The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
NOTEBOOK: UAB Freshman William Lee Shines In Second Start
12/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Steve Irvine, UABSports.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- UAB freshman William Lee got a good dose of college basketball education on Thursday night while battling a physical LSU front court in the Tigers’ 79-70 victory over the Blazers at Bartow Arena. When it was over, Lee requested some extra work.
“I just told our weight coach (Cory Schlesinger) that I needed to lift,” said Lee. “So after I get dressed, I’m going to the weight room and try to work on my physicality and get bigger and stronger in the post so I can help my team out.”
The 6-foot-9, 210-pound Lee, who played in just his eighth college game on Thursday, faced a LSU front court that included 6-foot-10, 235-pound Jarell Martin and 6-foot-8, 235-pound Jordan Mickey. And, despite his postgame analysis, actually held up pretty well.
Lee, who started for the second consecutive game, had 13 points, five rebounds, two assists, three blocked shots, one steal and one turnover. He hit 6-of-10 shots from the floor and 1-of-2 free throws. The production came in a season-high 28 minutes.
“He is more comfortable every time he’s out there,” said UAB head coach Jerod Haase. “The biggest thing for him, I think, is conditioning. His conditioning needs improve and I think it is every game – 28 minutes is the most he’s played and probably a couple more minutes than he can handle right now. I think as his conditioning gets better, as his knee becomes more healthy, he gets his timing back, I think he will continue to get better.”
*UAB connected on 9-of-24 3-pointers in the game. It matched a season-high for 3-pointers, which the Blazers first did in a loss to Illinois State on Dec. 7.
Robert Brown had a team-high four 3-pointers, C.J. Washington had two and Nick Norton, Denzell Watts and Tyler Madison each had one.
*UAB dished out 17 assists on 29 made baskets. Brown had five assists while Denzell Watts and Nick Norton each had three assists.
The Blazers also had five blocked shots, marking the seventh game this season with at least five blocks. Tosin Mehinti had two blocks to go along with Lee’s team-high three blocks.
