The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Southern Miss
UAB Falls Just Short Against Southern Miss, 75-71
2/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 2, 2011
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP)--Gary Flowers scored 22 points and Southern Miss defeated UAB 75-71 Wednesday night.
Dexter Fields led UAB with a game-high and career-high 24 points on the strength of eight threes. That number tied for second-most treys in a game in program history. Fields, Jamarr Sanders (22) and Aaron Johnson (18) combined for 64 of the Blazers' 71 points on the night.
UAB led by as many as 12 points and led by a score of 31-20 with 6:55 remaining in the opening half. However, Southern Miss ended the half on an 18-6 run to take a 38-37 lead into the locker rooms.
"We got off to a great start, but you have to always have some concerns when you come in the first half, shoot 56 percent, and find yourself down one," UAB head coach Mike Davis said. "We turned the basketball over too much. Their physical play was just too much for us to handle. Southern Miss got after us and we never responded to it. We made some shots early, but they just kept fighting the whole game. We just didn't respond until the last 5 minutes of the game. We dug our heels in and played hard, but by that time, it was all about who missed the shot and free throws."
Southern Miss (17-5, 6-3 Conference USA) shot 43.8 percent for the game (28 of 64), and moved into a tie with UTEP for first in the conference. It was the first time in 12 games this season UAB lost when holding an opponent to less than 45-percent shooting from the field.
The Golden Eagles were outscored 8-3 to open the second, but scored nine straight and pushed the lead to as many as 13, 66-53, on R.L. Horton's layup with 5:06 to play.
The Blazers (16-5, 5-3) went on a 10-2 run to cut it to three, 72-69, but Southern Miss went 3 of 4 from the free-throw line the rest of the way to seal it.
The Golden Eagles held the Blazers to 38.1 percent shooting in the second (8 of 21). Southern Miss outrebounded UAB 37-30 on the night, including a 19-6 advantage on the offensive glass.
The Blazers will begin a two-game road swing on Saturday when they travel to New Orleans, La. to take on Tulane. Tip is set for 2 p.m. CT and can be heard on the Blazer Sports Network, 107.7 FM WUHT.
