The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Georgia
Blazers Beat Bulldogs, 72-56
11/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 21, 2009
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Howard Crawford scored 17 of his career-high 21 points in the second half to help UAB defeat Georgia 72-56 on Saturday night.
Jamarr Sanders had a career-best 16 points, while Elijah Millsap added 14 as the Blazers (4-1) earned their third straight victory. It also marked UAB's first victory over an SEC team at Bartow Arena since they defeated Auburn, 64-57, on Nov. 22, 1996.
"I'm pretty happy with our guys tonight," UAB head coach Mike Davis said. "They showed heart and they continue to get better game by game. We're a better basketball team this week than we were last week."
The Blazers (4-1) fell behind 3-0 in the opening minute, then scored 12 consecutive points and never trailed again. UAB was aided by six Georgia turnovers in under 4 minutes.
The Blazers built a 23-6 lead barely seven minutes into the game before Georgia (1-2) rallied with an 11-0 run to close the gap to 23-17. UAB responded with 10 consecutive points on the way to a 35-22 halftime score and maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the contest.
Crawford sank three 3-pointers in the second half and Sanders scored 13 of his 16 points after halftime.
"We knew we had to make Howard Crawford a go-to guy this year," Davis said. "We thought it would be January or February before he really started to feel comfortable in that position, but he's way ahead of schedule."
Dustin Ware led Georgia with 17 points and Jeremy Price added 13. Trey Thompkins, who entered the game averaging a team-best 19.5 points and 14.0 rebound per game, managed only four points on 2-for-11 shooting and four rebounds.
The Blazers finished with a 28-10 advantage in points off turnovers. As a team, UAB finished with seven blocked shots, seven steals, while collecting 14 assists and nine turnovers.
UAB will continue its season-long six-game homestand when it hosts instate foe Troy on Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT.
