2 0 0 3 - 0 4 U A B M e n ’ s B a s k e t b a l l1

UAB WILL RELY ON EXPERIENCE IN2003-04: The UAB basketball teamenters the 2003-04 season as one of themore experienced teams in ConferenceUSA. The Blazers return four of fivestarters and nine of 12 letterwinners.The Blazers also have three fifth-yearseniors on the squad in Mo Finley,Sidney Ball and Tony Johnson. UAB isone of only three schools in the entirecoutnry which has three fifth-yearseniors on its squad (Arkansas-3,Creighton-4).

BLAZERS HAVE SUCCESSFUL 2002-03SEASON: UAB turned a lot of headsthroughout the 2002-03 season. TheBlazers finished the season with a 21-13 overall record and finished runner-up at the Conference USA tourna-ment. UAB ended the season just onegame away from playing in MadisonSquare Garden in the NIT, dropping a79-71 decision at St. John’s in the quar-terfinals. It was the first time UAB hasreached the postseason since the 1998-99 campaign.

SCOUTING THE BLAZERS: UAB returnsfour of five starters and nine of 12 let-terwinners for the 2003-04 season.Leading the list of returnees is presea-son all-conference guard MorrisFinley. The senior from LaFayette, Ala.is back as the conference’s leadingreturning scorer (18.3 ppg in 2002) andis a member of the preseason all-con-ference team. The Blazers also willshow off five newcomers, four ofwhich are JUCO transfers. Leading thelist of newcomers are identical twinguards Ronell and Donell Taylor. Bothplayers transferred from Okaloosa-Walton JC where they were named tothe all-conference and all-regionteams.

2003-04 UAB BASKETBALLEXHIBITION GAME ONE – NOVEMBER 6, 2003, 7:30 P.M. CST

UAB VS.VASDA USA

UAB Media RelationsMailing Address:

BRTW 1051530 3rd Avenue SouthBirmingham, AL 35294

(205) 934-0722(205) 934-7505 (Fax)

MBB Contact: Aaron Jordan

UAB (0-0, 0-0 C-USA)

DATE OPPONENT TIME/RESULTNOVEMBERThurs. 6 VASDA (Exh.) 7:30 pmMon. 17 Arkansas Angels (Exh.) 7:30 pmMon. 24 Georgia Southern 7:30 pmSat. 29 Richmond 7:30 pm

DECEMBERWed. 3 Birmingham-Southern 7:30 pmSat. 6 at Mississippi State (FoxSN) 1 pmMon. 15 vs. Western Michigan% 5:30 pmThurs. 18 at VCU 7:30 pmSat. 20 Alabama A&M 7:30 pmTues. 23 Louisiana Tech 7:30 pmSat. 27 vs. LSU# (FoxSN/Sunshine) 6 pmTues. 30 Marshall 7:30 pm

JANUARYSat. 3 South Alabama 7:30 pmWed. 7 at East Carolina* 6 pmSat. 10 Houston* 7:30 pmSat. 17 at DePaul* (ESPN Plus) 11 amTues. 20 USF* 7:30 pmSat. 24 at Charlotte* 2 pmWed. 28 Tulane* 7:30 pmSat. 31 Saint Louis* 7:30 pm

FEBRUARYSat. 7 at Louisville* (ESPN) 6 pmWed. 11 at Southern Miss* 7 pmSat. 14 East Carolina* 7:30 pmWed. 18 Cincinnati* 7:30 pmSat. 21 at Memphis (ESPN) 6 pmWed. 25 at Tulane 7 pmSat. 28 Marquette* (ESPN Plus) 2 pm

MARCHWed. 3 at USF 6 pmSat. 6 TCU (ESPN Plus) NoonWed.- 10- Conference USA Tournament! TBASun. 14

* denotes C-USA game% Coors Classic (Mobile, Ala.)# Sugar Bowl Classic (New Orleans, La.)! C-USA Tournament (Memphis, Tenn.)All times Central

DATE: Thursday, Nov. 6, 2003

TIME: 7:30 p.m. CST

2002-03 RECORDS: UAB: 21-13, 8-8 C-USA

RADIO: 101.1 WYDE -FM - Gary Sanders will handleplay-by-play, Matt Coulter will be the color analyst and

Jon Gentile produces the broadcast. The pregame showwill begin 7 p.m. CST and the postgame show will followimmediately after the game.

