UAB prepares to play Longwood in paradise Jam
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - November 21, 2024
The six days in the U.S. Virgin Islands to play in the Paradise Jam are a chance for the UAB men’s basketball team to take a step forward both on and off the court.
“I think our trip is coming at a perfect time,” said UAB head coach Andy Kennedy, who arrived in Saint Thomas with his team on Wednesday. “It's going to force some bonding. I don't think these guys don't bond. It's just different. We're in a different day and age now. Guys don't bond like they used to. Used to be, you know, everybody was in one central place in a dorm or an apartment complex. Now we've got guys all over the place. It's just a different world. We're going over, we'll have three games in four days and I think when we return, we'll have a real clear picture about who we are.”
That picture certainly isn’t clear to this point. The Blazers, who were the preseason choice to win the American Athletic Conference, are 3-2 in the early season with a home loss to Vermont and a road setback at High Point. Are the Blazers the team that burst out to a 42-12 lead over Southern Miss or is UAB the team that struggled offensively in both losses?
Certainly they should get some answers in the four-day tournament, which begins with the Blazers playing defending Big South champion Longwood (5-0) with 11:30 a.m. CT tip-off at the Sport and Fitness Center in Saint Thomas.
“Longwood went to the NCAA tournament last year by beating High Point,” Kennedy said. “We all know how that game against High Point went, so another challenge. Again, not a name that is gonna be super sexy to the casual fan (but) a real quality opponent. We're gonna get three quality games.”
UAB will play either McNeese State or Illinois State in the second round. But focus right now is a talented Longwood team, which is coming off narrow wins over UT Martin (64-62) at home and Binghamton (66-60) at home. Like UAB, Griff Aldrich’s Longwood team made the NCAA Tournament in two of the past three seasons. Unlike, UAB, though, those are the only two NCAA Tournament appearances in Longwood history. Longwood didn’t began the transition for Division I until 2004 and completed the process in 2007.
This year’s Lancer team returns just two players – Michael Christmas (6-6, 238-pound grad student) and Elijah Tucker (6-8, 237-pound redshirt junior) – who started in the team’s NCAA Tournament first round loss to Houston. Christmas is second on the team in scoring average (9.8 ppg) and the leaders in rebounds (5.2 rpg). Tucker, who started three of the first five games, is the leader in field goal percentage (65.2).
Longwood’s best player has been 6-foot-3 guard KJ McClurg, a former Division II All-American at California (Pa.), who transferred into the program this season. He averaged 22.6 points per game, hitting 80 3-pointers, while leading California (Pa.) to the second round of the NCAA Division II National Tournament. In five games this season, McClurg is averaging a team-best 16.6 points with 11 3-pointers. His teammates have combined for 16 3-pointers in the five games.
On the other side, Kennedy is still searching for his team to play at its best.
“I think, what I am sensing, is guys that are not playing with enough force,” Kennedy said. “That's how I term it, for them to play with force. And you say, what does that mean? That means I want everything to be an attack. I want you to be in control, do everything with authority, catch it with authority, wipe it with authority, pass it with authority, cut with authority. And we don't look like we're doing that. At times we do, when our instincts take over, but when we're thinking, man, we look hesitant to me. We just look, ‘Should I do this, I'm afraid to make a mistake.’ You can't play this game that way.”