The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Houston
Men's Basketball Defeated By Houston
1/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2002
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Dominick Smith scored 17 of his game-high 20 points in the second half and three other Houston players finished in double figures as the Cougars defeated UAB 80-71 in Conference USA men's basketball action Saturday evening at Bartow Arena.
Smith was joined in double figures by Kevin Gaines with 15 points, Patrick Okafor with 13, and Louis Truscott with 11 as Houston improved its record to 10-7 overall and 3-2 in Conference USA play.
Center Will Campbell led UAB (8-10, 1-4 C-USA) with 19 points. He was followed by Eric Batchelor15, Myron Ransom with 12 and P.J. ArnoldMo Finley led the Blazers with eight rebounds.
UAB jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the first six minutes but Houston battled back to toed the game at 28-28 with 3:52 to play in the half. The Cougars then took a 30-28 lead on a layup by Truscott with 2:32 remaining. UAB reclaimed the lead on a three-pointer by Arnold and went on to lead 37-34 at the half.
Houston slowly built its lead in the second half and took the lead for good on a jumper by Marcus Oliver, making the score 47-45 with 15:50 remaining. The Cougars would eventually lead by as many as 11 points, the last time at 79-68 with 1:00 to play.
The Cougars shot 57 percent in the second half and 52 percent for the game. UAB shot 40 percent for the game.
"This was a very frustrating loss," said UAB Head Coach Murry Bartow following the game.
"I am a big defensive guy, and I think that we have been playing good defense. Obviously we gave up eighty points on our home court. We are just not playing well. Their team is much improved. I think that they have a really solid starting five in this league, a good Conference USA starting five. Just looking at the scores, they went to Tulane and win, they go to Saint Louis and almost win, and they just beat TCU. We knew this would be a tough game. We were up three points at the half and felt pretty good about the first half. They played a little more zone than we thought they would play. I should have played Cedric Davis some more. He only played eighteen minutes and he is our best rebounder and defender. He merited more playing time.
This is the best Houston team we have played since I have been at UAB. At home you are supposed to win. I don't care what league you are in you are supposed to win at home. You can not let teams come in and beat you. Which is what happened tonight."
