UAB Earns 20th Win of the Season After 65-51 Victory Over North Texas

Friday, March 5

Denton, Texas

7:00 PM

UAB

-206,125 CUSA

North Texas

-138,94 CUSA

UAB

North Texas

Mean Green Men's BaskeMean Green Men's Basketball v UABtball v UAB

UAB Earns 20th Win of the Season After 65-51 Victory Over North Texas

3/5/2021 10:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

DENTON, Texas – Michael Ertel tied his season-high with 21 points to lead UAB to its 20^th victory of the season after a 65-51 win over North Texas at the Super Pit on Friday night.

Tavin Lovan scored 12 points, Trey Jemison added 11 with three blocks and Kassim Nicholson had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Blazers (20-6, 12-5 C-USA).

Javion Hamlet led the Mean Green (13-8, 9-4 C-USA) with 16 points. Thomas Bell was one rebound shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine boards. Zachary Simmons scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

With the game tied at 6-6 early in the 1^st half, UAB went on a 13-4 run to take its largest lead of the half at 19-10 with 8:39 remaining. North Texas scored the next eight points as part of a 12-2 run which gave them their first and only lead of the game, 22-21 at the 5:56 mark. UAB would regain the lead 26 seconds later after an and-1 from Lovan and take a seven-point lead into halftime, 33-26.

Lovan's layup at 18:54 of the 2^nd half made the score 35-29 and kept it a two-possession contest the rest of the way. A pair of Ertel free throws gave the Blazers a double-digit lead at 49-38 with 5:51 to go. The lead got as high as 17 points with 1:02 remaining after four straight Ertel points put UAB ahead 63-46.

"I'm really proud of our guys, especially at this stage of the season when there isn't a lot of gas left in the tank," said head coach Andy Kennedy. "We valued the ball, which gives you extra possessions and offensively, we were better than we have been. As a result, we led for almost 36 minutes of this game. Overall, I am really proud of how our guys locked in."

The Blazers shot 46.9% for the game and made 41.7% of their 3-pointers and 73.7% of their free throws.

"Mike did a great job at making plays. It was great to see the ball go in the basket. This may have been his best floor performance as a UAB Blazer."

Ertel's four 3-pointers was his season-high as was his seven free throws. In 29 minutes of play, he did not commit a turnover.

The Blazers conclude the regular season Saturday afternoon, facing North Texas with a 4 p.m tipoff.

GAME NOTES

This is the 26^th UAB team to win 20 games in a season – the fifth fastest
- The 2015-16 UAB team reached 20 wins in 24 games
- The 1981-82, 2005-06 and 2009-10 teams won 20 of its 25 games
UAB leads the series 5-4 over UNT
The Blazers have won the last three meetings at the Super Pit
This is only UNT's second home loss of the season (8-2)

MEN'S BASKETBALL TICKET INFORMATION
Men's basketball season tickets for the 2021-22 season are on sale now. Current basketball season ticket holders can click here to renew their original 2020-21 seat locations prior to social distancing adjustments. Click here to purchase new 2021-22 season which start as low as $100 with the Blaze's Corner season ticket.

Fans interested in season tickets can fill out the season ticket request form or contact the UAB Ticket Office at (205) 975-UAB1 to receive additional information.

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