Mike Davis and UAB

Mike Davis is having an impact at UAB, with the signing of 6-10 Jeremy Mayfield. That's right, you may remember Mayfield originally signed with Oklahoma. He was released from his scholarship commitment when Kelvin Sampson went to Indiana and the Sooners hired Jeff Capel as their new coach. Davis has also made the non-conference schedule tougher so that the RPI won't be an issue in the future when the NCAA tournament selection committee meets to look at the Blazers. UAB will face defending national champion Florida at the Orange Bowl on December 30. The Blazers also have games scheduled at Cincinnati, at Old Dominion, at Virginia Commonwealth and may add Connecticut in the future too.

UAB BASKETBALL

UAB men's basketball coach Mike Davis is close to delivering on his promise to play a tougher non-conference schedule. Classic on Dec. 30.
Davis said he's also working on securing a game against traditional power Connecticut and trying to arrange a home-and-home matchup with Wyoming. An early season exempt tournament is another possibility.
Davis said his team was already facing a difficult schedule, with the Blazers playing road games at VCU, Old Dominion, Cincinnati and Western Kentucky, plus home games against Minnesota, DePaul and South Florida.
"We won't have to worry about RPI," Davis said.
UAB adds ex-Sooner: UAB's lineup got a little bigger with the addition of 6-foot-10, 240-pound Jeremy Mayfield. The Dallas-area product has signed a national letter of intent, the school announced Monday. He originally signed with Oklahoma but was released from his scholarship when Jeff Capel became the Sooners head coach.
Mayfield played at MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas, until 2005. He spent the past year at a Dallas prep school, averaging 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots at God's Academy.
"This is a great sign for us," said Davis.

Wildcats get rematch with UAB's Blazers

LEXINGTON, Ky. - When Alabama-Birmingham head coach Mike Anderson learned Sunday who his Blazers were playing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, he did a double-take.

Because no matter how much the tournament selection committee insists that it doesn't purposely put together rematches or pit rival schools against each other, the drama created by this matchup was too obvious to ignore.

UAB (24-6, 12-2 Conference USA) was awarded a No. 9 seed and will play No. 8 seed University of Kentucky (21-12, 9-7 Southeastern Conference) in the first round of the Washington regional at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center on Friday.

Just two years ago, No. 9-seeded UAB upset No. 1-seeded UK in the second round. With 2.2 seconds remaining and UK trailing 76-75, Wildcats senior Gerald Fitch missed a 3-pointer from the left wing and UK junior Chuck Hayes missed a tip-in, sending the Blazers to the Sweet 16.

"Surely, it can't be," Anderson said of his initial reaction. "On one hand it surprises you, but then on the other hand, it doesn't surprise me.

"The NCAA, they always look for interesting matchups. When you line them all up, I think all of the 65 teams are good so we're excited about it."

UAB vs. Marshall

Marvett McDonald scored 17 points as UAB closed the regular season with an 82-61 victory over Marshall on Saturday night.

With UAB's win and UTEP's loss to UCF, UAB wrapped up the No. 2 seed in next week's Conference USA tournament in Memphis.

UAB (22-5, 12-2 C-USA) got 10 points from Manurice Gibbs and 10 assists from Carldell "Squeaky" Johnson.

Tre Whitted scored 15 points and Mark Patton added 13 for Marshall (12-15, 5-9).

The Thundering Herd had won three of its previous four games. But McDonald hit two early 3-pointers and Johnson added a jumper to get UAB off to an 8-3 lead. The Blazers never trailed and led 42-25 at the half.

UAB's biggest margin was 22 points at 74-52. The Blazers shot 50 percent from the field, and coach Mike Anderson cleared his bench with 12 players scoring.

UAB receives a first round bye in the C-USA tournament. The Blazers will open play on Friday against the winner of Thursday's game between Rice and SMU.

USM knocks off UAB, Ole Miss falls to S.C

Former Bay High star Kendra Reed had 33 points to lead Southern Miss in a 76-66 win over UAB in Hattiesburg on Sunday.
Amber Eugene had 15, Hancock's Ashley Boehnel had 11, and Liz Biland had 10 points for the Golden Eagles (13-13, 9-5 Conference USA).
Britney Jones led UAB with 13 points. Carmen Guzman had 11 and LaKitha Murray and Christon Ingram contributed 10 points apeice for the Blazers (14-11,7-7 CUSA).
Southern Miss had a seven-point lead, 38-31, at the half after hitting 53.8 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes of action.
The Golden Eagles didn't slow down in the second half, going 12-of-27 from the floor.
Reed broke an 18-year-old school record by making 18 free throws and tied another 18-year-old record with 20 free throw attempts in a game.
South Carolina 77, Ole Miss 66 - Melanie Johnson scored 17 points and had 13 rebounds as homestanding South Carolina won easily.
The Gamecocks (15-9, 6-6 Southeastern Conference) have won five of their last six to pull into a tie for sixth place in the SEC with Vanderbilt.
South Carolina led by five early in the second half when Johnson sparked an 11-0 run with six points, four rebounds, a blocked shot and an assist to help the Gamecocks take a 49-33 lead.
The Lady Rebels (14-12, 4-9) fought back and trailed 63-59 with under four minutes left. But a 3-pointer by Shannel Harris and a fast-break layup by Lakesha Tolliver ended Ole Miss' chances.
Armintie Price scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds, Carla Bartlee added 14 points and Ashley Johnson had 13.
Kentucky 51, Mississippi St. 46 - Samantha Mahoney had 18 points to lead Kentucky in Starkville and help hand the Lady Bulldogs their school-record 10 straight loss.
in a 51-46 over Mississippi State on Sunday.
Eleia Roddy had 12 points and Sarah Elliot had 12 rebounds for Kentucky (19-6, 8-4 SEC). Mamie McKinney and Robin Porter had 10 points apeice to lead the Bulldogs (6-19, 1-11 SEC).

Tough challenges in store for playoff teams

NCAA Game Summary - U-A-B at Texas-El Paso

El Paso, TX (Sports Network) - John Tofi netted 14 points and ripped down 15 rebounds in leading the Texas-El Paso Miners to a 65-37 win over the UAB Blazers in Conference USA action from the Don Haskins Center.
Jason Williams also turned in 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds for UTEP (14-6, 7-1 C-USA), while Edgar Moreno had 11 points and six boards.
Carldell Johnson led the Blazers (16-5, 6-2) with just 10 points.
UTEP shot 51.9 percent from the floor in the first half, opening up a 34-18 lead at the break.
In the second stanza, the Miners held UAB to just a 24.1 percent shooting effort from the field, as they cruised to the 28-point win.
The Miners simply dominated the boards, 51-27, in addition to limiting the Blazers to just 23.7 percent shooting from the floor.