1-4
Mississippi State 4-2
South Carolina 1-2
Tennessee 2-2
Vanderbilt 1-4
TOTALS 25-28
A Rare Feat
Junior guard Elijah Millsap has made an exciting debut in the Green and Gold. Over UAB's first four contests, the Grambling, La. has accounted for two double-doubles with 22 points and 11 rebounds against Green Bay (11/13) and 18 points and 11 rebounds against Jacksonville State (11/17). Millsap becomes the first UAB rookie to record two double-doubles through his first four games in a UAB uniform in nearly 15 years. The last person to accomplish the feat was former great Carlos Williams, who recorded a pair of double-doubles in his first season at UAB in its opening four contests of the 1994-95 season.
A.J. Has Career Game
Junior guard Aaron Johnson had a career game when UAB took on Jacksonville State on Tuesday. The Blazers' point guard had a career-high 17 points and tied his career-best with five rebounds in the 87-62 win. He also added game highs of six assists and four steals in his 32 minutes of action.
On The Road Again...
The UAB men's basketball team will finally play its first home game of the 2009-10 season when Georgia comes to town on Saturday. However, starting a season with a road stretch is nothing new under UAB head coach Mike Davis. In each of his first four seasons, the Blazers have started the year with a significant number of games on the road. In his first season (2006-07), UAB played four straight contests and six of the first seven on the road. The same was true for 2007-08 (four of first five on the road) and 2008-09 when the Blazers had a school record six straight games away from home to the start the season.
All-Tournament Honors
UAB senior forward Howard Crawford and junior guard Elijah Millsap earned all-tournament honors at the Hispanic College Fund Classic in Kent, Ohio last weekend.
Second-Half Team?
In each of the four contests this season, UAB has trailed or been tied at halftime only to come back and either take the lead or win the game. Below is a breakdown of UAB's second half compared to its opponents.
1st half (Avg) 2nd half (Avg.)
UAB 112 (28.0) 163 (40.8)
Opp. 132 (33.0) 110 (27.5)
Diff. -20 (-5.0) +53 (+13.3)
