The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Miles
UAB Men's Basketball Team Cruises Past Miles In Exhibition
11/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 3, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- Elijah Millsap scored 25 points to lead five double-figure scorers as the UAB men's basketball team defeated visiting Miles College, 97-49, in exhibition basketball action Tuesday night in Bartow Arena.
Millsap, a 6-6 forward from Grambling, La. who sat out last season after transferring from Louisiana Lafayette, was one of nine new faces on the court for the Blazers who lost 67 percent of their scoring production with the departure of 2008-09 All-Conference USA seniors Robert Vaden, Paul Delaney III and Lawrence Kinnard.
Millsaps's 15 first half points helped UAB stretch a 22-19 lead to 42-22 with a 20-3 run over a six-minute span after halftime. Millsap also led the way on the boards as he grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds in the game. Overall, UAB dominated the glass by a 60-33 margin.
"This team needed an exhibition game," UAB head coach Mike Davis said. "My whole point of emphasis was to stay solid, stay disciplined. I thought for the majority of the game we did that. When we tried to do something we haven't done in practice, we turned the ball over."
Miles, which made the trip across town to play the Blazers, is coached by former UAB player and later assistant coach Chris Giles. The Golden Bears were able to stay close in the early going on the strength of seven three-pointers in the first half.
Morris Perry was 4-of-6 from three-point range and had 12 points at intermission. He finished with a team-high 15 points. Rahim Barnes added 13 for the Golden Bears who shot only 26 percent (18-of-70) from the field and made just 4-of-12 free throws.
UAB held Miles to only 10 points over the first 15 minutes of the second half and surged to an 86-39 lead with 5:39 to play in the game.
Senior George Drake made his UAB debut after playing three seasons at Vanderbilt. Drake graduated from Vanderbilt and then was declared immediately eligible by the NCAA in October. The 6-4 product of Calera, Ala. Finished with 13 points as did junior point Aaron Johnson.
Freshman guard Dexter Fields came off the bench to score 12 points, all in the second half. Kenneth Cooper, a 6-10 transfer from Louisiana Tech who like Drake was granted eligibility in October, finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
"We hadn't worked against the zone yet, and they played zone for the majority of the game," Davis said. "I thought it was pretty good for us to come out and not really get out of rhythm. There's still a lot of uncertainty about who we are and our identity as a basketball team. We have to get better defensively, we have to get better at rebounding, and we have to take care of the ball a lot better than we did."
UAB now will look ahead to the start of its regular season Nov. 13-15 when the Blazers to Kent, Ohio to take part in the Hispanic College Fund Tournament. The Blazers will play Wisconsin-Green Bay, Kent State and Samford during the three-day tournament.
