The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
3-1
Jacksonville State
2-4
Cokley Leads UAB Over Jacksonville State
11/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Box Score | Postgame Quotes
By Steve Irvine, UABSports.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB guard Hakeem Baxter called it a grind. His head coach, Jerod Haase, said he'll find plenty of correctable errors while watching the tape of Sunday afternoon's non-conference visit from Jacksonville State.
What's most important, though, is the Blazers made the plays when it counted most to emerge with a 61-55 victory over the Gamecocks before a Bartow Arena crowd of 3,939.
"We had a variety of guys making winning type plays - a blocked shot here, a defensive rebound there," Haase said. "It wasn't a perfect game. It wasn't a pretty game. But when it was time to make the plays, we made some winning type plays."
The ones that stood out most came in the final minutes of a game that was tight the entire way. Nick Norton drawing a charge with 2:35 left that preserved a two-point lead. William Lee's block on the defensive end led to a follow dunk by Chris Cokley on the other end, giving UAB a 59-55 lead with 57.8 seconds left. Robert Brown corralling a long rebound ended a Gamecock possession and Hakeem Baxter muscled in a layup with 19.6 seconds left to provide the final points of the game.
"The big picture is it was great for us to be in a situation like this, to learn from late game situations," said Haase, whose team outrebounded Jacksonville State, 40-28, and outscored the Gamecocks, 38-16, in the paint. "We did make some plays, which we can draw from in the future."
For most of the game, the Blazers (3-1) relied heavily on Cokley. The 6-foot-8, 241-pound sophomore scored 23 points, marking the third time in four games that he led the Blazers in scoring. He was 8-of-12 from the field, made all seven of his free throws and also added nine rebounds and an assist in 25 minutes.
"They were much smaller than us so I felt I could do what I did tonight," Cokley said.
Cokley helped keep UAB close throughout the first half. He scored 10 points and grabbed seven of the team's 23 first half rebounds to help the Blazers dominate on the boards. Overall, the Blazers outscored Jacksonville State, 11-2, on second chance points in the first half, but the Gamecocks still managed to take a 28-25 lead into halftime.
Cokley said Haase's halftime message centered around playing with "better energy."
While that may have happened, the Blazers still couldn't run away from a Gamecock team which was coming off losses at Virginia Tech and Winthrop. The Gamecocks (2-3) handled UAB's pressure well, often taking the shot clock inside 10 seconds to keep the Blazers from getting fully in sync.
But the Blazers kept grinding. UAB's first second half lead didn't come until Lewis Sullivan swiped the ball from a Gamecock, raced down the court and converted a layup with 10:34 left. His big play gave the Blazers a 40-38 lead and UAB never trailed again. However, the final 10 minutes were far from easy.
Jacksonville State tied the game three times in the final 7:10, but UAB answered each time with big plays on both ends. Lee, who has been struggling offensively, provided a few of those plays, including a huge offensive rebound and two of his four blocked shots. Haase called those plays "another step forward" for the talented 6-foot-9 sophomore.
"He's not playing up to his entire capability but he is playing harder every day," Haase said. "Defensively with his shot blocking ability - four blocks - and rebounding, he's doing things that will help us win games."
Lee and plenty of others certainly made big plays down the stretch to help the Blazers hold on. Now they turn their attention toward getting better in practice before playing Illinois on Friday in the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Fla.
The Conference USA Men's and Women's Basketball Championship is set to return to Birmingham for the second consecutive year, marking the third time the Blazers will host the event. The men's tournament, as well as the women's semifinals and championship, will be played at Legacy Arena in downtown Birmingham, while the women's first round and quarterfinal action will take place at UAB's Bartow Arena.
UAB men's basketball home season tickets are on sale now and feature 16 regular season games. Lower level seats are in high demand and are priced at $215 per seat. UAB employee or active members of the National Alumni Society will receive a discounted price of $195. Upper level seats can be purchased for as low as $75. Click here to purchase your season tickets today, or call the UAB Athletics Ticket Office at (205) 975-8221.
For more information on UAB men's basketball, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_MBB), on Instagram (@blazerhoops) or on Facebook (Facebook.com/UABMensBasketball). For more on all Blazer sports teams follow the official social media accounts of UAB Athletics on Twitter (@UABAthletics), on Facebook (Facebook.com/UAB.Blazers), on Instagram (@uabathletics) or on Snapchat (@uabathletics).
