News and Notes from East Carolina, Conference USA and Beyond

BIRMINGHAM — UAB finds itself in a rare position heading into Wednesday night's home contest with East Carolina.

The Blazers hope to snap their first losing streak of the season after Saturday's 76-65 road loss at Texas Christian. UAB has lost two straight for the first time since last season.

On Saturday, Corey Santee took over for the Horned Frogs, scoring all 16 of his points after halftime as TCU came back from down 10 points in the first half to upend UAB. Donell Taylor scored 19 for the Blazers and Marques Lewis had 10 with a career-high 13 rebounds.

The story of the game was a flip-flop of UAB's normal defensive prowess. The Blazers committed 20 turnovers while forcing just 13.

UAB held TCU in check from the floor in the first half, allowing just 31.4-percent shooting, but faltered afterwards, surrendering a 50-percent clip in the second.

The Blazers hope to get back to their normal pressure defense against an East Carolina team that has lost three straight.

"We need to get back to our defensive pressure and set our tempo for the game," UAB head coach Mike Anderson said. "We did a decent job in the first half against TCU, but got into more of a half court game in the second half. In order for us to win games the way we're used to, we have to do a better job of setting the tempo o the game."

Against the Pirates on Jan. 15, UAB scored 22 points off 17 ECU turnovers and got great bench play to win, 76-64. Marvett McDonald led UAB with 16 points in the victory.

The Pirates are coming off a 71-69 overtime setback at the hands of Marquette on Saturday. Mike Cook scored 21 to lead ECU in the effort, Corey Rouse had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Moussa Badiane compiled 14 points and 10 boards for the Pirates.

While ECU has lost three straight, the Pirates upset Charlotte at home on Jan. 29 and are a viewed by Anderson as a threat to UAB's 9-2 home record.

"Anytime you play a team for the second time, both teams are more familiar with one another," Anderson said. "Every game is a big game. We have six games left and every one of them is very important for us. East Carolina will come in here ready to play. We'll have to be ready."

Cook's 15.1 points per game lead the way for Coach Bill Herrion's club while Badiane (12.1 ppg) and Rouse (10.0 ppg, 10.1 rpg) also score in double digits.

Donell Taylor continues to lead UAB with a 15.4 points-per-game average. Demario Eddins (12.4 ppg) and Marvett McDonald (10.5 pgg) score 10 or more for UAB, as does Ronell Taylor (12.3 ppg), who is out with a broken foot.

When Southern Mississippi meets Cincinnati Wednesday night in a nationally televised game at the Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, it will be the final matchup between the teams as fellow Conference USA affiliates.

The Bearcats will be departing for the Big East in 2005-06, while the Golden Eagles will remain entrenched in a reconfigured C-USA.

Wednesday's night's game will be carried by ESPN2, marking the second national television appearance for the Golden Eagles this season. Tip-off for the contest is set for 7 p.m. ET, with Dave O'Brien and Jimmy Dykes calling the action.

The Golden Eagles, led by first-year head coach Larry Eustachy, enter the game 10-13 overall and 1-10 in league play following Saturday's loss to Houston.

The 24th-ranked Bearcats, coached by Bob Huggins, also come into the game following a loss, 85-66, at DePaul. Cincinnati is 18-6 overall with a 6-4 record in C-USA play.

Rashaad Carruth leads Southern Miss in scoring with 12.7 points per game and Michael Ford follows with 10.2 points a night. Mildon Ambres leads the team in rebounding at 5.5 per game, while Ford has a team-high 68 assists.

Jason Maxiell leads the Bearcats with 15.0 points per game and is averaging 7.6 rebounds, while Eric Hicks is averaging 14.2 points per game and has a team-best 8.7 rebounds per game. Armein Kirkland and James White also are scoring in double-figures for Cincinnati, with averages of 11.3 and 10.5, respectively. White has a team-best 75 assists.

The game marks the 30th all-time meeting between the two schools, and Cincinnati holds a 16-13 advantage. The Bearcats won last season's meeting, 83-47, in Hattiesburg.