TELEVISION: None

SERIES HISTORY: UAB defeated VASDA USA in itsopening game of the exhibition season, 119-84.

UAB 2003-04 SCHEDULE

TONIGHT’S GAME INFO...

UAB QUICK FACTS

Founded 1969Enrollment 15,921President Dr. Carol GarrisonAthletics Director Watson BrownFaculty Representative Dr. Johnny ScottNational Affiliation NCAA Division IConference Affiliation Conference USASchool Colors Forest Green and Old GoldHome Court Bartow ArenaCapacity 8,500First Game In Bartow Arena Dec. 3, 1988Record In Bartow Arena 175-42 (.806)

34-21 in C-USA (.618)

BASKETBALL HISTORY

First Year Of Basketball 1978-79All-Time Record 489-300 (.620)Years In NCAA Tourn. 10 (1981, 82, 83, 84,

85, 86, 87, 90, 94, 99)Last Appearance 1999Years In NIT 8

(1980, 89, 91, 92, 93, 97, 98, 03)Last Appearance 20032002-03 Overall Record 21-132002-03 C-USA Record/Finish 8-8/t-2nd

(National)Returning/Lost 9/3Starters Returning/Lost 4/1Newcomers 5

BASKETBALL STAFF

Head Basketball Coach Mike AndersonRecord at UAB/Seasons 21-13/One SeasonCareer Record/Seasons SameAssistant Coaches Chris Giles (UAB, ‘84)

Scott Edgar (Pittsburgh-Johnstown, ‘78)Matt Zimmerman (Arkansas, ‘90)

Strength & Conditioning Marcus BushAthletic Trainer Bryan Koch

Media Relations Contact Aaron JordanJordan’s Office 205-934-0722Jordan’s Email jordana@uab.edu

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SCOUTING VASDA USA: The VASDA USAsquad is comprised of former college play-ers who have completed their NCAA eligi-bility and are playing professionally over-seas and in the U.S. Those players who areattempting to play basketball at the profes-sional level, are using VASDA’s preseasontour to gain some experience and exposure.

LAST SEASON AGAINST VASDA...: UABbegan the 2002-03 season with its exhibitionopener against VASDA. The Blazers defeat-ed their opponents, 119-84 on Nov. 5, 2002.UAB was led by Mo Finley’s 21 points, 10assists and five steals, while DemarioEddins and Gabe Kennedy had 18 and 17points, respectively. Six UAB playersreached double-figures, while the Blazersshot 58.7-percent from the floor as a team.UAB also forced VASDA into 27 turnoversand collected 19 steals on the evening.

UAB LED NATION IN STEALS: MikeAnderson’s Fastest 40 Minutes In Basketball isa frantic style of play which is predicated onforcing other teams into turnovers. Thatwas shown in last season’s statistics. TheBlazers led the nation in steals per game lastseason, averaging 11.6 per contest. TheBlazers also forced their opponents into 723turnovers and collected 395 steals, bothschool records.

11 WINS EQUALS 500 VICTORIES IN SCHOOLHISTORY: Entering the 2003-04 season, UABneeds just 11 wins to reach the program’s500th victory. Currently, the program’soverall record is 489-300 which equals to anaverage of 19.6 wins per season.

THREE-POINT STREAK STILL GOING: TheBlazers have enjoyed much success frombehind the arc. So much so, that UAB hasmade at least one three-pointer in 235 con-secutive contests. The last time the Blazersplayed a game without knocking down a

trey was on Dec. 18, 1996 againstChattanooga.

CLIMBING UP THE RECORD BOOKS: Seniorguard Mo Finley continues his ascent up theUAB record books. Finley, a native ofLaFayette, Ala., is ranked in the career listsfor three pointer made, three pointersattempted and most points scored in schoolhistory. He also need to collect six steals tobreak into the top-10 for career steals. Lastseason, he collected 623 points which stoodas the fifth-most points in a single-season inschool history.

KEY RETURNEES: The Blazers welcome backfour of their five starters and nine of 12 let-terwinners to this year’s squad. Included onthe list of returnees is preseason all-confer-ence player Morris Finley. The LaFayette,Ala. native returns as C-USA’s leading scor-er, averaging 18.3 ppg last season. DemarioEddins returns after being named to the C-USA All-Freshman team. Eddins also cap-tured the school record for freshman scor-ing, collecting 344 points on the campaign.Sidney Ball and Gabe Kennedy are bothinside forces who started 20-plus games theUAB. Also returning are Richard Jones,who ranks second on UAB’s all-time fresh-man scoring list, Tony Johnson, DerrickBroom and Brandon Tobias, all of whomplayed 24 or more games last season.

