The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
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Louisiana Tech
Blazers Are Championship Bound After Downing LA Tech, 72-62
3/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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By Steve Irvine, UABSports.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The message that UAB head coach Jerod Haase delivered to his team wasn't complex before sending them out to play overtime of Friday night's Conference USA Championship semifinal against top seed Louisiana Tech at Legacy Arena.
Sure, words were used but they really weren't necessarily needed because of something that Haase saw in his players' eyes.
"Let's be honest, everybody on this room has seen that look from your Mom, Dad when you got in trouble," Haase said. "It's a look of intensity. We've also seen the look of `Oh my gosh, we just lost whatever the biggest lead was.' We were back on the heels. I gave RB (Robert Brown) the look and told him to get back up. It's something that it's hard, maybe to define, but it is something that's real."
Perhaps it's easier to define now after the No. 4 seed Blazers whipped the Bulldogs into submission over the next five minutes and emerged with a 72-62 victory in front of a raucous and appreciative crowd of fans mostly wearing green and gold.
It was so thorough that Louisiana Tech (25-8) let the final 30 seconds run down with no further fouls. There was no reason to wait for UAB (18-15) to clinch a trip to Saturday afternoon's C-USA championship game against No. 6 seed Middle Tennessee, which will tip off at 2:30. The Blazers make their first C-USA Tournament championship game appearance since losing to Memphis at the FedEx Forum in 2006.
And it all began with the look heading into overtime after the Blazers had lost a lead that stretched to as many as 16 points in the second half.
"We kind of lost it in the second half, got passive," said UAB junior Robert Brown. "I take the blame for that. The look he saw tonight was the look of wanting it. We needed to want it more than them. I felt in overtime we wanted it more than they did."
Actually, UAB controlled the game for most of the first 30 minutes. Point guards Nick Norton and Denzell Watts, with help from teammates, deftly handled the Bulldogs' trademark pressure and the Blazers consistently got good looks on the offensive end. The Blazers scored the final seven points of the first half to take a 36-26 advantage into the halftime locker room. At that point, UAB had 10 assists and just three turnovers.
"Some of it was just UAB being better than us in the first 20 minutes," said Louisiana Tech head coach Michael White, whose team was the outright regular season champion.
The Blazers were also better early in the second half. Brown's 3-pointer from the right wing, which came just before the end of the shot clock, gave UAB a 47-31 advantage with 15:25 remaining. The lead was still in double digits as late as 5:23 left in the game.
But something changed at that point.
"We were passive," Haase said. "They knew, I knew it, you guys knew it, the fans knew it, my 3-year-old daughter knew it. We had to change what we were doing, become aggressive."
That didn't happen until the Bulldogs had come all the way back. Louisiana Tech Kenneth Smith played like the C-USA MVP he is, scoring seven points in the team's 11-0 run over the final five minutes. His 3-pointer with 1:04 left tied the game at 58-58 and UAB had to scramble on the final possession to get to overtime. Raheem Appleby missed a 3-pointer that was heavily contested by Brown at the buzzer to require at least five extra minutes.
Sophomore Tosin Mehinti took over early in the overtime period. He grabbed a rebound after a miss on the Bulldogs' opening possession in overtime and threw a perfect long pass to Hakeem Baxter, who hit a layup while being fouled. Baxter converted the free throw to give UAB a 61-58 advantage. Mehinti then sandwiched two buckets around a Louisiana Tech basket to give UAB a 65-60 lead with 2:27 remaining.
The Blazers then won the game at the free throw line and on the defensive end. The Bulldogs hit just two free throws in the final 2:10 and UAB hit seven free throws in the final 2:07 to win the game.
"This is what I transferred and came here for - the opportunity to play in the tournament and the opportunity to play for Coach Haase," said Brown, a transfer from Virginia Tech. "I've played in a few conference tournaments and been knocked out early. This is one of the best feelings I've had."
