The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Saint Louis
Blazers Advance To C-USA Championship Game
3/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 14, 2003
By CHRIS DUNCAN
AP Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Eric Bush scored on a driving layup with 11.9 seconds left to lift UAB to a 63-62 win over Saint Louis in the Conference USA tournament semifinals Friday night. It marks the first time in school history UAB has advanced to the C-USA championship game.
"Today was a gut check for our guys," UAB head coach Mike Anderson said. "The last half of that game when SLU made that run, our guys played off of sheer guts. You've got to find a way to win. You talk about getting to the championship game in conference tournament you got to dig down deeper than you ever have.
"Marque Perry played a great game he's a clutch player, but we've got some clutch players in Bush and Finley. When things got out of whack, they made stuff happen. Our real gut check was the last two seconds. It seemed like an eternity for Marque to get that last shot off and our defense stepped up. Defense has been signature of this basketball team and that's what won for us tonight."
The ninth-seeded Blazers (19-11) will play third-seeded and 20th-ranked Louisville (23-6) in Saturday's tournament championship. The Cardinals beat No. 16 Memphis 78-75 earlier Friday.
Bush and Gabe Kennedy each scored 16 points for UAB, which has won three in a row in the tournament since finishing the regular season with three straight losses.
Marque Perry had 20 points and six turnovers for Saint Louis (16-13), which had an eight-game winning streak snapped.
Perry failed on two chances to win the game. He missed a drive with 3 seconds left and Kennedy rebounded. The Billikens tied up Kennedy, forcing a jump ball.
Saint Louis got the ball on the alternating possession, but Perry couldn't get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.
The Blazers led 34-18 at halftime and 44-22 early in the second half as Saint Louis struggled to handle UAB's pressure defense.
The Billikens then mounted an 18-4 run as UAB began to show fatigue from playing three games in three nights.
Bush hit a jumper with 10:37 left, but the Billikens continued to close the gap. Perry's drive with 1:23 left forged a 61-61 tie - the first since the game started.
Chris Sloan gave Saint Louis its only lead with a free throw with 23 seconds left.
The Blazers started with an 11-3 run fueled by three Saint Louis turnovers. UAB forced a tournament-record 20 steals in an 83-76 upset of eighth-ranked Marquette on Thursday.
The Billikens finished the first half 8-of-23 from the field (35 percent) and had nine turnovers.
The Blazers and Cardinals will play for the right to go to the NCAA tournament on Saturday, March 15, at 11:40 a.m. EST. The game will be televised live nationally on CBS.
