Marshall University Athletics
Men's Basketball Ready For UAB
1/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2011
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Thundering Herd men's basketball team will look for its second league win, traveling to face UAB on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. ET in Bartow Arena.
Marshall (13-6, 1-3 C-USA) is looking to rebound from a tough 82-81 loss to East Carolina on Saturday. The Herd led from the start up until the final seconds when Darrius Morrow notched an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Pirates their first advantage of the game with five seconds remaining.
Morrow led all scorers with 33 points, just the second opposing player to score 30 or more points against MU this season. Tirrell Baines led the way for Marshall with 21 points, tying his season-high. Dago Pena also tied his season-best effort with 17 points, hitting 5-of-6 three-pointers.
Damier Pitts continued his surge since rejoining the squad. He recorded ten points and hit both free throw attempts, making him a perfect 17-17 in league play and an impressive 52-60 on the season.
The Blazers are 13-5 on the season and 3-2 in Conference USA play. UAB took impressive non-conference victories over Arkansas and VCU while their losses in non-conference play came to Duke, Arizona State and Georgia. Last time out, the Blazers fell in overtime to Memphis, 76-73.
Jamarr Sanders is the leading scorer for UAB, averaging 18.4 PPG. The offense for the Blazers runs through Aaron Johnson. Johnson has 140 assists this season, an average of 7.8 per game, third in the nation.
UAB currently holds an 8-5 edge in the series over Marshall. The teams have met at least twice each season since both were in C-USA and met in the conference tournament in 2007. The Herd won the last meeting, 81-74, in Birmingham last season, halting a four-game Blazer win streak. Marshall is 2-4 all-time on the road against UAB.
Following Wednesday's game, Marshall will return home to face Memphis on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. before taking to the road to face Houston and Southern Miss.
