UAB Comeback Falls Short at BYU

Wednesday, March 16

Provo, Utah

9:00 PM

UAB

BYU

Brown dropped a career-best 29 points to lead all scorers.

UAB Comeback Falls Short at BYU

3/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

March 16, 2016

Photo Gallery 

Box Score l Photo Gallery
By Steve Irvine, UAB Sports

PROVO, Utah - UAB was not able to find a way to advance in the National Invitation Tournament, but the Blazers showed off their unflappable character in a 97-79 loss to BYU in a first round game at the Marriott Center. 

Even with the loss, UAB’s lone senior, Robert Brown, showed a national television audience how much he meant to the Blazers and how special he is as a player. The 6-foot-5 Brown closed his college career with a career-best 29 points with all but two of those coming in the second half. He was 8-of-15 from the field overall, including 5-of-9 on 3-pointers, and made all eight of his free throws. 

“He was phenomenal,” said head coach Jerrod Haase, whose team finished 26-7. “He was great at taking big shots, making big shots (and) his defense was phenomenal throughout. He provided a lot of energy and leadership out there.”

Brown’s second-half performance helped the Blazers nearly eclipse a lead that was 21 points at halftime.

The miserable first half put the Blazers in a hole they ultimately couldn’t fully climb out of in the second half. The Blazers had trouble guarding the Cougars, who shot 57 percent from the field and hit 7-of-16 3-pointers, and were outrebounded, 23-14. 

The Blazers did some good things on the offensive end, at times, in the first half but had too many droughts to hang with the hot-shooting Cougars (24-10). William Lee and Chris Cokley combined for 13 points in the first 20 minutes and Nick Norton had a pair of 3-pointers. 

BYU’s biggest lead of the half came when Nick Emery canned a 3-pointer from the left corner with just under three seconds left to give the Cougars a 51-30 halftime lead. 

“I was certainly disappointed in the first half with our competitiveness,” Haase said. “We certainly had some shots that could have gone and some things that could have gone our way. But, I didn’t like our level of intensity. We thought it would be smooth and easy. But, the reality of it is, when you play big-time basketball in a big-time environment against a great team like that, smooth and easy isn’t going to be the recipe of the day.”

Brown opened the second half with a 3-pointer from the top of the key and he scored 18 more points over the next 10 minutes. Mix some good work inside from Cokley and a pair of Dirk Williams 3-pointers and the Blazers took a significant chunk out of the Cougars’ lead. UAB was able to get within 4 points on three different occasions with the final time coming on a 3-pointer by Brown with 10:32 remaining.

But, BYU turned on the switch offensively from that point forward and was able to pull away once again. Chase Fischer did the bulk of the damage, throwing in four 3-pointers, during a 21-4 run over the next five minutes.

The Blazers ended up trailing, 41-27, in rebounds and the Cougars dominated the battle of points in the paint, 48-18.

When it was over, Haase was asked to reflect on a marvelous season that included a school record for wins, the program’s second outright Conference USA regular season title and a perfect record at Bartow Arena.

“This is going to be a season to celebrate, but it hurts right now,” said Haase, his voice breaking with emotion. “We talked about character and quality people in the program. This is my fourth year in the program. I do believe that every year the program as a whole has been healthier and healthier. We put together a better product every year. I hope we’ll continue that next year.”