The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
UCF
UAB Rallies Past UCF, 60-52
1/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- Robert Vaden scored 19 points to lead UAB in a 60-52 comeback win over Central Florida on Tuesday night for the Blazers' first Conference USA victory of the season.
"I am very proud of our effort tonight, especially on the defensive end of the floor," UAB head coach Mike Davis. "We have focused a lot of our practices on defense and I think that showed tonight. We did a great job of continuing to fight through the game, even though we weren't making shots. It was a great win against a very good and well-coached UCF team."
Paul Delaney III added 16 points and seven rebounds, while Lawrence Kinnard notched a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 14 rebounds for the Blazers (10-6, 1-1). It marked his C-USA-leading seventh double-double of the season and 14th of his career.
Jermaine Taylor, the nation's seventh-leading scorer with 23.7 points per game coming into the contest, scored 18 points as the only Knights (10-6, 0-2) player in double figures.
The Blazers struggled throughout the night on the offensive end of the floor. UAB finished the contest hitting just 33.3 percent (19-of-57) overall, 18.2 percent (4-of-22) from three-point range and 58.1 percent (18-of-31) from the foul line. As a result, the Blazers trailed for a majority of the contest.
The Blazers jumped out to an 11-4 lead to begin the game, forcing the Knights to use a timeout at the 15:54 mark. However, UCF used a 19-4 run to take a 24-15 lead with 6:26 remaining in the opening half. The Knights would go on to lead by seven points at the break.
UCF led by as many as 11 with 11 minutes remaining before the Blazers cut the lead down to four, 45-41, at the 6:52 mark. However, the Knights again responded and boosted the margin to 52-43 after a pair of Kenrick Zondervan free throws with 3:32 left. But that was the last UCF points of the night as UAB went on a 17-0 run the rest of the way, including Vaden and Kinnard hitting five free throws apiece during the spurt, to seal the win.
UAB will next travel to Memphis, Tenn. where it will take on the Tigers of Memphis on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT. The game will be televised live to a national audience on CBS College Sports and will also air on the Blazers ISP Radio Network, 107.7 FM.
