The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB, Auburn Renew Rivalry Friday In Season Opener
11/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
UAB (0-0) vs. Auburn (0-0)
8:30 p.m. CST | Auburn Arena | Auburn, Ala.
Live Stats | Watch Live | Listen Live | Game Notes
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB men's basketball team makes its 2015-16 regular season debut Friday at 8:30 p.m. when the Blazers travel to Auburn, Ala., to battle in-state rival Auburn.
UAB enters the season coming off a 99-59 victory over Cal State East Bay Friday in an exhibition game at Bartow Arena.
Lewis Sullivan scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to help UAB register 68 points off the bench. Chris Cokley and Dirk Williams added 16 points apiece as all 12 Blazers scored at least one point.
"We certainly have a lot of guys that can contribute in a number of different ways," UAB head coach Jerod Haase said. "We don't look at it as a distinction between starters and bench players, and that is a great asset for us moving forward."
The Blazers open the season with high expectations after a magical run in 2015 that saw UAB win the Conference USA Tournament title and reach the third round of the NCAA Tournament following an upset of No. 3 seed and ninth-ranked Iowa State.
UAB returns all five starters and was picked to win Conference USA in a recent vote by the league's head coaches. The Blazers received 11 of a possible 14 first-place votes.
"We're excited about the opportunity to go to Auburn for what will be an unbelievable challenge for us," Haase added. "We wanted to go on the road and test our guys early in a big game atmosphere."
Auburn played a pair of exhibition games in the preseason and turned in a 99-59 victory over Brevard College and a 114-109 overtime win over Indianapolis.
UAB and Auburn will be meeting on the hardwood for the 18th time when the two schools tipoff on Friday. The Blazers hold a 10-7 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to the 1982-83 season. In addition, UAB has won three of the last five in the series and is 3-1 all-time at Auburn.
For more information on UAB men's basketball, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_MBB), on Instagram (@blazerhoops) or on Facebook (Facebook.com/UABMensBasketball). For more on all Blazer sports teams follow the official social media accounts of UAB Athletics on Twitter (@UABAthletics), on Facebook (Facebook.com/UAB.Blazers), on Instagram (@uabathletics) or on Snapchat (@uabathletics).