2003-04 NEWCOMERS: UAB welcomes fivenew players to this year’s squad. Out of thefive newcomers, four are transfers fromjunior college. Below is a glimpse of eachrecruit and a few of their previous school’saccomplishments:w Carldell “Squeaky” Johnson (5-10, 180, G)- Transferred from Salt Lake CC ... averagedeight points and eight assists per contest.w Marques Lewis (6-8, 280, F) - Transferfrom Wabash Valley CC ... named as all-con-ference performer ... was team MVP in 2002-

CAREER RECORDCAREER RECORDWATCHWATCH

Most Three’s Made Years No.1. Andy Kennedy 1988-91 3182. Damon Cobb 1995-99 2343. Cedric Dixon 1994-98 2184. Mo Finley 1999- 1825. Barry Bearden 1986-90 172

Most Three’s Att. Years No.1. Andy Kennedy 1988-91 7282. Cedric Dixon 1994-98 6313. Damon Cobb 1995-99 6234. Mo Finley 1999- 4795. Barry Bearden 1986-90 422

Most Steals Years No.1. Stanley Jackson 1989-93 2372. Steve Mitchell 1982-86 1903. Damon Cobb 1995-99 180 4. Oliver Robinson 1978-82 1765. Michael Charles 1984-88 1756. George Wilkerson 1989-94 172 7. Eric Bush 2001-03 1698. Barry Bearden 1986-90 1519. Cedric Dixon 1994-98 13510. Jack Kramer 1988-91 13411. Mo Finley 1999- 128

1,000-Point Club Years Points1. Steve Mitchell 1982-86 1,8672. Andy Kennedy 1988-91 1,7873. Elbert Rogers 1988-92 1,5874. Oliver Robinson 1978-82 1,5775. Stanley Jackson 1989-93 1,491t14. Mo Finley* 1999- 1,137

Freshman Scoring Year Points1. Demario Eddins 2003 3442. Richard Jones 2003 2283. Damon Cobb 1996 2124. Steve Mitchell 1983 1995. Jerome Mincy 1983 1885. Larry Rembert 1987 188

* Mo Finley became the 15th player in schoolhistory to reach 1,000 points.

2003-04 UAB MEN’S BASKETBALL NUMERICAL ROSTER

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl./Exp. Hometown/Last School0 Carldell Johnson G 5-10 180 So./JC New Orleans, La./Salt Lake City JC1 Donell Taylor G 6-6 180 Jr./JC Montgomery, Ala./Okaloosa-Walton2 Ronell Taylor G 6-5 180 Jr./JC Montgomery, Ala./Okaloosa-Walton3 Marques Lewis F 6-8 285 Jr./JC Milwaukee, Wisc./Wabash Valley4 Gabe Kennedy F 6-9 255 Sr./1L Lower Peachtree, Ala./Wilcox Central HS5 DeAndre’ Carroll G 6-4 190 Fr-R/HS Birmingham, Ala./Minor HS10 Morris Finley G 5-11 175 Sr./3L LaFayette, Ala./LaFayette HS12 Reed Davis G 6-1 180 So./1L Birmingham, Ala./Altamont HS15 Lee Cobb F 6-7 230 Sr./2L Decatur, Ala./Birmingham-Southern21 Tony Johnson G/F 6-4 200 Sr./3L Morganfield, Ky./Union County HS23 Demario Eddins F 6-7 190 So./1L Chicago, Ill./Winchendon Prep 25 Ernest Little F 6-9 230 Fr./HS Monroeville, Ala./Monroe County HS31 Richard Jones G 6-5 210 So./1L Oklahoma City, Okla./Douglass HS32 Sidney Ball G/F 6-6 220 Sr./3L Duncanville, Ala./Hillcrest HS42 Derrick Broom G 6-5 200 So./1L Cartersville, Ga./Woodland HS44 Brandon Tobias F 6-7 220 So./1L Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Dillard HS

