Feb. 18, 2011
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By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
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ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF men's basketball team will be looking for its third-straight victory Saturday when the Knights meet UAB in Birmingham. The Conference USA contest at Bartow Arena will start at 6 p.m. Eastern.
The game will be televised throughout the southeast on CSS, and in central Florida on Bright House Sports Network.
On Wednesday, UCF (16-8, 3-8 C-USA) surpassed its win total from a year ago after overcoming an 11-point second-half deficit to defeat Tulane, 65-62, in New Orleans. Sophomore forward Keith Clanton (Orlando, Fla.) shot 8-of-11 from the field and led the Knights with 18 points.
The victory over the Green Wave was the second in a row for the Knights, who will be the playing the second contest of a three-game road swing.
UAB is 18-7 overall and at 8-4, tied for third in C-USA. The squad's leading scorer is Jamarr Sanders, who is averaging 18.1 points per game. The Blazers' Aaron Johnson leads the country in assists per game at 7.6.
On the CSS broadcast, Richard Cross will handle the play-by-play, and former Georgia Tech star guard Brian Oliver will provide color commentary.
Fans in Orlando can listen to the contest on the UCF Sports Network from IMG College and its flagship station, 740 The Game. Marc Daniels will have the call from Bartow Arena and his pregame show will begin at 5:30 p.m. Live audio and statistics will be available at UCFAthletics.com.
The Knights' next home game is Saturday, Feb. 26, against Southern Miss. Tickets for the contest are available at Ticketmaster.com or UCFAthletics.com.
Series RecordUAB, 6-0
Last MeetingUAB 74, UCF 69 (Jan. 29, 2011 in Orlando)
The Knights will be playing in Birmingham for only the third time, with the Blazers claiming both of the previous matchups
In the last meeting at Bartow Arena, the Blazers used a 17-0 run to end the game and post a 60-52 win over UCF on Jan. 13, 2009
The Knights, who got 18 points from Jermaine Taylor, led by 10 points with 10:35 remaining in the game, but UAB rallied to record the victory
Robert Vaden led all players with 19 points in the win
The teams met on Jan. 29 in Orlando and UAB hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final two minutes to take the lead and escape with a 74-69 win at the UCF Arena The Knights led by two points with 1:51 to go before the Blazers got triples from Dexter Fields and Jamarr Sanders on back-to-back possessions
Tom Herzog scored a career-high 20 points for UCF and also added eight rebounds and four blocks in 35 minutes
UAB assistant coach Mike Jaskulski is familiar with the Knights, having spent the last four seasons as UCF's associate head coach
Streaking
The 2010-11 campaign has been filled with streaks for the Knights, who started the campaign with 14-consecutive wins, and then lost eight-straight games
UCF has now won two in a row after snapping the losing skid with a 58-57 triumph over visiting Tulsa on Feb. 12, and rallying for a 65-62 victory over host Tulane Wednesday
The Difference is Defense
Defense has been the main difference during UCF's current winning streak compared to its losing skid
In its last two wins, UCF limited Tulsa and Tulane to 59.5 points per game on 41.8 percent shooting
During the losing streak, opponents averaged 71.9 points while shooting 45.3 percent from the floor
A Better Mark
Wednesday's victory at Tulane allowed the Knights to surpass their victory total from a year ago, when they went 15-17 overall
Under new head coach Donnie Jones, UCF is 16-8 in 2010-11
Last year, UCF did not win its 15th game until March 10 at the Conference USA Championship as the Knights won only 14 regular-season contests
Last Time Out
UCF rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to post a 65-62 victory at Tulane Wednesday
Keith Clanton shot 8-of-11 overall and led the Knights with 18 points
The Green Wave led 52-45 with 11 minutes to play, but Clanton sparked a 13-3 run by scoring the Knights next eight points
His layup at the 6:46 mark tied the game at 53 and on UCF's next possession, he kicked the ball out to A.J. Tyler who drained a triple to hand the Knights a 56-53 advantage
The Green Wave tied the game at 58 with 2:13 to play when Jordan Callahan hit a three, but on the ensuing possession, Clanton found Isaac Sosa who hit a 3-pointer at the top of the key that gave UCF the lead for good
Tulane led 34-30 at the break after shooting 53.8 percent in the opening stanza
UCF clamped down on the defensive end late in the game, holding the hosts to just four field goals in the final 10 minutes, and two of baskets came in the final 10 seconds, when the outcome was already decided
Be Aggressive
The aggressive play on the offensive end from Keith Clanton is another reason why the Knights have claimed two-straight victories
The power forward averaged 17.0 points on 73.7 percent (14-of-19) shooting in UCF's victories over Tulsa and Tulane
During the losing skid, he averaged 11.5 points on 42.9 percent shooting
Best of the New
Fifty-four teams in the country entered this season with a new head coach, and under Donnie Jones, UCF has the fifth-best record among the group (16-8)
Fellow Conference USA program UTEP (19-6) is first, followed by Colorado State (18-7), Hofstra (18-9) and Clemson (17-8)
Road Warriors
The game at UAB is the second contest of a season-high three-consecutive road games for the Knights
UCF was originally slated to play at Tulane and UAB (Saturday) this week, and then have next Wednesday off before hosting Southern Miss on Saturday, Feb. 26
But because UCF's game at UTEP, which was slated for Feb. 2 and was postponed due to a winter storm in El Paso, has been rescheduled for Monday, the Knights will play three-straight away from Orlando
Since joining Conference USA in 2005, UCF has never played three-consecutive league games on the road
Feeling Free
Marcus Jordan has made 18-consecutive free throws
In each of UCF's last two games, versus Tulsa and at Tulane, the sophomore went 6-of-6 at the line
On Line
Marcus Jordan leads Conference USA with 156 free-throw attempts
He has hit 125 foul shots, good for eighth on the UCF single-season register
Jordan ranks eighth in C-USA in free-throw percentage (80.1)
This season, 33.4 percent of Jordan's points have come at the line
A Nice Start
P.J. Gaynor is averaging 5.0 points and 3.1 boards in 16.7 minutes per game on the year
But since entering the starting lineup at small forward five games ago, Gaynor has taken his game to another level
In the five games as a starter, Gaynor averaged 6.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in 30.0 minutes
Gaynor hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with eight points Wednesday at Tulane
A Senior Moment
A.J. Tyler helped UCF top host Tulane Wednesday, as the senior scored 12 points and blocked three shots in 28 minutes off the bench
A versatile big man, Tyler missed seven games during non-conference play due to a hip injury
When he returned to the floor on Dec. 29, he clearly was not himself, and averaged 2.7 points on just 26.5 percent shooting in his first nine games back
But Tyler is making a positive contribution again, and the power forward averaged 8.3 points on 48.0 percent shooting in the team's last four games
Triple Trouble
Isaac Sosa is quickly moving up the UCF career 3-pointers register
Sosa is fifth all-time at UCF with 179 treys, just three behind Josh Peppers (2003-07), who is fourth with 180
Sosa also ranks fourth in UCF history in 3-point field goal percentage (42.8)
Up Next
UCF will head to El Paso to face UTEP Monday at 1 p.m. Eastern
The game was slated for Feb. 2, but was postponed due to the effects of a winter storm in El Paso