The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Houston
UAB Holds Off Houston, 75-66
2/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP)--Elijah Millsap had a double-double with 22 points and 14 rebounds, and UAB downed Houston 75-66 on Saturday night. The win improved UAB to 21-5 overall and 9-3 in Conference USA play, as the Blazers snapped a two-game home losing streak - their longest such streak since the 2004-05 season.
Millsap recorded his 13th double-double this season, which leads C-USA. Additionally, he has now tied the single-season school record for double-doubles on a season, set by three other players.
Howard Crawford added 20 points and Aaron Johnson contributed with 10 assists for the Blazers, who won their second game in a row. The Blazers are 11-2 at home.
"This was a total team effort tonight," UAB head coach Mike Davis said. "We jumped out to a great start, but I was disappointed on how we played with an early lead. Fortunately, we came out with a great effort in the second half and we were able to get an important win."
UAB bolted out to a 22-7 lead but Houston rallied on the strength of a 24-7 run to cut the lead to 34-33 at halftime.
The game was tied four times in the second half before UAB took control. Leading 63-59 with 3:59 to play, the Blazers put the game out of reach with an 11-2 run. Millsap, who made 12 of 16 free throw attempts, capped the run with a free throw for a 74-61 UAB lead with 40 seconds remaining.
Aubrey Coleman scored 20 points, Zamal Nixon had 15 and Maurice McNeil 12 for the Cougars (13-13, 5-7), who have lost two straight.
For a second straight contest, the UAB bench performed well, outscoring Houston's reserves, 26-20. Freshman Dexter Fields provided a spark, collecting eight points, two rebounds and a steal in 12 minutes of action. Prior to tonight's contest, Fields had not scored since the SMU game back on Jan. 16. Sophomore Cameron Moore also provided four points and eight rebounds in 16 minutes of action.
The Blazers' defense held Houston's second-leading scorer Kelvin Lewis without a point, going 0 for 6 from the foor and 0 for 3 from beyond the arc. He came into the game averaging 15.6 ppg.
UAB has now held 20 teams this season to under 70 points, improving to 20-0 when accomplishing the feat. Additionally, the Blazers' defense held Houston, the league's second-highest scoring team, to just 33.6 percent shooting from the floor to improve to 15-0 this season when doing so.
The Blazers will return to action when they travel to Orlando, Fla. to take on the UCF Knights on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET).
