The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
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UTEP
UAB Falls On The Road At UTEP, 71-69
1/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Final Stats (PDF)
EL PASO, TEXAS -- A barrage of late game 3-pointers had UAB in position to pull off a road win at one of the toughest Conference USA venues for visiting teams. But the Blazers came up one 3-pointer short as freshman William Lee’s long range jumper from the top of the key caught the front rim and UTEP escaped with a 71-69 victory at Don Haskins Center.
“I didn’t think our guys quit at all, we competed as hard as we could and gave ourselves a chance late,” said UAB head coach Jerod Haase.
UAB (10-11 overall, 6-2 C-USA) didn’t have a second half 3-pointer until Robert Brown made one with 38 seconds left. He followed with another – banking it in from the left corner – with 26 seconds remaining. Denzell Watts drained another from the left corner with 21 seconds left and Nick Norton converted from the top of the key after a nifty full-court play with six seconds left.
UTEP (13-7, 5-3) made enough free throws during that stretch to maintain a lead but the advantage was only two points when UAB inbounded the ball from just in front of the Blazer bench with 2.9 seconds left on the clock.
Hakeem Baxter threw a long, crosscourt pass to Nick Norton in the corner. Norton, who had two defenders on him, leaped to catch the pass and shoveled it quickly to an open Lee. However, the shot was short and UTEP escaped.
“I really liked what we did, at the end of the day, we just didn’t make the shot,” Haase said.
What cost the Blazers the game, though, was a stretch that began about seven minutes earlier with UAB holding a 55-49 lead. UTEP guard Earvin Morris hit a layup that began a 13-0 run over the next 5:33.
“On the defensive end, we had about a four to six minute stretch where we couldn’t stop them,” said Haase, whose team led for 33 minutes and 48 seconds in the game. “That was the difference in the game.”
UAB also stumbled on offense during that stretch – missing five shots and committing three turnovers. But William Lee got things back on track at the 1:24 mark with a dunk, after a feed from Brown and the Blazers kept chipping away.
But UTEP held on at a spot they were very familiar with throughout the game. UTEP was 9-of-10 from the free throw line in the final 1:23. The Miners finished 21-of-33 from the free throw line while UAB was just 4-of-5 from the line.
Early on, it was the Blazers in command. UAB scored the first six points of the game and held the lead the rest of the first half. The lead swelled to as many as points thanks to a hot streak by C.J. Washington. The 6-foot-8 senior came off the bench to score eight consecutive UAB points to turn a 19-13 lead into a 27-18 lead with 4:20 left in the first half.
But UTEP closed the half on a strong note thanks to fouls whistled on UAB. UTEP standout Vincent Hunter hit seven free throws in the final 3:29 of the half and C.J. Cooper added a long 3-pointer as the Miners closed within 33-30 at halftime.
Hunter was 8-of-12 from the free throw line in the first half while the rest of the Miners were 0-for-5. UAB was 2-of-3 from the free throw line in the same span. UAB was whistled for 13 fouls and UTEP was called for five fouls.
UAB outrebounded UTEP, 24-19, and UAB had 11 offensive rebounds.
The Blazers now travel to UTSA to face the Roadrunners at 2 p.m. CT Saturday.
