The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Oklahoma
UAB Falls to No. 11 Oklahoma, 77-67
11/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 26, 2008
NEW YORK (AP) - Blake Griffin scored 32 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to help No. 11 Oklahoma beat UAB 77-67 on Wednesday night in the NIT Season-Tip Off semifinals. The game was tight throughout, as the Blazers and Sooners had six ties and 15 lead changes in the contest.
"Oklahoma is a well coached basketball team, and they made plays and shots when they needed to make plays and shots," UAB head coach Mike Davis said. "But I'm proud of my team. I thought we fought hard. There was one stretch during the second half where we didn't push the basketball and that's my fault.This is definitely a game that we can learn from and get better as a basketball team."
The Sooners advanced to the championship game on Friday to will play No. 10 Purdue, which beat Boston College 71-64 in the other semifinal.
Trailing 62-60 with 5:09 left in a back-and-forth game, Oklahoma (5-0) closed with a 17-5 run. Griffin scored five points during the spurt and keyed a three-point play by Austin Johnson by stealing the ball and pitching it ahead to his teammate on a fast break. That gave Oklahoma a 67-62 lead with 4:01 left, and the Sooners cruised from there.
Paul Delaney III scored 23 points and Robert Vaden added 18 to lead UAB (4-1), which was looking to match the school record for consecutive wins to start a season set by the 1983-84 team. Even more impressive about the Blazers' strong start is this: They've played all their games away from home.
UAB controlled much of the first half and took an 11-point lead, 34-23, with 2:54 remaining before halftime. But the Sooners ended the half with a 6-0 spurt to cut the Blazers lead to five, 34-29, as the teams headed to the locker rooms.Oklahoma continued the run at the start of the second half and outscored UAB, 10-3, to take a two-point advantage at 39-37.
The teams traded baskets from there over the next 10 minutes, with UAB taking a 62-60 lead on Vaden's layup. However, the Blazers would only score five points over the final 5:18.
Griffin, who became the first player in Big 12 history to have 20 points and 20 rebounds in consecutive games, failed to do it in a third straight. He also failed to grab 18 or more rebounds for the first time this season.
Griffin kept Oklahoma in the game in the first half, scoring 13 points. Trailing 18-15, UAB went on a 10-0 run as Vaden scored five points during the spurt for a 25-18 lead with 6:46 left.
UAB senior forward Lawrence Kinnard had 12 points, while sophomore point guard Aaron Johnson had eight assists and four steals in the loss.
Cade Davis had 12 points on four 3-pointers for Oklahoma, which advanced to New York by beating Mississippi Valley State and Davidson. UAB got to Madison Square Garden by topping Santa Clara and Arizona. The Blazers beat Arizona on a last-second free throw by Delaney.
UAB will take on Boston College in the consolation game on Friday at 1:30 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden. The contest will be televised live on ESPN2.
