The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
SMU
Blazers Fall at Home to Mustangs, 60-56
1/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2007
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Bamba Fall scored 16 points and Brian Epps added 14 to lead SMU to a 60-56 victory over UAB Wednesday night.
Ike Ofoegbu scored 10 points and hit a 3-pointer to spark a 16-2 second half run that proved decisive for SMU. The Mustangs (13-8, 2-5 CUSA) trailed 27-26 at halftime.
"The shots were not the problem, it was moving the ball and recognizing who was open," UAB head coach Mike Davis said. "It's going to take some time. They're trying. Trust me, these guys are playing as hard as they can to execute what we came to do. We had chances tonight and we lost them."
Wen Mukubu scored 14 points to lead UAB (11-10, 3-4). Lawrence Kinnard added 12 points and Mike Davis Jr. had 10 for the Blazers. UAB lost its second game in a row at home.
A 3-pointer by Mukubu gave UAB a 45-41 lead with just over 11 minutes left in the game. But a basket inside by Donatas Rackauskas and a 3-pointer by Epps started the run that put SMU ahead for good.
Epps' driving basket gave SMU a 57-47 lead with five minutes left.
UAB had chances down the stretch, pulling to within 59-56 on a reverse layup by Davis Jr. with less than a minute to play. But UAB struggled all night to get good shots against SMU's zone defense and could not make another basket.
The Blazers will return to road action when they take on Conference USA rival Marshall on Saturday, February 3, at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) in huntingtion, W. Va.
