Cards play UAB for first C-USA title
Date: Saturday, March 15, 2003
Time: 1:40 am
Site: Freedom Hall -
Louisville, KY (18,865)
Television: CBS
Radio: WHAS (840 AM)
Last Meeting: Cards won in 2001-02 in Birmingham
National Rankings:
UAB
Not Ranked
LOUISVILLE 20th AP, 16th
USA Today/ ESPN
Significant injuries: UAB- None U of L -
Ellis
Myles (Out)
Cards Road to the
Final UAB's
Road to the Final
defeated #8 Charlotte, 85-61
defeated Tulane, 82-66
defeated #1 Marquette, 83-76 defeated #2
Memphis, 78-75
defeated #4 Saint Louis, 63-62
The
Louisville Cardinals will play for their first C-USA Tournament title Saturday
morning after defeating Memphis 78-75 in Friday evenings semifinal.
The
Cards got clutch play from Luke Whitehead, Taquan Dean and the recently freed
Marvin Stone down the stretch to pull out a hotly contested game. Stone
nailed a key baseline jumper late in the game to give the Cards a one point lead
and Dean sank the game winning three pointer from the right wing with 11.1
seconds left in the game. Luke Whitehead's rebound and two free throws with 4.3
seconds left provided the final margin.
"I
hit that shot for Coach," said Dean. "He gives me the confidence. Even
though I was 1-for-8, I knew I still had one in me. If it was an open shot, he
told me to shoot it. So, I shot it."
Stone,
in his first game back scored 15 points, pulled down 6 rebounds and held star
forward Chris Massie
scoreless
for the game.
"We
played great low-post defense. It was a team effort defensively," Pitino
said. "All five guys were part of a string moving together."
UAB
continued their improbable run to the final by defeating 4th seeded Saint Louis,
63-62 in the night cap Friday night. The Blazers are on a roll in Freedom
Hall this week having defeated Charlotte, Marquette and the Bilikins on
consecutive nights.
"Today
was a gut check for our guys," UAB head coach Mike
Anderson said. "The last half of that game when SLU made that run, our
guys played off of sheer guts. You've got to find a way to win. You talk about
getting to the championship game in conference tournament you got to dig down
deeper than you ever have.
The
Blazers built a 24 point second half lead before wilting down the stretch
against Saint Louis' zone defense. Fatique could factor heavily for the
Blazers who will be playing their fourth game in as many days.
Besides
the weariness of the grueling C-USA Tournament schedule, the Blazers face major
disadvantages against the Cards.
While
UAB favors an up tempo pace they haven't proven to be a great defensive or
rebounding team this season. The Blazers have allowed its opponents to
shoot 44% from the floor and 40% from three point range. They also have
been out rebounded by more than five boards per game this season.
Those
stats don't bode well for the Blazers who will face the top offensive team in
C-USA and a team that just out rebounded an excellent rebounding Memphis team in
the semifinals.
Playing
at home with Marvin Stone in line up, expect the Cards to win their first C-USA
title in convincing fashion, 90-70 over the UAB Blazers and earn C-USA's
automatic NCAA tournament bid.
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
|
Louisville
|
Statistical
Category
|
UAB
|
| 81.2 |
Points
|
77.6 |
| 68.3 |
Opponent
Points
|
72.1 |
| +12.9 |
Scoring
Margin
|
+ 5.5 |
| .460 |
FG %
|
.448 |
| .403 |
Opponent FG
%
|
.443 |
| .363 |
3PT FG %
|
.344 |
| .298 |
Opponent
3PT FG %
|
.398 |
| .692 |
Free Throw
%
|
.676 |
| 38.0 |
Rebounds
|
34.4 |
| 36.5 |
Opponent
Rebounds
|
39.8 |
| +1.5 |
Rebounding
Margin
|
- 5.4 |
| 16.7 |
Assists
|
15.2 |
| 13.0 |
Turnovers
|
14.7 |
| 4.8 |
Blocks
|
2.7 |
|
7.1
|
Steals
|
11.9
|
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
| #20
Louisville Cardinals (23-6, 11-5) |
| Pos |
No. |
Name |
Ht
|
Wt
|
Yr
|
PPG
|
RPG
|
APG
|
| F |
52 |
Otis
George |
6-9 |
220 |
So. |
2.4
|
1.8
|
.5
|
| F |
32 |
Fancisco
Garcia |
6-7 |
185 |
Fr. |
11.2
|
2.7
|
1.9
|
| C |
21 |
Marvin
Stone |
6-10 |
240 |
Sr. |
10.6
|
7.4
|
1.5
|
| G |
5 |
Taquan
Dean |
6-3 |
175 |
Fr. |
8.9
|
3.2
|
1.6
|
| G |
22 |
Reece
Gaines |
6-6 |
205 |
Sr. |
18.6
|
2.7
|
5.2
|
| UAB
Blazers (19-11, 8-8) |
| Pos |
No
. |
Name |
Ht
|
Wt
|
Yr
|
PPG
|
RPG
|
APG
|
| G |
03 |
Eric
Bush |
5-10 |
180 |
Sr. |
9.0
|
2.8
|
3.7
|
| G |
10 |
Morris
Finley |
5-11 |
170 |
Jr. |
18.3
|
2.9
|
3.0
|
| F |
02 |
Gabe
Kennedy |
6-9 |
240 |
Jr. |
9.9
|
4.7
|
.6
|
| F |
23 |
Demario
Eddins |
6-6 |
190 |
Fr. |
9.8 |
4.0
|
2
|
| F |
32 |
Sidney
Ball |
6-6 |
220 |
Jr. |
5.0
|
5.2
|
1.0
|
Notes
- UAB and first year Head Coach Mike Anderson are making their first
appearance in the C-USA Tournament final
- UAB guard Morris Finley was named to the second team C-USA team
- UAB forward Demario Eddins was named to the C-USA All Freshman team
- The Cards are making their second appearance in the C-USA tournament
final, last playing Charlotte in 1999 in Birmingham
- Luke Whitehead recorded his third straight double-double in the semifinals
against Memphis
- Reece Gaines was named first team All C-USA
- Francisco Garcia was named Freshman of the Year in C-USA
- Taquan Dean was named to C-USA's All Freshman team