Setting the tempo is generally high on the objective list for the UAB men's basketball team. Today it will take on added importance.
UAB visits Nebraska today with the non-conference game scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Devaney Center.
A look at Nebraska's starting lineup explains why picking up the tempo is an advantage for the Blazers. Sophomore Aleks Maric (6-foot-11, 265 pounds) and senior Wes Wilkinson (6-10, 220 pounds) man the post for the Cornhuskers and two of the starting guards are 6-6, 200-pound Jason Dourisseau and 6-5, 230-pound Joe McCray.
Playing a halfcourt game against that type of team doesn't fit into UAB's strengths.
"It's going to be important that we get the game going up and down and all the (forwards and centers) use their quickness against their big men," said UAB sophomore Frank Holmes, who is the biggest UAB starter at 6-9, 210 pounds. "Coach (Mike Anderson) always tells us we need to get out, rebound and run. That's what we try to do every game."
Getting a confident Nebraska team out of its comfort zone will be important for the Blazers (2-1) in a game broadcast on AM-850 and FM-92.1.
The Cornhuskers enter today's game with a 5-0 record and are fresh off a 84-74 win over Marquette. Wilkinson, Dourisseau and Maric have combined to score 29 points per game and the two post players are combining for nearly 17 rebounds per game.
"We're not going to be a team in the halfcourt to just pound it inside," Anderson said. "That's what they do - pound it inside and have guys spotting up outside. We hopefully got to take away some of that. The only way we can do that is get the game going in an up-tempo situation."
UAB is coming off a disappointing effort in a 92-76 loss to Western Kentucky at Bartow Arena. The Hilltoppers were content to play at UAB's pace but the Blazers had trouble with its perimeter defense. Holmes called the 16-point loss "a wakeup call." Anderson prefers to consider it a learning experience.
"As I told the guys, it's one game," Anderson said. "The things that we didn't do well, we can correct that. To me in basketball, you've got to have balance. We didn't have the balance in that particular game. We were kind of like feast or famine."
It's been famine for Marvett McDonald, UAB's best outside shooter, the past two games. The senior guard is 1-of-13 on 3-point attempts the past two games after making 3-of-7 3-pointers in the season-opening win over Massachusetts.
"I've got confidence in Marvett, it will come around," Anderson said. "He's not that far off in terms of getting into that rhythm. I think he's working on it and it's just a matter of time."
Anderson said it helps if others pick up their production, especially guys off the bench like Richard Jones and Derrick Broom.
"You've got to have somebody who will knock down shots, not just Marvett," Anderson said. "You've got to have other people that can make shots. On the road, as illustrated in the Western Kentucky game, you've got to be able to hang around and you've got to be able to make shots. That's what they did."
UAB visits Nebraska today with the non-conference game scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Devaney Center.
A look at Nebraska's starting lineup explains why picking up the tempo is an advantage for the Blazers. Sophomore Aleks Maric (6-foot-11, 265 pounds) and senior Wes Wilkinson (6-10, 220 pounds) man the post for the Cornhuskers and two of the starting guards are 6-6, 200-pound Jason Dourisseau and 6-5, 230-pound Joe McCray.
Playing a halfcourt game against that type of team doesn't fit into UAB's strengths.
"It's going to be important that we get the game going up and down and all the (forwards and centers) use their quickness against their big men," said UAB sophomore Frank Holmes, who is the biggest UAB starter at 6-9, 210 pounds. "Coach (Mike Anderson) always tells us we need to get out, rebound and run. That's what we try to do every game."
Getting a confident Nebraska team out of its comfort zone will be important for the Blazers (2-1) in a game broadcast on AM-850 and FM-92.1.
The Cornhuskers enter today's game with a 5-0 record and are fresh off a 84-74 win over Marquette. Wilkinson, Dourisseau and Maric have combined to score 29 points per game and the two post players are combining for nearly 17 rebounds per game.
"We're not going to be a team in the halfcourt to just pound it inside," Anderson said. "That's what they do - pound it inside and have guys spotting up outside. We hopefully got to take away some of that. The only way we can do that is get the game going in an up-tempo situation."
UAB is coming off a disappointing effort in a 92-76 loss to Western Kentucky at Bartow Arena. The Hilltoppers were content to play at UAB's pace but the Blazers had trouble with its perimeter defense. Holmes called the 16-point loss "a wakeup call." Anderson prefers to consider it a learning experience.
"As I told the guys, it's one game," Anderson said. "The things that we didn't do well, we can correct that. To me in basketball, you've got to have balance. We didn't have the balance in that particular game. We were kind of like feast or famine."
It's been famine for Marvett McDonald, UAB's best outside shooter, the past two games. The senior guard is 1-of-13 on 3-point attempts the past two games after making 3-of-7 3-pointers in the season-opening win over Massachusetts.
"I've got confidence in Marvett, it will come around," Anderson said. "He's not that far off in terms of getting into that rhythm. I think he's working on it and it's just a matter of time."
Anderson said it helps if others pick up their production, especially guys off the bench like Richard Jones and Derrick Broom.
"You've got to have somebody who will knock down shots, not just Marvett," Anderson said. "You've got to have other people that can make shots. On the road, as illustrated in the Western Kentucky game, you've got to be able to hang around and you've got to be able to make shots. That's what they did."
