• The Blazers enter tonight’s game tied atop the Conference USA standings with Tulsa and UTEP, all three with records of 6-1 in league play. UAB lost to the Miners last Saturday night in Birmingham, 74-65 in double overtime. It was only the third loss of the season for UAB (they lost at Kent State in November, and at Virginia in December). At 18-3, they should easily exceed last season’s victory total (22) and are aiming to make their first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2006.
• Junior guard Elijah Millsap leads UAB in scoring (16.2 ppg) and rebounding (9.6). Senior forward Howard Crawford is averaging 12.2 points and junior guard Jamarr Sanders is scoring at a 10.7 clip. The Blazers’ bench will be a challenge for the Tigers. Senior big man Kenneth Cooper scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds off the bench against UTEP.
• Mike Davis is in his fourth year at the helm of the Blazer program. He enters tonight’s game with a record of 78-42 at UAB. Davis coached Indiana to the 2002 Final Four.
• Memphis and UAB have played every season since 1990-91. (The only current Tiger series running longer is with Southern Miss, since 1981-82.) Overall, Memphis holds a 28-10 edge, having won the last seven meetings. The Blazers won in Birmingham on March 2, 2006.
• The last time Memphis lost consecutive games was at the end of the 2004-05 regular season, when they dropped four in a row.
• A win could help the Tigers’ RPI ranking after the tough loss at SMU. Memphis enters the game ranked 78th, while UAB is 27th.
