Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Opens Home Conference USA Schedule With UAB Saturday Evening
1/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2006
Marshall GameNotes
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UAB GameNotes
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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Thundering Herd opens its Conference USA home schedule with a game against UAB in the Henderson Center Saturday evening. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
Marshall (7-6, 1-0) and UAB (11-3, 1-0) will meet for the third time Saturday evening, although the two teams have met for the last two years in non-conference games. Marshall took a 68-66 win over the Blazers on December 30, 2003, at Bartow Arena, and UAB came away with a 81-78 win in the Henderson Center on December 4, 2004. Saturday's meeting will be the first between the two schools as members of Conference USA.
UAB enters Saturday's contest riding a seven game winning streak, the longest in the Mike Anderson era. The Blazers opened C-USA play on Wednesday by thrashing Tulsa, 84-54 - UAB forced 39 Golden Hurricane turnovers and outscored Tulsa, 52-2, in points off of turnovers. Marvett McDonald leads the Blazers, averaging 14.4 points per game, with Wen Mukubu, a transfer from Arkansas, next at 10.8. Blazer standout Demario Eddins, who averaged 13.1 points per game in 12 contests, is out for the season with a torn achilles.
UAB's Mike Anderson is in his fourth season as head coach in Birmingham, and has compiled a 76-37 record, and has guided the Blazers to three consecutive 20-win seasons and postseason appearances, including two NCAA Tournaments and one Sweet 16. In 2004, he was named the C-USA Ray Meyer Coach-of-the-Year.
In the Herd's last time out, Marshall won its inaugural game as a member of Conference USA with a 73-69 win over UCF in Orlando. The Herd took the lead for good in a tight game which featured 19 lead changes and five ties on a Ryan Lamb free throw (58-57) with a little over seven minutes to go in the game. Lamb's free throw capped a 6-0 run that catapulted Marshall into the lead. Travis Aikens (Orlando, Fla.), making a homecoming trip to his native Orlando, led all Herd scorers with 17 points. Mark Patton (Barboursville, W.Va.) added 14 points, Joe Miles (Forestville, Md.) scored 13, and Chris Ross (San Antonio, Texas) chipped in 11 points for the Herd.
Aikens returned to his native Orlando in the Herd's inaugural win in Conference USA against UCF. The former Jones High School standout had 17 points and nine rebounds on January 11 at UCF Arena. He is averaging 11.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, second only to Mark Patton in both categories for the Herd, and has one double-double, which came against Virginia Tech (16 points, 11 rebounds) on November 21.
With the Herd's win over UCF, Marshall has won two consecutive road games, the first time since the 2003-04 season a Herd team has done that. That year, MU defeated UAB on December 30, 2003, and then defeated Central Michigan at Rose Arena on January 3rd. Marshall has not won three in a row on the road since the 2001-02 season, when the Herd knocked off Winthrop, Radford, and Western Michigan in December of 2001.
Former Marshall star William "Sonny" Allen will be honored at the half by the M Club for his accomplishments with the Thundering Herd. Allen is a 1962 graduate of Marshall and played from 1956-59, and coached with the Thundering Herd from 1959-65.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Henderson Center. The game can be heard live on the ISP/Thundering Herd Network in the region and on the Internet at www.HerdZone.com.
