The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Marshall
UAB Sneaks Past Marshall, 61-59
1/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2010
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) - Aaron Johnson dropped in a layup with just under six seconds remaining, lifting UAB to a 61-59 win over Marshall on Saturday night. With the win, the Blazers improve to 17-2 overall (5-0 C-USA), which is now the best start to a season in program history.
Not only are the Blazers off to their best start in school history, but the 5-0 mark in league play is the first time any UAB team has won its first five games since joining Conference USA in 1995.
"I thought both teams played a great game and both teams had a chance to win tonight," UAB head coach Mike Davis said. "The difference I think between us and Marshall is that we have been in this situation a lot this year. You don't want to be in those type of situations, but we have been there before and I think that's what it came down to. Marshall is a very good basketball team that is going to win a lot of games this season."
"I have to commend Howard (Crawford) because he set a really good screen that freed me up," Johnson said. "I knew I had a good angle and when I saw (Hassan) Whiteside on me, I just wanted to put my body in his and take it strong."
It marked the second-straight game Johnson hit a game-winning field goal in the closing seconds. Against Southern Miss last Wednesday, the Chicago, Ill. native canned a 15-foot jumper in the waning seconds to nip Southern Miss, 57-56.
"I thought Aaron had a great freshman season and really deserved to be on the all-freshman team even though he wasn't," Davis said of his starting point guard. "He worked very hard since then and now this is his basketball team. We have guys that score more or rebound team, but this is his team. He is a guy we feel like he can win every matchup."
Johnson finished the contest with 11 points, including hitting 7-of-9 free throws.
Relying on free throws down the stretch due to a 7-minute span without a field goal, the Blazers lost the lead they'd held most of the game when Tyler Wilkerson pulled Marshall even at 59 on a layup with 1:41 left.
Both teams missed jumpers before UAB took a timeout to set up the final shot with 15 seconds left. After the timeout, the Blazers got the ball to Johnson and he got UAB the win.
Johnson also hit five free throws in the final 5 minutes for the Blazers.
Howard Crawford led the Blazers with 19 points and junior Jamarr Sanders collected 10 points and nine rebounds in the effort.
Wilkerson paced the Thundering Herd (15-4, 4-1) with 18 points and Damier Pitts added 13.
The Blazers have now won their last three games by a combined total of four points. UAB is 4-0 on the year in one-point games and 6-0 when a contest is decided by five points or fewer this season.
UAB will return home on Tuesday for a big Conference USA showdown between the only undefeated teams in league play when Tulsa invades Bartow Arena. The Blazers and Golden Hurricane will tip off at 7 p.m. CT and can be heard live on 107.7 FM WUHT.
