Vaden's 26 leads UAB over Georgia State

By The Associated Press

Posted 7:11AM on Sunday, November 11, 2007

ATLANTA (AP) Coach Mike Davis knew Robert Vaden would give UAB more than just problems off the court. Vaden scored 26 points and Reggie Huffman had 17 points and 10 rebounds in UAB's 86-63 victory over Georgia State in each team's opener on Saturday night. One of five UAB players arrested two months ago for allegedly fighting at a dance club in Birmingham, Ala., Vaden sat out last season after transferring from Indiana. Davis was the Hoosiers' coach when Vaden signed his first scholarship. ``It was just a two-hour deal where they made a mistake,'' Davis said. ``They were in the wrong place and the wrong time, but it brought us closer together. They've got curfews for the rest of their college careers, but it's a good thing.'' The other players disciplined by Davis were Edward Berrios, 23, of New York, Keenan Ellis, 18, of Indianapolis, Walter Sharpe, 21, of Birmingham, and Channing Toney, 21, of Snellville, Ga. Vaden, 22, is from Indianapolis. Playing his first game for the Blazers, Vaden scored all eight of his field goals on 3-pointers. His trey from the left corner made it 57-41 with 13:07 remaining. ``Our point guard applied a lot of pressure that got them out of their offense a little bit and gave us a chance to get some easy buckets in transition,'' Vaden said. ``But we were trying to run the offense and execute it and play team basketball.'' Georgia State, playing its first game under coach Rod Barnes, trimmed the lead to 63-59 on D.J. Jones' runner, but UAB controlled the final seven minutes after Davis pulled his defense out of a zone and into a tight man-to-man. Leonard Mendez led the Panthers with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting, but he had just two field goals on five attempts in the second half. ``These guys have never played together and for them to play well against UAB, which is highly regarded, shows a lot of character,'' said Barnes, who led Ole Miss to four NCAA tournament appearances before getting fired and spending last season as an assistant at Oklahoma State. ``Although we didn't get the win, the guys gained a tremendous amount of confidence. We just have to work harder on our mistakes and develop consistency.'' The Blazers shot 55 percent from the field, led by Huffman's 7-of-8 effort. Georgia State never led after Trae Goldston's layup made it 12-11 at the 16:31 mark of the first half. Mendez's jumper at the halftime buzzer forced a 37-37 tie and ended a 10-1 run for the Panthers. Rahsad Chase added 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for Georgia State, which went 11-20 in its last season. Huffman's fastbreak dunk on Vaden's alley-oop pass made it 75-60 with 3:52 left and realistically ended any chance Georgia State had of reclaiming momentum. ``We knew if we just kept going and going and going, they would tire out in the second half,'' Davis said. ``We had problems early in the game against them. We missed some open shots, but they did, too.'' Paul Delaney III had 13 points and six assists for UAB, which is playing its second season under Davis after he went 15-16 last season. Davis believes the Blazers have put the embarrassing incident of two months ago behind them. ``They knew it was wrong, and I knew it was wrong, and I was mad at them for about a week, but I should've embraced them,'' Davis said. ``It brought us closer together as a team.''