The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Memphis
Men's Basketball Team Fall Short Against Memphis
2/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Antonio Burks had a career-high 27 points and 10 assists here Saturday night to lead Memphis to a 94-70 victory against UAB. The loss drops the Blazers to two games behind the Tigers for the National Division lead.
"I thought we played well in the first half," said UAB head coach Mike Anderson. "We just had no answer for (Antonio) Burks and that's what bothers me more than anything. They were able to make some big shots and that was the difference."
Morris Finley led the Blazers with 18, while Richard Jones tied his career-high with 16 off the UAB bench.Demario Eddins added 12 points and has accumulated 220 points thus far in his freshman season. Eddins' freshman totals surpassed Damon Cobb's UAB freshman single-season scoring record of 212 points set in 30 games in 1995.
Burks connected on 13 of 16 shots as Memphis (16-5, 7-3 Conference USA) won its fifth straight and maintained its top spot in the conference's National Division.
Memphis put the game away with 17 unanswered points early in the second half, the Tigers biggest run of the season. The Tigers maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way, eventually leading by as many as 28.
UAB (13-8, 5-5) never got closer than 13 after the Memphis run.
Four other Tigers finished in double figures. John Grice had 17, Rodney Carney scored 15 and Anthony Rice and Chris Massie had 12 each.
The Tigers shot 59 percent for the game, including 62.5 percent in the second half.
UAB stayed close during the early stages and led 23-21 with about eight minutes to play in the half. But the Tigers closed the half with an 18-8 run, including the final six points for a 39-31 lead.
Memphis shot 55 percent for the half, but the Blazers controlled the boards early, at one point holding a 13-4 advantage.
UAB will try to rebound when they travel to Fort Worth, Texas to take on the Horned Frogs of TCU on Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 7:05 p.m. The game can be heard on WAPI 1070 AM with the pregame show beginning at approximately 6:30 p.m.
