The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
FIU
Second Half Surge Gives UAB 70-53 Win Over FIU
1/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Final Stats (PDF) | Postgame Notes | Postgame Quotes
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB's men's basketball team won its third-straight Conference USA game on Saturday at Bartow Arena, and for the third consecutive contest the Blazers did it with defense, forcing 21 FIU turnovers, recording seven blocks and picking up 10 steals en route to the 70-53 win.
The Blazers improved to 3-0 in Conference USA play with the victory over FIU (8-8, 1-2 C-USA), taking their overall mark to 7-9 on the year.
UAB's defense came to life midway through the second half, with three steals in just over a minute's time. Tyler Madison picked off a pass and took it in for the jam, before Chris Cokley swiped a pass and converted a layup while being fouled.
"(Our defense) was certainly the catalyst for the game from then on," UAB head coach Jerod Haase said. "Guys contributed in a lot of different ways."
Cokley and Robert Brown paced the Blazers with 12 points apiece. True freshman William Lee pulled down a team-leading eight rebounds to go with his seven points and two steals.
"The guys have done a really nice job the last two weeks implementing what we said," Haase said. "The bottom line is we want UAB to win basketball games."
Down 31-28 at the half, UAB was able to even the game at 32-32 early in the second period, as Brown's fastbreak layup came off an emphatic block from Tosin Mehinti, who swatted three shots to go along with six rebounds in the game. The Blazers never looked back in the second half, outscoring the Panthers 42-22 in the final stanza.
UAB freshman guard Nick Norton, who would finish the game with 11 points and four assists, sunk a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give UAB the lead for good at 35-33, with 16:01 to play. Cokley's dunk off a Denzel Watts' lob feed a few minutes later finished off a 12-1 run for the Blazers that the Panthers could not overcome.
The Blazers were once again impressive at the free-throw line on Saturday, knocking in 18-of-21 (85.7 percent) from the line. In C-USA games this season, UAB is a combined 50-of-62 (80.6 percent) at the free-throw stripe.
UAB takes to the road next week, as they face Louisiana Tech on Thursday night at 7 p.m. CT.
For more information on the UAB men's basketball team, follow the Blazers on Twitter @UAB_MBB. For more on all Blazer sports teams, follow @UABAthletics.
