The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Begin Final Road Trip Thursday at FIU
3/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
UAB (24-5, 14-2) vs. FIU (13-16, 7-9)
6:00 p.m. CST | Miami, Fla. | FIU Arena
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio | Game Notes
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB men’s basketball team begins its final road trip of the season Thursday at 6 p.m. when the Blazers travel to Miami, Fla., to face FIU from the FIU Arena.
Blazer fans can catch all the action by listening live to David Crane, “The Voice of the Blazers,” on the flagship station for UAB men’s basketball, WZRR-FM 99.5 Nash Icon.
UAB (24-5, 14-2) has won three straight games after turning in a 71-67 victory Saturday over WKU to clinch the program’s first Conference USA regular-season championships since 2011. The Blazers also secured the top seed in the C-USA Tournament and will begin their title defense Thursday, March 10 at noon from Legacy Arena.
Robert Brown finished with a team-high 12 points against the Hilltoppers, and Tosin Mehinti and Lewis Sullivan added 10 points apiece to help UAB win its 25th consecutive game at Bartow Arena.
Nick Norton added a game-high six assists and UAB finished with 21 helpers to mark the 10th time this season the Blazers have registered at least 20 assists in a game. As a team, UAB ranks fourth in the NCAA with 18.8 assists per game.
Sophomore William Lee blocked two more shots Saturday and stands fourth in the nation with 3.1 per game. The Plantersville, Ala., native has blocked at least one shot in 41 straight games and has helped UAB rank second in the country with 6.4 rejections per game. In addition, the Blazers are two blocks shy of setting a single-season school record with 188.
FIU (13-16, 7-9) snapped a two-game losing streak with a win over Florida Atlantic on Saturday and sits in eighth place in the league standings entering the final weekend. The Panthers, however, have lost four of their last five games at home and are just 7-7 overall inside FIU Arena.
Senior forward Daviyon Draper leads FIU and ranks eighth in Conference USA with 16.0 points per game to go along with 7.3 rebounds per game. Senior center Adrian Diaz adds 15.7 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds, and ranks second in the league with 3.0 blocks per game.
UAB and FIU have each won two games in the all-time series that began during the 2013-14 season. Earlier this year, UAB posted a 74-69 victory over the Panthers behind 15 points, four assists and four steals from Norton.
The Conference USA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships are set to return to Birmingham for the second consecutive year, marking the third time the Blazers will host the event. The men’s tournament, as well as the women’s semifinals and championship, will be played at Legacy Arena in downtown Birmingham, while the women’s first-round and quarterfinal action will take place at UAB’s Bartow Arena.
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).
