The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Alabama A&M
Blazers Dominate Bulldogs, 58-40
12/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Jamarr Sanders scored 18 points and Cameron Moore had 14 points and 10 rebounds as UAB rallied to defeat Alabama A&M 58-40 on Sunday night. The Blazers (8-2), coming off the longest layoff in program history at 14 days, won their 36th straight regular-season non-conference home game.
"I thought we did a great job defensively," head coach Mike Davis said. "I thought our guys really played hard. I knew it would be sloppy. Two weeks is probably too long to be off. We probably needed a game in there, but we wanted to really focus on our academics. We wanted to try to get better, but academics was the most important thing for us."
UAB showed plenty of rust as it shot just 25.9 percent from the floor and missed all nine three-point attempts through the opening 20 minutes. The Blazers trailed 18-17 at halftime, which marked the fewest points scored by UAB in a half this season.
With the Bulldogs (3-5) ahead 23-19, UAB used a 14-0 spurt, including seven points from Moore, to lead 33-23.
Alabama A&M's scoring drought, which lasted 4:02, ended with a 3-pointer by Desmond Jackson, who paced the Bulldogs with eight points.
UAB led by as many as 23 in the second half.
"Our guys got better in the second half," Davis said. "We missed some open shots, but I thought Alabama A&M did a really good job defensively. I thought they were well prepared. They came out and played hard. Us being off for two weeks had a little to do with it, but not totally."
Neither team shot well in the first half, but the Blazers improved to 45.2 percent in the second (14 of 31), while the Bulldogs shot only 34.6 percent (9 of 26).
UAB's Aaron Johnson, who ranks second in the country in assists per game (8.2), had eight assists to go with nine points.
The Blazers are 7-0 all-time against the Bulldogs.
UAB will next be in action on Tuesday when it hosts former Sun Belt Conference rival VCU. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. at Bartow Arena.
