The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Face BYU Wednesday in NIT First Round
3/13/2016 12:00:00β―AM | Men's Basketball
2016 NIT Bracket | Game Notes
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB men's basketball team will continue its 2015-16 season Wednesday at 9 p.m. CST when the Blazers travel to Provo, Utah, to face BYU from the Marriott Center in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.
The game will be televised live on ESPNU and broadcast live on the flagship station for UAB men's basketball, WZRR-FM 99.5 Nash Icon with David Crane, "The Voice of the Blazers," on the call. The winner of Wednesday's game will face the winner of No. 3 seed Virginia Tech and No. 6 seed Princeton in the second round.
UAB (26-6) won the Conference USA regular-season championship with a 16-2 record inside the league and earned a berth in the NIT for the 12th time in school history.
"We are excited to have the opportunity to continue our season in the NIT and compete for another championship," UAB head coach Jerod Haase said. "This is one of the better tournament fields in recent memory, so we are looking forward to some very competitive and challenging games."
UAB also set school records in 2015-16 for overall wins, Conference USA wins, road wins (10) and consecutive wins (14) on its way to the program's first league title since 2011.
"The NIT is an event with rich tradition and a history of outstanding basketball," UAB Director of Athletics Mark Ingram said. "The opportunity to extend UAB as a national brand and play in an area we don't often visit, as well as showcasing our program and institution to a worldwide television audience, holds tremendous value."
Individually, the Blazers also racked up eight C-USA postseason awards last week, including Haase's selection as the Conference USA Coach of the Year. William Lee was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year, while Dirk Williams earned Sixth Man of the Year accolades. Robert Brown, Chris Cokley, Nick Norton and Lee were each named all-conference, while Lee was also selected to the All-Defensive Team.
BYU (23-10) finished in third place in the West Coast Conference and reached the semifinals of the conference tournament before falling to eventual champion Gonzaga.
The Cougars are led by WCC Player of the Year Kyle Collinsworth, who averaged 15.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Fellow senior guard Chase Fischer scored a team-high 17.9 points per game and made 98 three-pointers on his way to being named to the All-WCC First Team.
Coached by Dave Rose, BYU is competing in the postseason for the 11th-straight season and will be making its 12th appearance in the NIT.
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).
