Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Men to Host UAB on Saturday Night
1/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 18, 2008
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall men's basketball team will welcome its second Conference USA opponent to the Cam Henderson Center on Saturday when UAB comes to town for the first of two matchups with the Blazers this season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST.
Marshall (9-6, 1-2 Conference USA) has lost consecutive contests for the first time this season and looks to avoid its first three-game losing streak since January of 2006. The Thundering Herd, winners of 12 of its last 15 home games, can become the fastest MU team to 10 wins since the 2000-01 season (10-3 start).
The Herd will have to compensate for the hobbled Markel Humphrey (Atlanta, Ga.), who continues to battle a foot injury that limited his availability in the second half of Marshall's loss at East Carolina on Wednesday. Humphrey, the team's leading scorer with 14.2 ppg, grabbed a game-high seven rebounds with nine points versus the Pirates despite the injury.
Marshall senior Mark Dorris (Cincinnati, Ohio) has picked up his play over the last five games, posting team-bests in points (13.8 ppg), 3-pointers per game (2.0), assists (2.8 apg) and steals (1.2 spg) in that span. Forward Tirrell Baines, the third-highest freshman scorer in C-USA this season, is netting 12.3 ppg with a team-best 6.4 rebounds per contest.
UAB (12-5, 2-0) has won four straight games and 10 of its last 12 entering Saturday night's tilt with the Thundering Herd. The Blazers score 72 points per game, aided by their C-USA No. 1-ranked 3-point shooting. UAB sinks a league-best 38.6 percent of its 3-point attempts with guard/forward Robert Vaden leading the way with 4.5 treys per game, second most in the country.
Vaden, a junior, ranks second in C-USA (and 26th in the NCAA) in scoring with 21.2 ppg. He is 76-for-173 from downtown (43.9 percent) and dishes out 2.6 assists per outing. The Indiana transfer has led UAB in scoring in 11 of its 17 games, including 33 points apiece versus Kentucky and in its last game versus Southern Miss on Wednesday.
The Blazers held the Golden Eagles to just 18 first-half points en route to a 72-65 win on Wednesday in its C-USA home-opener.
Marshall and UAB will meet for the eighth time on Saturday with the Blazers holding a 4-3 series advantage. The schools split their only two games as non-conference foes in 2003 and 2004. Marshall's wins over UAB have come on three different floors as the Thundering Herd posted a win over the Blazers at the Cam Henderson Center, one at Bartow Arena and one at FedExForum in last year's C-USA Championship first-round tilt.
The game will be video streamed live on Herd All-Access, via HerdZone.com, and can be heard on the Thundering Herd/ISP Sports Network with Steve Cotton (PxP) and Woody Woodrum (color).
