Jan. 28, 2011
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By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
Complete Release in PDF Format
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF men's basketball team will return to action Saturday when the Knights host UAB for a 7 p.m. Conference USA matchup at the UCF Arena. The first 2,500 fans to enter the UCF Arena will receive a free UCF UKnight pennant courtesy of game sponsor Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Tickets for the game are available at Ticketmaster.com or by visiting UCFAthletics.com. UCF students are admitted free with a valid school ID.
Fans have been flocking to the UCF Arena this season as the Knights rank third in Conference USA in average attendance at 6,535. Five of the top-10 crowds in school history have been recorded this year. UCF (14-5, 1-5 C-USA) is 10-2 at home in 2010-11.
UAB is 14-5 overall and 4-2 in league play. The Blazers have won three of their last four games.
The contest will be televised live in central Florida on Bright House Sports Network and throughout the southeast on CSS on a tape-delayed basis. David Baumann will have the call of the game, and former UCF star guard Mike O'Donnell will provide color commentary.
UCF supporters can listen to UCF-UAB on the UCF Sports Network from IMG College and its flagship station, 740 The Game, in Orlando. Marc Daniels will have the call from the UCF Arena, with his pregame show starting at 6:30 p.m. Live video and statistics will be available on UCFAthletics.com.
Prior to the game, starting at 5:30 p.m., fans can celebrate the start of the 2011 baseball season at the UCF Baseball FanFest presented by B2 Café. The event will take place at The Venue adjacent to the UCF Arena and will feature food, giveaways, posters and autographs.
From 1-3:30 p.m. Saturday, the UCF KnightMoves dance team will host a youth dance clinic inside the arena. Participants will have the opportunity to perform at halftime of the UCF-UAB game. Registration begins at 12:30 p.m. at the UCF Arena. Additional tickets for family and friends for the game can be purchased for $8 at registration. For more information visit ucfspirit.com or contact Torey Brewer in the UCF ticket sales office at (407) 823-4542 or tbrewer@athletics.ucf.edu.
With an increase in fans attending basketball games, UCF Athletics would like to remind its patrons on the following parking notes for when they come to the UCF Arena to watch the Knights play.
? UCF basketball patrons can now go on-line at UCFAthletics.com and pre-purchase a parking pass, for quicker entry into parking facilities.
? The parking procedure will be to utilize Garage D first, then park cars in the adjacent Surface Lot D, Lot C and Garage C. If those lots get full, parking will be redirected to Bright House Networks Stadium parking lots E6 and E7.
? GKC Donor parking is still located in Garage F. If Garage F reaches capacity, the baseball outfield parking lot will open and serve as overflow donor parking.
Series Record UAB, 5-0
Last Meeting UAB 53, UCF 49 (Feb. 24, 2010 in Orlando)
? UCF is seeking its first victory over the Blazers
? When the teams met last season in Orlando, UAB escaped with a 53-49 victory
? The Blazers shot 41.3 percent and limited UCF to just 32.1 percent shooting for the game
? Isaac Sosa scored a game-high 15 points, and Keith Clanton totaled 13 points and 15 rebounds to go with four blocks
? Dexter Fields led UAB with 13 points
? Donnie Jones went 2-4 against UAB during his time at Marshall, including a 1-1 mark a year ago
? Former UCF associate head coach Mike Jaskuksi is in his first campaign as an assistant at UAB
? Jaskulski spent four years at UCF, from 2006-10
? For the first time, UCF and the Blazers will meet twice this season, as the squads are set to play in Birmingham on Feb. 19
Sunshine Staters
? The Knights are happy to be back in Florida, as the team has enjoyed great success in the Sunshine State this season
? UCF is 13-2 in Florida, with 10 of those victories coming at home
? The Knights are 1-3 outside of the state
? The Knights also picked up victories in DeLand (at Stetson), downtown Orlando (vs. No. 16 Florida) and Sunrise (vs. Miami)
? The team has five home contests remaining on its schedule