2002-03 FINAL STATSSTATISTICAL LEADERS

## PLAYER G/GS PTS. OTHER

10 Mo Finley 34/34 18.3 3.2 apg23 Demario Eddins 34/32 10.3 4.4 rpg2 Gabe Kennedy 34/22 10.1 4.8 rpg3 Eric Bush 34/33 9.9 3.1 spg4 Jeffrey Collins 26/5 8.1 2.9 rpg31 Richard Jones 33/1 7.1 1.9 rpg32 Sidney Ball 33/29 5.5 5.4 rpg34 Cedric Davis 33/11 4.7 2.9 rpg11 Derrick Broom 24/0 2.8 0.8 rpg44 Brandon Tobias 31/2 2.6 2.1 rpg21 Tony Johnson 28/1 1.3 1.3 apg15 Lee Cobb 17/0 1.2 0.5 rpg

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03 ... led team with 16.8 ppg and 7.4 rpg.w Ernest Little (6-9, 230, Fr.) - Played atMonroe County HS ... named to MobileRegister’s “Super 16” ... averaged 15 points,10 rebounds and four blocks as a senior.w Donell Taylor (6-6, 180, G) - Transfer fromOkaloosa-Walton CC ... named NJCAA All-American ... selected as PanhandleConference Player of the Year ... averaged29 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists.w Ronell Taylor (6-5, 180, G) - Transfer fromOkaloosa-Walton CC ... PanhandleConference Player of the Year runner-up totwin brother Donell ... averaged 19.7 pointsand 2.2 steals per contest ... compiled a twoyear record of 56-8 at Okaloosa-Walton.

HOME SWEET HOME: UAB enjoys playing atthe friendly confines of Bartow Arena.Now playing in their 16th season in thefacility, the Blazers have enjoyed 175 winsagainst just 42 losses for a winning per-centage of .806. The Blazers have won atleast 10 games in Bartow Arena in 14 of thelast 15 seasons played in the building. Inall-time home games, UAB owns animpressive 298-73 (.803) mark.

UAB PICKED FIFTH IN C-USA/FINLEYTABBED PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE: TheUAB men’s basketball team was picked tofinish fifth in the Conference USA raceasselected by the league’s 14 head coaches. Inaddition, senior guard Morris Finley wasselected to the preseason all-conferenceteam. Finley becomes just the second play-er at UAB since the inception of C-USA tobe chosen as preseason all- conference(Fred Williams, 1999).

UAB BASKETBALL RECEIVING NATIONALRECOGNITION: After last season’s postsea-son run through the Conference USATournament and the NIT, the Blazers arebeginning to receive national recognitionin the preseason basketball magazine prog-nostications. Below is a list of Blazers whogarnered preseason honors:Street & Smith’sTop JUCO transfers All-East Donell Taylor

The Sporting NewsTop Juco TransfersShooting Guards: 1. Donell Taylor10. Ronell TaylorSmall Forwards:10. Marques Lewis

Biggest JUCO ImpactDonell Taylor

Athlon SportsTop-10 Shooters4. Morris Finley

Honorable Mention All-AmericaMorris Finley

Lindy’s BasketballTop JUCO Transfer5. Donell Taylor

Heard of ‘em? You Will Now1. Morris Finley

Top Shooting Guards14. Morris Finley

TWO EXHIBITION GAMES FOR UAB: UABwill play two exhibition games prior to thestart of the regular season. The Blazers willopen the exhibition season when they facea familiar foe in VASDA USA on Nov. 6.UAB will then play its final exhibitiongame of the season on Nov. 17 againstArkansas Angels.

UAB BASKETBALL CELEBRATES 25 YEARS:The 2003-04 season marks the 25thanniversary of UAB basketball.Throughout the years, the Blazers have cre-ated and maintained a rich tradition of bas-ketball. The Blazers have accomplishedmany feats in the program’s short history.UAB has appeared in 10 NCAA tourna-ments – advancing to two Sweet 16 andone Elite Eight – eight NIT appearances,two NIT Final Four appearances, six con-ference championships, 21 winning sea-sons, 14 20+-win seasons and three all-americans.

UAB WAS RUNNER UP AT C-USATOURNEY: UAB ended its impressive run atthe C-USA tournament, dropping an 83-78decision to Louisville in the championshipgame. The Blazers defeated Charlotte (85-61), No. 8 Marquette (83-76) and SaintLouis (63-62) en route to making it to thechampionship game for the first time inschool history. For their efforts, Mo Finleyand Eric Bush were named to the all-tour-nament team.