Following the Cincinnati game, Southern Miss plays at home game against Memphis on Saturday. The team then takes a two-game road trip against East Carolina and Charlotte, before coming home for the regular season finale against Texas Christian on March 5.

GREENSBORO — The Atlantic Coast Conference will use instant replay in the 2005 football season, experimenting with a system based on the one the Big Ten debuted last season.

The league announced the move Tuesday after a proposal by the league's athletics directors was approved unanimously at the conference's winter meetings. The NCAA Football Rules Committee voted last week to allow conferences to use instant reply on an experimental basis for the 2005 season.

Under the Big Ten's system, a technical adviser watched the game from the press box and notified officials on the field via pager if he saw something questionable. Play was halted while the adviser reviewed the call using video from the television feed.

Calls could be overturned only if there was ``indisputable video evidence,'' and only calls like scoring plays, pass plays and number of players on the field could be reviewed. Hard fouls such as blocks in the back and facemasks, and some other judgment calls like false starts were not eligible for review.

ACC officials will consider any possible variances allowed within NCAA guidelines.

``The system that was used by the Big Ten this past season received very positive reviews and had minimal impact on the flow and length of the games,'' ACC Commissioner John Swofford said in a statement.

``Everyone connected with college football, whether you are a fan, coach, player or official, wants a correct ruling on the field and we believe that this is another step in the right direction of enhancing the quality of officiating and fair play.''

CONFERENCE POWER INDEX

LEAGUE/RATING/CHANGE/MEDIAN RANGE

Atlantic Coast 83.2 83.0 +0.2 83.0 96-75
Big Ten 79.8 79.4 +0.4 78.0 93-68
Pacific-10 79.4 79.1 +0.3 77.5 88-75
Big East 79.3 78.9 +0.4 80.0 85-71
Big 12 78.3 77.8 +0.5 76.0 89-67
Southeastern 77.3 77.3 -- 78.5 86-65
Conference USA 74.6 74.9 -0.3 74.0 90-65
West Coast 74.2 74.2 -- 73.0 83-70
Mountain West 73.9 74.1 -0.2 73.0 82-70
Missouri Valley 73.8 73.7 +0.1 74.0 79-69
Mid-American 71.9 71.9 -- 73.0 76-62
Atlantic 10 71.7 71.3 +0.4 72.0 80-60
Western Athletic 71.6 71.2 +0.4 72.0 79-63
Horizon 70.8 70.8 -- 72.0 80-59
Sun Belt 70.7 70.7 -- 71.0 76-65
Big West 69.3 69.4 -0.1 68.5 81-61
Colonial 68.2 67.9 +0.3 71.0 77-58
Metro Atlantic 66.7 66.7 -- 67.5 73-57
Southern 66.7 66.2 +0.5 67.0 73-60
Ohio Valley 66.3 66.0 +0.3 68.0 73-60
Ivy League 65.9 65.9 -- 64.0 75-58
Big Sky 63.8 63.8 -- 64.0 68-59
Southland 63.1 62.9 +0.2 66.0 69-50
Mid-Continent 62.4 62.4 -- 64.0 74-54
America East 61.5 61.6 -0.1 60.0 74-48
Atlantic Sun 61.1 60.8 +0.3 61.0 67-51
Patriot 59.9 60.2 -0.3 60.5 71-47
Big South 59.7 59.8 -0.1 59.0 70-52
Northeast 56.4 56.3 +0.1 56.0 63-50
Independents 55.4 55.4 -- 58.0 65-36
Mid-Eastern 54.4 54.4 -- 57.0 65-37
Southwestern 50.7 51.0 -0.3 51.0 57-43

The Conference Power Index is a numerical value indicating the relative strength of a conference. It is determined by adding the Glantz-Culver Power Index rating for each member of a conference and dividing that number by the number of teams. MEDIAN is the index of the middle-rated school in the conference. If the conference has an even number of schools, it is the figure midway between the two middle-rated teams.