? UCF is averaging 74.6 points in the Sunshine State, compared to 66.2 points away from Florida
? The team is limiting its foes to just 57.8 points in Florida, and 74.5 points out of the state
The Match Game
? UCF needs just one victory to match its win total from a year ago
? Last year, UCF did not win its 15th game until March 10 at the Conference USA Championship
? On Jan. 29 of last season, the Knights were 10-11 overall
? The Knights started this year with 14-straight victories to record the best start at UCF since the program moved to the Division I ranks in 1984
? UCF was one of the final six remaining unbeaten squads in the country
Last Time Out
? UCF had a promising start Wednesday at the FedEx Forum, but Memphis used a big run to close the first half to post a 77-61 victory over the Knights
? The Tigers, who are receiving votes in both national polls, closed the opening half with a 22-8 run and took a 19-point advantage into intermission
? UCF played better in the second half, outscoring the hosts 33-30
? Memphis shot 48.5 percent overall and forced a season-high 22 UCF turnovers
? Marcus Jordan led UCF with 13 points, and P.J. Gaynor scored 10 points, all in the second half, off the bench
Happy at Home
? UCF is seeking its 11th home victory of the season as the squad is 10-2 at the UCF Arena
? In 2009-10, UCF posted a 9-6 mark in Orlando
? The Knights went 10-0 at the UCF Arena during non-conference play
Full House
? UCF is well on its way to setting some attendance records this season
? Last season, the program averaged a school-record 5,741 spectators
? This year, five of the top-10 crowds in school history have already been recorded, and in the Knights' last game, 9,347 fans were on hand, good for the third on the UCF single-game register
? An average of 8,828 fans have watched UCF's three C-USA contests at the UCF Arena
Facing the Best
? The game against UAB is part of an incredibly tough stretch for the Knights who are in the middle of three-straight contests versus the top three squads in Conference USA
? UCF opened the difficult stretch Wednesday at Memphis
? The Tigers are tied for first at 5-1 in league play along with UTEP, who the Knights will face in El Paso next Wednesday
? UAB is 4-2 in C-USA play, good for third in the league standings
New Kids on the Block
? After totaling just 95 blocks in 32 games last year, the Knights lead the country with 6.9 blocks per game
? Through only 19 contests this season, the Knights have already recorded 132 blocks, which ranks third on the school single-season register
? Tom Herzog (41 blocks) leads Conference USA and is 26th in the country with 2.4 blocks per game, and Keith Clanton (44 blocks) is 31st at 2.3
? In C-USA contests, UCF is averaging 7.2 blocks
Crash the Boards
? UCF recorded a season-high 47 rebounds Wednesday at Memphis, with 22 of its boards coming on the offensive end
? The Knights are doing a better job on the glass this season compared to a year ago
? After averaging 32.9 rebounds per game in 2009-10, the squad is averaging 37.4 boards this year, which ranks third in Conference USA
Up Next
? UCF will open a tough two-game road trip at UTEP on Wednesday
? The Miners have a 4-3 edge in the all-time series
? On Saturday, the team will face host East Carolina
Board Work
? Keith Clanton, who leads UCF and ranks fourth in Conference USA in rebounds per game at 8.9, has grabbed at least seven boards in 16-consecutive games
? Clanton has six double-digit rebounding performances on the year
? Wednesday at Memphis, he grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, including six on the offensive end
Seeing Double
? Marcus Jordan has scored in double figures in 17 of UCF's 19 games this season, and has also scored at least 20 points five times
? As a freshman, he had 11 double-digit scoring performances, with one over 20 points
Second-Half Success
? P.J. Gaynor had a strong performance at Memphis, as the junior scored all 10 of his points in the second half, when UCF outscored the Tigers, 33-30
? Gaynor shot 4-of-6 Wednesday, and also grabbed four rebounds
? The junior from Jacksonville has seen more time on the floor lately, as he averaged 18.7 minutes in UCF's last three games
? He is averaging 13.2 minutes on the season