2003 KELLY TIRES CONFERENCE USATOURNAMENT NOTES: Below are a few notesconcerning UAB’s run in the 2003 C-USAtournament:w After finishing the regular season with a1-4 record against the American Division,the Blazers had a 3-1 tournament record vs.the American Division. w With the three wins in four games at theconference tournament, UAB assured itselfof a spot in postseason play for the firsttime since the 1999 campaign.w The Blazers captured two single-gamerecords: steals by a team (20) and steals byan individual player (Eric Bush, six), bothvs. Marquette. As a team, UAB has setrecords for individual steals in tournamentplay (Eric Bush, 13) and team steals in tour-nament play (48). UAB scored 308 points inthe tournament to break the tournamentscoring mark of 293 points held byMarquette (four games) in 1997. w The Blazers snapped Marquette’s five-

Mike Andersonwas named thethird head

men's basketball coachat the UAB on April 4,2002.

In his first season at thehelm, Anderson guidedthe Blazers to the best

single-season improvement in school his-tory. UAB finished last season with a 21-13 record overall and an 8-8 ConferenceUSA record, which was good enough tofinish second in the National Division.Anderson was one of only three DivisionI coaches last season to win at least 20games in his first year as a head coach.

Anderson not only won 21 games last sea-son, but also accomplished some “firsts”in the program’s history. For example,UAB played in the C-USA championshipgame for the first time in school history,barely missing an automatic berth to theNCAA Tournament losing to tournamenthost Louisville, 83-78. The Blazers enteredthe C-USA Tournament as a No. 9 seed.UAB defeated Charlotte in the first round,85-61, No. 1-seeded and eighth-rankedMarquette 83-76 and fourth-seeded SaintLouis, 63-62, to advance to the C-USAchampionship game.

Despite falling to the Cardinals, theBlazers did receive an NIT invitation,appearing in their first postseason sincethe 1998-99 campaign. Anderson directedthe Blazers to a quarterfinal appearancewhere they fell to eventual 2003 NITChampion St. John’s.

Anderson set goals for the program andhis tenure got off on the right start whenyou consider:n The first time UAB has reached thechampionship game of the ConferenceUSA tournament. n The best single-season improvementin school history, going from 13-17 in2001-02 to 21-13 in 2002-03 for a +8-gameimprovement.n The first time the Blazers have led thenation in steals (11.6/game). n The first time UAB has beaten a teamranked in the top eight (No. 8 Marquette,83-76, 3/13/03) since it defeatedCincinnati on Jan. 21, 1996. n The first time a first-year coach atUAB has won 20 games. n The first time in school history a first-year head coach has had a winning per-centage over .600 (.618). n The first time UAB has won 21 gamesin a season since the 1997-98 campaign. n The first time UAB has won a game inthe NIT since it defeated Missouri (93-86)in 1998. n The first time the Blazers reached thequarterfinals of the NIT since the 1993season.

HEAD COACH MIKE ANDERSON

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game win streak and Saint Louis’ eight-game win streak en route to making it tothe championship game.w UAB reached the C-USA championshipgame for the first time in school history.

UAB REACHES THE 20-WIN MARK: With itswin over UL Lafayette in the first round ofthe National Invitation Tournament, UABreached the 20-win plateau for the firsttime since the 1998-99 campaign. That sea-son, UAB finished 20-12 and made its lasttrip to postseason play when it made theNCAA tournament. With the victory, theBlazers reached the 20-win mark for the14th time in the school’s 25th season ofplay.

THEFT OF A SCHOOL RECORD: The Blazerswere one of the top defensive teams in thenation last season as proven by the amountof steals they have compiled. With 395steals, UAB has shattered a 23-year-oldteam record for steals in a season and boththe C-USA for overall steals in a seasonand steals in conference play only. Below isa breakdown of the records UAB capturedlast season:

UAB IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: TheBlazers found themselves ranked in sever-al categories in the 2002-03 final NCAAstats. As a team, the Blazers led the nationin steals per game (11.6), while Eric Bushfinished fourth in the nation in steals pergame (3.1). In the column on the left is acomplete listing of how UAB ranked in theNCAA last season.

UAB IN THE C-USA STATISTICS: TheBlazers were well represented in the finalConference USA statistics. As a team, UABled the league in turnover margin (+7.10)

and steals per game (11.6). The Blazers alsoranked third in scoring offense (77.6) andfourth in field goal percentage (.445). In thecolumn on the left is a complete listing ofwhere the Blazers rank in Conference USAteam and individual statistics.

