The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Saturday, December 15
Legacy Arena
6:30 p.m.
UAB
6-4
71
vs
75
Auburn
9-1
1
2
OT 1
F
Auburn
28
35
12
75
UAB
27
36
8
71
UAB Drops Overtime Thriller 75-71 to No. 8 Auburn
12/15/2018 10:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BIRMINGHAM – The UAB men's basketball team fell in overtime to No. 8 Auburn 75-71 in front of a packed Legacy Arena on Saturday night in the inaugural Mike Slive Invitational.
The game honored the legacy of former Conference USA and Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive. A portion of the game's proceeds will go to support the Mike Slive Foundation in the fight to end prostate cancer.
"That was a great basketball game here in Birmingham," head coach Robert Ehsan said. "It was a hard-fought, emotional game, but I was proud of our team. We had a great game plan going in, and I thought we executed to a 't.' To play a top-ten team like Auburn the way that we did tonight, I was really proud of our guys."
Jalen Perry led a quartet of Blazers in double figures with a career high 18 points on a career best four made 3-pointers. Zack Bryant followed Perry with 13 points, while also reeling in a career high 10 rebounds for the sophomore's first career double double.
Jeremiah Bell matched Bryant's 13 points as he nailed a career best three shots from beyond the arc. Senior Lewis Sullivan rounded out the Blazers in the double digit scoring column as the Alabama native finished with 11 points and seven rebounds on a 5-of-10 night from the field.
Auburn (9-1) opened the game on a 5-0 run, before Tyreek Scott-Grayson drove the lane for UAB's first points of the game. The Tigers reclaimed their five point lead before Makhtar Gueye and Perry rattled off five points unanswered to tie the game at seven.
UAB (6-4) took its first lead of the game with 12:01 left in the opening half after a Will Butler lay in put the Blazers ahead 11-10. The squads traded buckets going into the final media timeout of the half with UAB on top 20-17.
A Perry jumper with 3:39 left in the first half gave the Blazers their largest first half lead at 22-18. The Tigers responded before halftime and regained the lead on a Jared Harper 3-pointer with 31 seconds to play and took a 28-27 lead into the locker room at the break.
Perry hit the opening shot of the second half as the back and forth scoring continued, before the senior connected on a shot from long range to tie the game at 32. A jumper from Bryant and a tip in from Gueye stretched UAB's lead to 36-32, taking the game into the first media timeout of the second half.
A jumper from Auburn out of the break tied the game for the sixth time at 38 all, before Perry hit his third shot from deep to spark a 7-0 UAB run to give the Blazers their largest lead of the game.
Auburn answered UAB's run with an 8-2 of its own to knot the game at 47 with 9:23 left in regulation, forcing the Blazers to use a timeout. The squads went scoreless for two minutes, before Bryant broke the tie with a jumper to give UAB a 49-47 lead.
The Tigers stretched their lead to six with 1:15 left in the game, but a 3-pointer from Bryant cut the lead to three with 1:06 left and a triple from Jeremiah Bell with 10 seconds remaining tied the game at 63 to send the game into overtime.
Auburn hit the first two baskets of overtime to take a lead it would not relinquish. A free throw from Perry cut the Tigers' lead to one with 2:15 left, but that would be as close as the Blazers would get before eventually falling 75-71.
"I told someone yesterday that Auburn may be a Final Four team," Ehsan said. "Anytime we get to play someone this good, it is a measuring stick for how good we are and how good we can be. We played at our highest caliber tonight, so I think we proved a lot to ourselves."
Harper led Auburn with a game high 31 points on seven made field goals and was efficient from the free throw line, converting on 15-of-16 attempts.
The Blazers return to Bartow Arena when they welcome Alcorn State on Tuesday, Dec. 18. Tipoff between UAB and the Braves is set for 3 p.m.
For more information on the UAB men's basketball team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_MBB) or on Instagram (UAB_MBB).
The game honored the legacy of former Conference USA and Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive. A portion of the game's proceeds will go to support the Mike Slive Foundation in the fight to end prostate cancer.
"That was a great basketball game here in Birmingham," head coach Robert Ehsan said. "It was a hard-fought, emotional game, but I was proud of our team. We had a great game plan going in, and I thought we executed to a 't.' To play a top-ten team like Auburn the way that we did tonight, I was really proud of our guys."
Jalen Perry led a quartet of Blazers in double figures with a career high 18 points on a career best four made 3-pointers. Zack Bryant followed Perry with 13 points, while also reeling in a career high 10 rebounds for the sophomore's first career double double.
Jeremiah Bell matched Bryant's 13 points as he nailed a career best three shots from beyond the arc. Senior Lewis Sullivan rounded out the Blazers in the double digit scoring column as the Alabama native finished with 11 points and seven rebounds on a 5-of-10 night from the field.
Auburn (9-1) opened the game on a 5-0 run, before Tyreek Scott-Grayson drove the lane for UAB's first points of the game. The Tigers reclaimed their five point lead before Makhtar Gueye and Perry rattled off five points unanswered to tie the game at seven.
UAB (6-4) took its first lead of the game with 12:01 left in the opening half after a Will Butler lay in put the Blazers ahead 11-10. The squads traded buckets going into the final media timeout of the half with UAB on top 20-17.
A Perry jumper with 3:39 left in the first half gave the Blazers their largest first half lead at 22-18. The Tigers responded before halftime and regained the lead on a Jared Harper 3-pointer with 31 seconds to play and took a 28-27 lead into the locker room at the break.
Perry hit the opening shot of the second half as the back and forth scoring continued, before the senior connected on a shot from long range to tie the game at 32. A jumper from Bryant and a tip in from Gueye stretched UAB's lead to 36-32, taking the game into the first media timeout of the second half.
A jumper from Auburn out of the break tied the game for the sixth time at 38 all, before Perry hit his third shot from deep to spark a 7-0 UAB run to give the Blazers their largest lead of the game.
Auburn answered UAB's run with an 8-2 of its own to knot the game at 47 with 9:23 left in regulation, forcing the Blazers to use a timeout. The squads went scoreless for two minutes, before Bryant broke the tie with a jumper to give UAB a 49-47 lead.
The Tigers stretched their lead to six with 1:15 left in the game, but a 3-pointer from Bryant cut the lead to three with 1:06 left and a triple from Jeremiah Bell with 10 seconds remaining tied the game at 63 to send the game into overtime.
Auburn hit the first two baskets of overtime to take a lead it would not relinquish. A free throw from Perry cut the Tigers' lead to one with 2:15 left, but that would be as close as the Blazers would get before eventually falling 75-71.
"I told someone yesterday that Auburn may be a Final Four team," Ehsan said. "Anytime we get to play someone this good, it is a measuring stick for how good we are and how good we can be. We played at our highest caliber tonight, so I think we proved a lot to ourselves."
Harper led Auburn with a game high 31 points on seven made field goals and was efficient from the free throw line, converting on 15-of-16 attempts.
The Blazers return to Bartow Arena when they welcome Alcorn State on Tuesday, Dec. 18. Tipoff between UAB and the Braves is set for 3 p.m.
For more information on the UAB men's basketball team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_MBB) or on Instagram (UAB_MBB).
Team Stats
AU
UAB
FG%
.386
.444
3FG%
.182
.310
FT%
.794
.545
RB
40
39
TO
10
13
STL
2
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
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