Big Second Half Leads UAB to 76-63 Victory over UTEP

Thursday, January 17

Bartow Arena

7 p.m.

UAB

-117, 32 CUSA

UTEP

-610, 14 CUSA

UTEP

UAB

Big Second Half Leads UAB to 76-63 Victory over UTEP

1/17/2019 10:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Season Statistics

BIRMINGHAM – Led by senior Lewis Sullivan and freshman Tavin Lovan, the UAB men's basketball team defeated UTEP 76-63 on Thursday night at Bartow Arena.

Sullivan registered his third career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Lovan tied his career high with 14 points and added five rebounds. Lovan and Sullivan entered the game ranked third and sixth in the league in shooting percentage and combined to make 12-of-20 shots tonight.

The Blazers (11-7, 3-2 C-USA) outscored the Miners (6-10, 1-4 C-USA) 47-31 in the second half to pull away for the victory. Zack Bryant added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists, while Tyreek Scott-Grayson had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting to round out four players in double figures.

UAB shot 52.7 percent for the game on 29-of-55 and made seven of its 13 shots from behind the arc. The Blazers also won the rebounding battle 34-26.

UTEP started the game on a 7-0 run and led 13-2 at the first media timeout behind nine early points from Evan Gilyard II. UAB answered with a 7-0 run of their own, sparked by Sullivan, which forced a UTEP timeout with 13:05 left and the Miners leading 13-9.

The UAB run would ultimately be 14-0 and a Tyreek Scott-Grayson 3-pointer gave the Blazers their first lead of the game at 14-13. UAB held UTEP scoreless for seven minutes during that stretch as the Miners missed nine shots in a row.

Gilyard however, had 21 first half points and led UTEP out of its slump for a 32-29 halftime lead. Sullivan led the way for the Blazers with 14 points and six rebounds in the first 20 minutes.

With the game tied 35-35 early in the second half, the Blazers scored six of the next seven points, highlighted by a thunderous dunk from Tavin Lovan, followed by a jumper from Makhtar Gueye, which gave UAB a 41-36 lead and forced a UTEP timeout with 12:51 remaining.

The Blazers would not trail for the remainder of the game and started to pull away from the Miners behind stellar play from Lovan as he scored eight of his 14 points in a three-minute span.

UAB's largest lead of the contest reached 17 with 3:07 remaining (68-51) when Jeremiah Bell connected on 3-pointer to put the game out of reach.

Led by Lovan, UAB's bench outscored the Miners' bench 28-2, while the Blazer defense clamped down on Gilyard II second half, allowing him to only score four points after the break.

The Blazers are now 9-1 at home and look to keep that momentum going on Saturday night when they host UTSA at 7 p.m. for a kid's takeover at Bartow Arena. Click here for tickets.