STEALING THE SHOW: Last season, guardEric Bush had arguably one of UAB’sgreatest defensive years in school history.Bush captured the Conference USA and theUAB school record for steals in a seasonwith 105. Below is a graph of the otherschool and C-USA records that Busheclipsed:

DEFENSE THE NAME OF THE GAME: MikeAnderson is stressed defense to last year’steam and that was evident in last season’sstatistics. The Blazers forced opponentsinto 723 turnovers, for an average of 21.3per game, while collecting a school record395 steals (11.6 per game) to lead thenation.

REBOUNDING DIFFERENCE: Despite winning21 of its 34 contests last season, UAB hasbeen outrebounded in every game exceptsix. For the year, UAB opponents had a1375-1189 advantage on the boards whichequates to a -5.5 difference (40.4 - 35.0 pergame) in the rebounding department. Theteam was led by Sidney Ball who averaged5.4 rpg.

FINLEY/EDDINS EARN C-USA HONORS:Morris Finley and Demario Eddins bothreceived Conference USA postseason hon-ors. Finley was named to the ConferenceUSA second team – the highest such honorsince Carlos Williams made first-team all-conference in 1997. Eddins was also hon-ored when he was named to the C-USAAll-Freshman team.

INDIVIDUALSteals Per Game4. E. Bush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.1

TEAMSteals Per Game1. UAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11.6Scoring Offense29. UAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77.9

SINGLE-GAME PERFORMANCESSteals In A Gamet3. E. Bush . . . .8 vs. Texas A&M-CC

(12/19/02)

INDIVIDUALScoring2. M. Finley . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18.3FG Percentage5. G. Kennedy . . . . . . . . . . ..533Free Throw Pct.8. M. Finley . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..816Assists11. E. Bush . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.61Steals1. E. Bush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.165. M. Finley . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.038. D. Eddins . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.553-point FG Pct.7. M. Finley . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..4123-point FG Made3. M. Finley . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.87Assist/Turnover Ratio11. M. Finley . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.6212. E. Bush . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.51

TEAM*Scoring Offense3. UAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77.6Scoring Margin5. UAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .+5.2Free Throw Percentaget7. UAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..681FG Percentage4. UAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..445Turnover Margin1. UAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .+7.10Steals1. UAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11.6Assists6. UAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15.103-Point FG Made6. UAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6.35

*Team rankings are only listed ifUAB is in top eight

UAB IN THE

2002-03 NCAA STATS

UAB IN THE

2002-03 C-USA STATS

Records No. Record holder (Games)UAB single-season 105 Eric Bush, 2003 (34)C-USA regular season 101 Eric Bush, 2003 (34)C-USA play only 57 Willie Coleman DePaul,

1998 (16)

UAB Leader - Eric Bush (Final Stats)Regular season 105Conference only 50

C-USA Record No. Team (Games)Steals/regular season 395 UAB 2002-03 (34)Steals a game/reg. season 11.6 UAB 2002-03 (34)Steals/C-USA only 181 UAB 2002-03 (16)Steals a game/C-USA only 11.3 UAB 2002-03 (16)

UAB final numbersSteals/regular season 395Steals a game/regular season 11.6Steals/C-USA only 181Steals a game/C-USA only 11.3

