The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Troy
Millsap, Sanders Leads UAB Past Troy, 77-59
11/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Junior Elijah Millsap collected 22 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, while Jamarr Sanders added a career-best 20 points to lead the UAB men's basketball team to a 77-59 victory over Troy on Tuesday night at Bartow Arena.
Junior Aaron Johnson collected 12 points and five assists and senior Howard Crawford added nine points and eight boards as the Blazers cruised to their fourth straight victory. UAB now boasts a 5-1 overall record, which is the best start to a season since the 2004-05 campaign.
"I was very pleased with our defense and ball movement tonight," UAB head coach Mike Davis said. "We are trying to get better each day as a basketball team and tonight we did that. I thought we did a good job on the boards. We still have a lot of work to do, but I am happy with our performance tonight."
Troy (2-2) began the game with more energy, as the Trojans jumped out to a 9-3 lead at the 16:06 mark, forcing Davis to call a timeout. UAB responded with an 8-0 run to take an 11-9 lead. From there, the two teams traded buckets as the lead changed hands seven times during the first half of play.
However, with the Blazers trailing 15-14 at the 9:00 minute mark, senior George Drake connected on a three-pointer to give UAB the lead for good. Drake's trey jump-started a 17-4 run to end the half as the Blazers took a 32-21 into the locker rooms.
Early in the second half, the Trojans cut the UAB lead to eight points, 34-26, on a Richard Delk three-pointer. But the Blazers did not back down and continued to push the lead, eventually stretching it to 22 points, 74-52, with just over three minutes remaining.
Millsap, who now has three double-doubles in UAB's six games this season, scored 17 of his 22 points over the final 20 minutes. Senior center Kenneth Cooper made a solid contribution off the bench, collecting seven points, five rebounds and two blocked shots in 16 minutes of action.
Delk led all scorers with 23 points on the night, while Michael Vogler added 12 points in the losing effort. Brandon Hazzard, Troy's leading scorer entering the contest at 17.7 ppg, finished the contest with three points and was 0-of-8 from the floor.
The Blazers owned the advantage inside, holding a 40-20 advantage in points in the paint. Additionally, UAB had a 43-27 advantage on the boards, including 16 offensive rebounds which resulted in a 21-7 edge in second-chance points.
The Blazers will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 28, when they host the Florida A&M Rattlers. The contest will be the finale of a triple-header of UAB home games this coming Saturday. The Blazers' football team will begin the day when they battle UCF at noon at Legion Field. The UAB women's basketball team will host North Texas at 3 p.m. at Bartow Arena, with the men following at 7:30 p.m.
