The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Begins C-USA Tournament Title Defense Thursday
3/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
WKU (17-15) vs. UAB (26-5)
12:00 p.m. CST | Birmingham, Ala. | Legacy Arena | ASN
Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video | Game Notes
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB men’s basketball team begins its Conference USA Tournament title defense Thursday at noon when the Blazers face No. 8 seed WKU from Legacy Arena in downtown Birmingham.
The game will be televised live on ASN with Mike Gleason and Ben Braun on the call. Blazer fans can also catch all the action by listening live to David Crane, “The Voice of the Blazers,” and Blazer basketball legend Steve Mitchell on the flagship station for UAB men's basketball, WZRR-FM 99.5 Nash Icon.
All Blazer fans are encouraged to wear gold in support of Gold Rush Thursday.
UAB (26-5) earned the top seed in the conference tournament after posting a 16-2 mark inside Conference USA to set a single-season school record for the most C-USA wins. In addition, the Blazers set single-season school record for overall wins, road wins (10) and consecutive victories (14).
Individually, UAB won eight C-USA postseason awards, highlighted by head coach Jerod Haase’s selection as the Gene Bartow Coach of the Year. Sophomore William Lee was tabbed as the Defensive Player of the Year and named to the All-Defensive Team, while junior Dirk Williams became the second straight Blazer to earn Sixth Man of the Year accolades.
Senior Robert Brown led UAB in scoring with 13.2 points per game and shot a team-best 40.0 percent from three-point range on his way to making the All-Conference USA First Team. Sophomore Chris Cokley also averaged 13.2 points to go along with a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game en route to All-C-USA Second Team honors.
Lee picked up his third award of the season when he was named a member of the All-Conference USA Third Team, while sophomore guard Nick Norton joined Lee on the third team after ranking third in the league with 5.2 assists per game.
UAB is 21-11 all-time with WKU and split the season series with the Hilltoppers. The two teams met last season in the C-USA Tournament semifinals, with UAB posting a 53-52 victory to advance to the semifinals.
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).
