Lovan, Benjamin Lead UAB Past Alabama A&M in Home Opener 74-52

Monday, November 11

Bartow Arena

7:00 PM

UAB

2-0

Alabama A&M

0-2

Team	1	2	F
Alabama A&M	25	27	52
UAB	32	42	74

Lovan, Benjamin Lead UAB Past Alabama A&M in Home Opener 74-52

11/11/2019 10:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM - Tavin Lovan scored a career-high 21 points and Jalen Benjamin added a personal-best 19 points as the UAB men's basketball team opened its 2019-20 home schedule with a 74-52 victory over Alabama A&M on Monday night.

Lovan also set a career-highs with eight field goals (on nine attempts) and five steals while adding six rebounds for the Blazers (2-0). Kassim Nicholson recorded his first double-figure game with 10 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double with a game-high nine boards.

Alabama A&M (0-2) was led by Cameron Alford with 14 points.

The Blazers made half of their baskets, shooting 27-of 54 from the field and outrebounded the Bulldogs 42-25. UAB converted 15 AAMU turnovers into 20 points and scored 40 points in the paint.

After the lead exchanged hands three times in the first 10 minutes of the contest, UAB used a 14-4 run to take their first double-figure advantage of the game when Nicholson's 3-pointer made the score 20-10. Alabama A&M would cut it to seven points after back-to-back layups from EJ Williams and Cameron Tucker in the final minute, which sent the game into halftime with the Blazers ahead 32-25.

UAB was able to keep the Bulldogs at arm's length in the first five minutes of the 2nd half. The Blazers held a double-figure lead for all but 19 seconds from the 15:13 mark on. Lovan's layup at 4:26 put UAB ahead by 20 at 68-48 and the Blazers stretched its lead to 24 with 2:08 remaining.

"Tavin did a lot of everything tonight, plus he had a lot of deflections," said head coach Robert Ehsan. "He's worked really hard and hopefully he'll have more games like this."

Lovan tied his previous career-high of 16 points on Thursday night at Troy and is shooting an incredible 78 percent (14-for-18) from the floor in his two games this season.

"Jalen is a confident shooter who has a really good knack for offense. It was great to see continue to have success tonight," added Ehsan.

The freshman averages 18 points per game and has made 55 percent (11-of-20) of his shots so far this year.

The next three home game are part of the BBN Showcase which begins on Nov. 15 when UAB hosts Utah Valley. The Blazers will also host Mount St. Mary's on Nov. 20 and Lamar on Nov. 26. All three games have a 7 p.m. tipoff. The event wraps up in Lexington when UAB travels to #1 Kentucky on Nov. 29.

Season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by clicking here or by calling the UAB Athletics Ticket Office at 205-975-UAB1. Fans can also request more information on ticket options for the upcoming season here. Discounted group tickets and fan experiences are available for a minimum purchase of 20 tickets. To inquire about group tickets for the 2019-20 season, please contact Chris Curtis at (205) 934-3172 or ccurtis2@uab.edu.