With the defeat of Memphis on Wednesday night, there is just one team left in Conference USA that the UCF Knights have never defeated and that is today's opponent, UAB. The Blazers hold a 7-0 edge all-time in the series and have won all three matchups while both schools have been in Conference USA. Last season, the teams faced off twice and UAB won both matchups by five points. The state of Alabama has been kind to the UCF football recruiting efforts of late, but a win today would be UCF's first in the state since January of 2003.
UAB is 6-11 on the season, but has played the 28th toughest schedule in the nation to date. They have dropped four of their last five contests but those losses were by three to Mephis, two to Marshall, and four to Southern Miss; arguably three of the best teams in the conference. They eeked out a one point win in overtime against Rice this week and now come back home to host the Knights. UAB is led in scoring by 6-10 senior forward Cameron Moore who is averaging a double-double on the season with 15.7 points and 10.6 rebounds a game. Moore has scored 20 or more points in three of the last four games has not been held to single digits since the blowout loss to VCU back on December 20th. The Blazers, like the Knights, play a shallow bench as only seven players are averaging as many as ten minutes a game this season.
This is the first of a two-game road swing for UCF as they move onto Tulsa after this game. To say the team has taken their play to another level since the return of senior guard A.J. Rompza would be an understatement. The team has totaled 45 steals over the past six contests and Rompza has 23 of them all on his own. Rompza also leads the conference with a 5.0 assist to turnover ratio and is second in the conference in assists per game with a 5.0 average. If Keith Clanton can swat two more shots today, he will tie Ken Leeks for the school's record for carer blocks. Leeks played four seasons for the Knights from 1998 to 1992 while Clanton is in just his third season. After a rough game at Marshall, Marcus Jordan bounced back to be a critical part of the win against Memphis and he and Clanton are the only teammates in the conference to both be averaging at least 15 points per game on the season.
The game will be on SunSports throughout Florida and will air nationall on Fox Sport Net The game will air nationally on Fox Sports Net and the list of clearances are below:
Fox Sports Arizona, Fox Sports Detroit, Fox Sports Houston, Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports North (Plus), Fox Sports Ohio, Fox Sports South, Fox Sports Southwest, Fox Sports West, Fox Sports Wisconsin, Comcast Bay Area, Comcast Mid-Atlantic (Plus), Comcast New England, ROOT Sports (Northwest), Root Sports (Rocky Mountain)