Bryant’s Career-High 30 Leads UAB to 89-86 Victory at Rice

Saturday, January 26

Houston, Texas

7 p.m.

UAB

-147, 62 CUSA

Rice

-813, 35 CUSA

UAB

Rice

Bryant’s Career-High 30 Leads UAB to 89-86 Victory at Rice

1/26/2019 9:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF) Season Statistics

HOUSTON – Sophomore guard Zack Bryant scored a career-high 30 points and the Blazers withstood a last-second 3-point heave as the UAB men's basketball team defeated Rice 89-86 on Saturday night at Tudor Fieldhouse.

The Blazers improved to 14-7 overall with the win and moved into first place in the Conference USA standings with a mark of 6-2. Rice fell to 8-13 overall and 3-5 in league play.

UAB scored a season-high 89 points and had four players in double-figures, led by Bryant's career night. The sophomore scored his 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting and added five rebounds and three assists. Senior guard Jeremiah Bell had a UAB career high 17 points, while Lewis Sullivan chipped in with 11 and Tavin Lovan 10, all of which came in the second half for Lovan.

Rice was led by freshman Trey Murphy III who had a career-high 24 points on 5-of-7 from long range and 9-of-9 from the free throw line.

The Blazers did a tremendous job protecting the ball as they turned the ball over a season-low three times. UAB forced 13 Rice turnovers and outscored the Owls 19-2 off turnovers.

The Owls raced out to a 10-4 lead, but a dunk by Makhtar Gueye and a 3-pointer from Bryant closed the gap to 10-9 at the first media timeout of the game.

The Blazers took their first lead of the game at 11-10, but Murphy III went on a 10-2 run by himself, giving the Owls a 20-13 advantage with 12:11 remaining.

However, led by Bryant, the Blazers climbed back into the game, and a 7-0 run capped by Bryant's driving layup forced a Rice timeout at 8:24 with the Owls leading 27-26.

The two teams would go back and forth for the remainder of the half as UAB took a 40-39 lead into the locker room. Both teams shot the ball very well in the opening 20 minutes as UAB was 47.1 percent, while Rice was 61.9 percent. Bryant had 12 at the break to lead the Blazers.

UAB scored 11 of the first 15 points in the second half and built a 51-43 lead with 15:52 remaining.

The Blazers continued to build separation on the back of Lovan who scored nine points in a five-minute span, and his and-1 gave UAB an 11-point lead at 62-51 with 10:19 to play.

The Blazers built a 13-point lead on two free throws from Bryant with 9:41 left, but the Owls went on an 18-6 run to get with one at 70-69 on a Murphy III 3-pointer with 5:22 remaining.

After a Bell 3-pointer moved it to 73-69, Rice answered with a 3-pointer of its own to once again cut the lead to one, but the Blazers stretched the lead to six on a layup from Sullivan and a triple from Bryant.

Rice had to foul down the stretch and kept executing on the offensive end to extend the game. With three seconds left and UAB clinging to a 2-point lead (88-86), the Owls fouled Lovan who made one-of-two. With no timeouts remaining, the Owls raced down the court and got a good look at a three which would have tied the game, but Ako Adams' shot hit the back iron to give UAB the win.

UAB shot 47.6 percent for the game and made 19-of-24 from the free throw line. Rice finished the game at 51.9 percent and was 20-of-30 at the charity stripe. UAB is now 11-0 when leading at halftime.

The Blazers have won four in a row, all coming against schools from Texas, and look to make it five straight on Wednesday night when they travel to Murfreesboro for a game at Middle Tennessee.