The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Auburn Montgomery
Men's Hoops Downs AUM 64-36 In Final Exhibition
11/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 12, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--The UAB men's basketball team used solid defense and strong work on the boards to win its second and final exhibition game, defeating Auburn Montgomery 64-36 Saturday night at Bartow Arena.
UAB associate head coach Donnie Marsh coached the contest in place of head coach Mike Davis. Davis, who was on the bench, did not coach the game due to a family matter he has been dealing with.
"One of our keys was to take care of the ball and share the ball," Marsh said. "When we pass the ball and have a good number of assists, we are a pretty good team, and in the second half, we shared the ball pretty well.
"We wanted to see how much improvement we made from Thursday. I think the biggest concern for us from Thursday was our defensive intensity and cohesiveness. We spent a lot of time this week working on that, and I thought we did a better job on defense tonight. We are not where we need to be, but I think we paid attention to detail and tried to draw some charges. I think we wanted to trigger some offense with what we did defensively."
Junior guard Jekore Tyler came off the bench to lead the Blazers with 14 points, while junior forward Ovie Soko finished the night with a game-high 17 rebounds, including five offensive boards paired with two blocks and two steals, to go along with seven points.
Sophomore Jordan Swing added 12 points and four rebounds in his first game in over a year after sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules.
The Blazers were playing without Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year Cameron Moore, who missed the game after serving a one-game suspension for violation of the team's academic policy.
UAB shot 24-of-57 from the floor and just 7-of-28 from beyond the arc. The bench had a strong showing as five players combined for 33 of UAB's 64 total points. Preston Purifoy and Herb Harrison each contributed six points to lead the scoring attack off the bench.
The Blazers held the Warhawks to just nine points in the first half, taking a 21-9 lead into the break. With the Blazers leading 32-20 midway through the second half, they erupted for a 12-1 run to take a commanding 44-21 lead with 8:56 remaining.
UAB would go on to outscore AUM, 43-27, over the final 20 minutes, while connecting on 48-percent of its shots from the floor and 40-percent from three-point range in the second stanza.
UAB will host Creighton on Wednesday, Nov. 16 in the regular season-opener. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Bartow Arena.