TEAM POWER INDEX

TEAM/RECORD/RATING/LAST RATING

North Carolina 20-3 96 96
Illinois 25-0 93 93
Duke 18-3 91 91
Louisville 21-4 90 90
Wake Forest 21-3 90 90
Kansas 20-2 89 87
Michigan St. 17-4 89 89
Oklahoma St. 19-3 88 88
Washington 20-4 88 88
Arizona 21-4 87 86
Kentucky 19-2 86 86
Wisconsin 16-6 86 85
Cincinnati 18-6 85 86
Connecticut 15-6 85 84
Georgia Tech 14-8 85 85
Maryland 15-7 85 84
Syracuse 22-4 84 83
Villanova 14-6 84 84
Boston College 20-1 83 83
Florida 15-6 83 82
Gonzaga 19-4 83 83
N.C. State 14-10 83 82
Oklahoma 17-6 83 83
Pittsburgh 18-4 83 82
Texas Tech 16-6 83 82
Alabama 19-4 82 83
Iowa 16-7 82 81
Notre Dame 14-7 82 81
Ohio St. 17-8 82 81
Utah 22-3 82 84
Mississippi St. 18-6 81 81
Utah St. 18-6 81 82
George Washington 15-5 80 80
Stanford 13-9 80 80
Texas 16-7 80 80
Wis.-Milwaukee 19-5 80 80
Arizona St. 16-9 79 79
Arkansas 17-7 79 79
Charlotte 17-4 79 79
S. Illinois 20-6 79 79
South Carolina 13-8 79 79
Temple 11-10 79 79
UTEP 19-6 79 79
Clemson 11-12 78 78
Florida St. 11-13 78 78
Miami 15-7 78 78
Minnesota 16-8 78 78
Nevada 18-5 78 76
Providence 11-13 78 77
St. Mary's, Calif. 20-7 78 78
UAB 16-7 78 78
UCLA 13-8 78 78
Vanderbilt 14-10 78 78
Wichita St. 18-4 78 78
Air Force 15-9 77 77
California 12-10 77 75
Georgetown 16-6 77 77
Indiana 11-10 77 77
Iowa St. 13-8 77 76
Memphis 15-10 77 77
N. Iowa 17-8 77 76
Old Dominion 23-3 77 77
Oregon 12-9 77 77
Pacific 20-2 77 77
SW Missouri St. 14-8 77 77
Washington St. 10-12 77 77
West Virginia 14-8 77 77
Xavier 12-9 77 77
DePaul 16-5 76 76
Kent St. 16-8 76 76
La.-Lafayette 15-8 76 76
LSU 13-8 76 76
Southern Cal 11-14 76 76
Saint Joseph's 12-9 76 76
Virginia 13-9 76 76
W. Kentucky 18-5 76 76
W. Michigan 16-8 76 76
Creighton 15-10 75 75
Denver 15-8 75 75
Kansas St. 13-8 75 73
Miami (Ohio) 15-6 75 75
Missouri 11-13 75 75
Nebraska 11-10 75 75
New Mexico 18-6 75 75
Oregon St. 14-9 75 75
Penn 14-7 75 75
Purdue 6-15 75 74
Richmond 11-11 75 75
Seton Hall 11-10 75 75
Tennessee 11-13 75 75
Texas A&M 15-6 75 75
UNLV 11-11 75 75
Virginia Tech 12-10 75 75
Akron 14-7 74 74
Dayton 14-8 74 73
Marquette 17-7 74 74
Michigan 12-13 74 74
Northwestern 12-12 74 73
Oral Roberts 19-5 74 74
Pepperdine 14-12 74 74
TCU 16-9 74 74
Toledo 12-11 74 74
Vermont 18-4 74 75
Ball St. 12-9 73 73
Bowling Green 14-7 73 73
Buffalo 15-7 73 73
Colorado 13-10 73 73
Davidson 18-7 73 71
Detroit 9-14 73 73
Drexel 13-10 73 73
Hawaii 13-7 73 73
Ill.-Chicago 12-11 73 73
Illinois St. 16-8 73 73
Middle Tenn. 15-10 73 73
Murray St. 13-9 73 73
Niagara 16-7 73 73
Ohio 13-8 73 73
Princeton 11-10 73 74
Rice 13-8 73 73
Rutgers 8-13 73 73