2 0 0 3 - 0 4 U A B M e n ’ s B a s k e t b a l l5

UAB BLAZERSPos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl./Exp. Hometown/Last SchoolG 0 Carldell Johnson 5-10 180 So./JC New Orleans, La./Salt Lake CC Averaged 8.0 ppg and 8.0 apg at SLCCG 1 Donell Taylor 6-6 180 Jr./JC Montgomery, Ala./Okaloosa-Walton NJCAA All-AmericaG 2 Ronell Taylor 6-5 180 Jr./JC Montgomery, Ala./Okaloosa-Walton First team all-conferenceF 3 Marques Lewis 6-8 285 Jr./JC Milwaukee, Wisc./Wabash Valley Averaged 16.8 ppg and 7.4 rpg at WabashF 4 Gabe Kennedy 6-9 255 Sr./1L Lower Peachtree, Ala./Wilcox Central HS 10.1 4.8 Expected to be main man inside the paintG 5 DeAndre’ Carroll 6-4 190 Fr-R/HS Birmingham, Ala./Minor HS Redshirted 2002-03 seasonG 10 Morris Finley 5-11 175 Sr./3L LaFayette, Ala./LaFayette HS 18.3 3.2 Preseason all-conferenceG 12 Reed Davis 6-1 180 So./1L Birmingham, Ala./Altamont HS 0.9 0.0 Expected to play limited role off benchF 15 Lee Cobb 6-7 230 Sr./2L Decatur, Ala./Birmingham-Southern 1.2 0.5 Good outside shooter, can see more timeG/F 21 Tony Johnson 6-4 200 Sr./3L Morganfield, Ky./Union County HS 1.3 1.6 Healthy and looking for increased roleF 23 Demario Eddins 6-7 190 So./1L Chicago, Ill./Winchendon Prep 10.3 4.4 Broke UAB’s freshman scoring recordF 25 Ernest Little 6-9 230 Fr./HS Monroeville, Ala./Monroe County HS Named all-region out of high schoolG 31 Richard Jones 6-5 210 So./1L Oklahoma City, Okla./Douglass HS 7.1 1.9 Second-most points by freshman at UABG/F 32 Sidney Ball 6-6 220 Sr./3L Duncanville, Ala./Hillcrest HS 5.5 5.4 Team captain, led team in reboundsG 42 Derrick Broom 6-5 200 So./1L Cartersville, Ga./Woodland HS 2.8 0.8 Good outside shooter, will see more timeF 44 Brandon Tobias 6-7 220 So./1L Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Dillard HS 2.6 2.1 Strong inside presence

Head Coach: Mike Anderson (Tulsa, ‘82)Assistant Coaches: Scott Edgar (Pittsburgh-Johnstown, ‘78), Chris Giles (UAB, ‘84), Matt Zimmerman (Arkansas, ‘90)Trainer: Bryan Koch, ATC

VASDA USA - GOLD TEAM

G 10 Shawn Hall 5-8 155 Appalachian StateG 12 Rashaon Brown 6-1 175 AkronG 24 Antoine Knighton 6-2 180 TalladegaF 30 Ali Thompson 6-5 210 ArkansasF 33 Joe hamilton 6-6 215 Virginia TechF 35 Kenny Zeigler 6-6 220 FurmanF 42 Patrick Binion 6-8 210 TalladegaF 45 Kendrick Alloway 6-8 215 Georgia StateC 50 Daryl Hamilton 6-9 230 Huston-TillotsonC 54 Damian Burke 6-9 260 Colorado State

Head Coach: Reni Mason

TURNOVERS WERE THE ‘X’ FACTOR: InUAB’s 21 victories last season, the Blazershad a turnover difference of +8.7 (21.9 -13.2). However, in the 13 losses, the Blazersonly had a +2.8 (18.9 - 16.1) advantage inthe turnover department. UAB committed20 or more turnovers in only three gameslast season, two of which were losses (atUNLV - 23 and at Southern Miss - 20).

ANOTHER ‘X’ FACTOR: There were threeother key stats in forecasting whether theBlazers would win or lose. UAB was 15-3in games in which it shot better than 45percent from the floor in a game, while theBlazers were also 13-3 when holding oppo-nents to less than 45 percent shooting from

the floor. UAB was also 18-2 when leadingat the half.

WORKING OVERTIME: The Blazers playedback-to-back overtime games on Jan. 29and Feb. 4, marking the first in school his-tory UAB has played back-to-back over-time games. The Blazers beat TCU, 84-82,in overtime on Jan. 29, then followed thatperformance with a 82-80 double overtimeloss at Southern Miss on Feb. 4. The Blazersplayed three overtime games last year, andhave never played more than four over-time games in a single-season (1983-84).

THE VOICE OF THE BLAZERS: Entering his25th season as the voice of the Blazers,

Gary Sanders reached a milestone on Feb.18 in broadcasting. That game against TCUmarked the 750th UAB basketball broad-cast by Sanders. Sanders will also reachanother milestone when he calls his 900thUAB basketball and football game on Nov.24 when the UAB basketball team opensthe regular season at home against GeorgiaSouthern. Six-times named AlabamaSportscaster of the Year, Sanders has called757 of the 782 UAB basketball games. Hehas also called all 130 UAB football games.Combined, the legendary broadcaster hascalled 887 games while with the Blazers.