UAB Fends off Marshall for 77-68 Road Victory

Thursday, February 14

Huntington, W.Va,.

7 p.m.

UAB

-1511, 76 CUSA

Marshall

-1313, 67 CUSA

UAB

Marshall

UAB Fends off Marshall for 77-68 Road Victory

2/14/2019 10:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Season Stats

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Sophomore forward Makhtar Gueye and senior forward Lewis Sullivan each tallied double-doubles to lead the UAB men's basketball team to a huge 77-68 road win over Marshall on Thursday night at the Cam Henderson Center.

Gueye had a career night with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Sullivan added 16 points and 10 rebounds to help UAB outscore the Herd 38-18 in the paint. Zack Bryant (14) and Jalen Perry (10) rounded out four players in double figures for the Blazers.

Making his first career start, redshirt junior Anderson McCoy logged 19 minutes and disrupted Marshall's leading scorer Jon Elmore the entire night.

UAB (15-11, 7-6 C-USA) had to withstand a furious Marshall comeback down the stretch as the Thundering Herd (13-13, 6-7 C-USA) cut a 17-point second half lead to two, but the Blazers kept their composure and made key plays down the stretch to seal the victory.

Both teams shot 40 percent from the floor and 30 percent from behind the arc, but UAB's bench outscored Marshall's 25-14 and the Blazers outscored the Herd 17-3 on points off turnovers. UAB forced 15 Marshall turnovers and only committed six of its own.

The Blazers made their first four shots from the floor and raced out to a 10-2 lead to build a 12-7 advantage at the first media timeout of the game.

UAB continued to play with high energy and led for virtually the entire half. Tyreek Scott-Grayson's baseline runner increased the Blazers' lead to 31-23, but five unanswered from the Herd got Marshall within three (31-28) at the final media timeout of the first half.

The Blazers though, used a 7-0 run and gained their largest lead of the half at 10 when Scott-Grayson connected on another runner to give UAB a 38-28 lead. Marshall's Jon Elmore hit a three to end the half which brought the score to 38-31 at the break.

Gueye had nine points and seven rebounds at the break, while Sullivan also added nine and Bryant eight in the first 20 minutes.

Gueye picked up right where he left off to open the second half and scored eight early points to give the Blazers a 46-36 lead at the 16:24 mark.

The Blazers won the hustle plays all night, and back to back layups from Sullivan increased the lead to 56-42 at the under-12 media timeout.

UAB continued to gain separation and a 3-pointer from McCoy gave UAB its largest lead of the game at 61-44 with 10:19 left, but that's when the Herd started to chip away and climbed back into the game with a 21-6 spurt over a seven-minute span, to get within two at 67-65 with 3:06 left.

The Blazers made two key plays down the stretch to secure the victory. With the score still 67-65, Sullivan grabbed an offensive rebound and cashed it into three points by drilling a straight-away triple to give UAB a 70-65 lead with 2:18 left.

Marshall then connected on a jumper to make it 70-67, but with UAB inbounding the ball with under a minute to play, the Blazers hit a home run ball to a streaking Tavin Lovan who converted a 3-point play to give UAB a 73-67 advantage with :49 to play. Perry would ice the game with free throws down the stretch.

The Blazers now head to WKU for their final game before C-USA bonus play begins. Tip in Bowling Green is slated for 1 p.m. on Facebook/Watch Stadium.