San Francisco 13-10 73 73
Santa Clara 13-12 73 73
Va. Commonwealth 14-10 73 72
Ark.-Little Rock 15-8 72 72
Auburn 12-11 72 72
Butler 10-13 72 72
CS Northridge 13-10 72 72
George Mason 14-10 72 72
Hofstra 16-7 72 72
Houston 15-10 72 72
Louisiana Tech 13-9 72 72
Manhattan 12-11 72 72
Mississippi 12-12 72 72
Portland 15-11 72 72
SMU 11-10 72 71
Wright St. 11-13 72 72
Arkansas St. 13-11 71 71
Boston U. 18-5 71 70
Bradley 12-10 71 71
Chattanooga 15-8 71 71
Fresno St. 13-9 71 71
Holy Cross 19-5 71 70
San Diego 13-10 71 71
San Diego St. 10-12 71 71
South Florida 10-12 71 71
St. John's 8-13 71 71
Wis.-Green Bay 17-7 71 71
Wyoming 14-9 71 71
Appalachian St. 14-9 70 69
BYU 9-16 70 70
Coll. of Charleston 15-8 70 70
Colorado St. 9-14 70 70
E. Kentucky 15-8 70 70
Evansville 10-12 70 71
Fairfield 12-11 70 70
Georgia Southern 16-9 70 69
Loyola Marymount 11-13 70 70
Massachusetts 12-9 70 70
N. Illinois 9-13 70 70
N.C.-Wilmington 16-8 70 70
Saint Louis 6-17 70 70
SE Missouri 13-10 70 69
UC Irvine 11-10 70 70
Winthrop 20-5 70 70
Cleveland St. 9-12 69 69
Drake 8-14 69 69
E. Michigan 11-12 69 69
East Carolina 7-16 69 69
Fullerton St. 13-8 69 69
Furman 14-10 69 69
Indiana St. 9-17 69 68
Lamar 15-7 69 66
New Orleans 11-13 69 69
Northeastern 15-8 69 67
Sam Houston St. 14-8 69 67
Tennessee St. 11-15 69 69
Tennessee Tech 13-10 69 69
Tulsa 6-15 69 69
Austin Peay 9-15 68 68
Bucknell 17-7 68 68
Fordham 10-12 68 68
Iona 11-13 68 68
Loyola of Chicago 8-16 68 68
North Texas 12-11 68 68
Penn St. 7-16 68 68
Portland St. 17-6 68 68
Rhode Island 4-17 68 68
Rider 14-9 68 68
SE Louisiana 17-7 68 71
UC Santa Barbara 8-13 68 68
Baylor 9-12 67 67
Duquesne 6-17 67 66
Fla. Atlantic 9-14 67 66
Idaho 8-16 67 67
IU/PU-Indianapolis 13-10 67 65
Marist 10-13 67 67
Marshall 5-17 67 67
Samford 14-9 67 66
South Alabama 7-15 67 67
St. Peter's 11-11 67 67
Yale 7-12 67 67
Boise St. 10-14 66 65
Delaware 10-15 66 65
Georgia St. 12-12 66 66
La Salle 7-15 66 66
N. Arizona 10-14 66 66
New Mexico St. 5-19 66 66
Northwestern St. 14-11 66 66
Texas-San Antonio 11-10 66 65
Brown 9-11 65 65
E. Washington 7-16 65 65
ETSU 8-16 65 65
Fla. International 9-14 65 65
Georgia 7-14 65 65
Hampton 12-11 65 65
Montana 12-11 65 65
Southern Miss. 10-13 65 66
Tulane 9-13 65 66
UC Riverside 8-14 65 65
UCF 16-8 65 66
Utah Valley St. 11-11 65 65
Valparaiso 13-12 65 65
Wofford 11-12 65 65
Belmont 11-13 64 62
High Point 12-14 64 63
Mo.-Kansas City 13-9 64 67
Oakland 7-15 64 62
UNC-Greensboro 13-11 64 64
Albany, N.Y. 12-11 63 63
Canisius 8-15 63 63
Columbia 12-9 63 63
Coppin St. 11-12 63 63
Cornell 10-11 63 63
E. Illinois 10-13 63 62
