The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Tulane
Blazers Fall To Tulane, 74-69
2/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb 25, 2004
NEW ORLEANS ----- Marcus Kinzer had 19 points and Wayne Tinsley added 13 points and 13 boards to lead Tulane to a 74-69 upset over UAB here Wednesday night. The Blazers were led by Morris Finley's 22 points, while Demario Eddins collected 17 in the losing effort.
Two free throws by Carldell Johnson gave the Blazers (16-8, 9-4 C-USA) a 65-64 advantage with 2:29 remaining in the contest. However, the Green Wave outscored UAB 10-4 in the final two minutes, including going 8-of-10 from the foul line.
"This is a very disappointing game," Blazer head coach Mike Anderson said, "especially with how we started the game. We were able to create turnovers from our defense, but at the same time we have to be able to convert, and we were unable to do that tonight."
The Blazers were fast out of the gate, wreaking havoc with their defense. UAB forced four turnovers, collected four steals and jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the opening four minutes of the game. Tulane answered UAB's hot start with a 27-7 run to take a 10-point lead at the 7:57 mark of the first half. The Green Wave had a 38-30 lead at the half.
Tulane extended its lead to 45-31 with 17:01 remaining before the Blazers began to chip away. Eddins scored 15 of his 17 points in the final 20 minutes to lead the UAB comeback. The Blazers cut their deficit to one point on three occasions; however, they were only able to grab the lead once in the second half.
With the Green Wave clinging to a 68-65 lead, UAB tried to tie the game, but Finley's jumper was off the mark. Tulane grabbed the rebound and passed it to Kinzer, who was immediately fouled. Kinzer, who was 7-of-8 from the line on the night, buried both shots to make it a 70-65 game with 47.9 seconds remaining. The Wave would go on to make four more free throws to seal the victory.
UAB collected 17 steals, forced the Wave into 25 turnovers and attempted 73 shots compared to 48 for Tulane. However, the difference was the shooting, as the Blazers shot just 34.2 percent on the night, while the Green Wave shot 45.8 percent on the night.
UAB will next be in action on Saturday, Feb. 28, when it plays host to Marquette at 2 p.m. The game will be Gene Bartow bobblehead giveaway as the first 1,500 fans ages 13 and over will receive a bobblehead doll of the legendary head coach.
