The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Memphis
UAB hangs on, beats Memphis, 73-70
1/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 22, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Ronell Taylor grabbed a loose ball and hit a layup to give UAB the lead and the Blazers survived three 3-point attempts by Memphis in the final 14 seconds to defeat the Tigers 73-70 on Saturday.
Taylor's follow shot came with 1:31 left to play and gave UAB at 71-70 lead. Memphis guard Darius Washington missed a spinning drive in the lane and Demario Eddins hit two free throws to give UAB a 73-70 lead. That set up a frantic finish.
Memphis called time out with 14.6 seconds left to set up a try for a game-tying three. The Tigers got plenty of chances.
Anthony Rice missed on a 3-point try but Memphis rebounded and Rodney Carney missed on another 3-attempt.
The Tigers' Duane Erwin grabbed the loose rebound, dribbled behind the 3-point line and fired a quick shot. It went part way down and spun out as the buzzer sounded.
"This really was a character game today," UAB head coach Mike Anderson said. "We had some turnovers but Memphis is a good team and John Calipari does a great job with them, and they just would not go away, especially (Darius) Washington. He was playing unbelievable and then all of a sudden here comes (Rodney) Carney, and he is knocking shots down, and Washington continued to knock shots down. It took everything we had to hold them off and I am proud of our guys because I saw the energy and heart and will to win today. They would not go away though."
Guard Marvett McDonald, a Memphis native, scored 16 points to lead UAB (14-5, 4-2 C-USA). Taylor and Eddins had 14 points apiece and Marques Lewis had his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Blazers.
"Our freshman in the first half kind of got us out of whack," Calipari said. "We were playing in a style where we weren't going to win the game. The good news is we came back in the second half and we played the game like we needed to play to win. If we wouldn't have gotten so far down at half, we might have had a little outcome."
Washington, a freshman, scored a game-high 26 points to lead Memphis (10-9,3-2). Carney added 12 points for the Tigers.
UAB led 45-34 at halftime and appeared to have the game in control, building a 14-point lead early in the second half. But Memphis went on an 11-0 run to get back in the game.
Carney and Rice each hit threes to lead the run.
The Tigers went ahead 63-62 when Washington hit two freethrows with 5:39 left to play.
There were seven lead changes after that, including Taylor's basket that proved to be the game-winner.
UAB has a rare week off before hosting USF next Saturday, Jan. 29, at 7:30 p.m. CT in Bartow Arena.