Fairleigh Dickinson 14-10 63 64
Harvard 9-12 63 62
Long Beach St. 5-18 63 63
Monmouth, N.J. 12-10 63 62
Montana St. 13-10 63 63
San Jose St. 6-15 63 63
Texas A&M-C.C. 17-7 63 63
Weber St. 10-14 63 63
American U. 13-10 62 66
Binghamton 9-14 62 60
Cent. Michigan 7-15 62 62
Elon 5-21 62 61
Gardner-Webb 14-9 62 62
Lehigh 13-11 62 65
S. Carolina St. 14-10 62 61
Siena 4-20 62 62
Troy 10-15 62 63
Cal Poly-SLO 4-17 61 61
Cent. Conn. St. 10-12 61 60
McNeese St. 8-13 61 58
Sacramento St. 9-15 61 61
Stephen F. Austin 11-10 61 62
Towson 5-19 61 61
W. Carolina 8-18 61 61
Wagner 8-15 61 59
Chicago St. 6-16 60 60
The Citadel 12-11 60 60
Jacksonville St. 7-18 60 60
Liberty 11-13 60 61
Mercer 13-10 60 60
Morehead St. 10-13 60 60
N.C.-Asheville 10-14 60 60
St. Bonaventure 2-20 60 58
Stetson 10-14 60 60
Tenn.-Martin 5-18 60 60
William & Mary 5-18 60 59
Coastal Carolina 9-16 59 59
Colgate 11-13 59 58
Delaware St. 11-13 59 59
Idaho St. 9-15 59 59
Jacksonville 14-10 59 58
Radford 10-13 59 61
Youngstown St. 4-19 59 59
Birmingham-Southern 12-12 58 59
Dartmouth 6-15 58 58
James Madison 4-18 58 58
Maine 11-12 58 59
New Hampshire 7-16 58 59
Norfolk St. 11-11 58 61
Texas St. 11-11 58 60
Texas-Arlington 11-11 58 61
Texas-Pan American 11-12 58 58
W. Illinois 7-15 58 58
Lipscomb 12-11 57 57
Loyola, Md. 6-17 57 57
Morgan St. 11-13 57 57
MVSU 10-12 57 55
St. Francis, N.Y. 9-12 57 57
UMBC 9-14 57 59
Alabama A&M 12-10 56 55
Bethune-Cookman 11-12 56 56
Navy 7-17 56 55
S. Utah 12-12 56 56
St. Francis, Pa. 13-10 56 54
Alabama St. 11-10 55 55
Charleston Southern 9-14 55 55
IU/PU-Fort Wayne 5-19 55 55
Stony Brook 9-14 55 54
Centenary 3-21 54 55
Lafayette 7-17 54 54
Louisiana-Monroe 7-14 54 54
Southern U. 11-11 54 54
Long Island U. 10-13 53 53
Mount St. Mary's 6-16 53 53
Robert Morris 10-13 53 57
Florida A&M 9-13 52 52
N. Carolina A&T 4-20 52 51
VMI 7-16 52 50
Ark.-Pine Bluff 6-16 51 54
Campbell 2-21 51 51
Jackson St. 11-14 51 52
Grambling St. 10-10 50 50
Nicholls St. 6-16 50 50
Quinnipiac 9-13 50 50
Sacred Heart 3-18 50 50
Hartford 7-16 48 50
Army 3-20 47 46
Prairie View 4-17 47 46
Alcorn St. 5-19 43 44
Texas Southern 5-15 43 45
Howard U. 5-17 37 36
Md.-E. Shore 2-21 37 37
Savannah St. 0-28 36 36

The Power Index is a numerical value indicating the relative strength of each team based on this season's performance, changes in personnel, coaching, strength of schedule and current form. The Index is purely a statistical and historical rating and does not take into account emotional factors. Add 5 points to the home team's rating.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.