The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Washington State
Blazers Fall To Cougars In Season Opener
11/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 10, 2006
MILWAUKEE, Wis. -Derrick Low scored a career-high 28 points to help Washington State defeat UAB, 71-60, Friday night in a matchup of two teams opening the season with new coaches. Mike Davis debuted for UAB after coaching Indiana to a 115-79 record over the last six seasons.
For the Blazers, Wen Mukubu led the Blazers on the night. The Miami, Fla. native scored a team-high 19 points, 17 of which came in the game's final 20 minutes, in 33 minutes of action. Both numbers marked career-highs for the senior guard/forward. Mukubu's previous career best was 16 points, which he collected on two separate occasions (vs. Houston on Jan. 21, 2006 and vs. Oklahoma State on Dec. 28, 2006). Paul Delaney III had 14 and Lawrence Kinnard added 11.
Mike Davis debuted for Birmingham after coaching Indiana to a 115-79 record over the last six seasons.
Washington State controlled the opening half of the contest, outscoring UAB by 17 points as the teams went into the locker rooms at halftime (39-22). The Blazers only hurt themselves in the game's first 20 minutes, hitting only eight field goals and shooting 28.6 percent from the floor (8-of-28).
The Blazers outscored the Cougars by a count of 38-32 in the second half of their season-opening loss, despite the fact that Washington State scorched the UAB defense by hitting 63.2 percent if its shots in the game's final 20 minutes.
A torrid stretch of shooting to open the game put Washington State on top for good. The Cougars hit seven of their first 10 shots, the last a basket by Low for a commanding 17-3 lead.
Low had 8 points in the scoring surge to lead the Cougar offense, which made 16-of-37 shots (43.2 percent) in the half.
The Blazers will hope to rebound from the opening-game defeat when they take on Radford on Saturday, Nov. 11, at 5 p.m. CT in the second round of the John Thompson Foundation Classic.
