The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
8-3
USF
3-9
Blazers top USF for Fifth Straight Win
12/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Final Stats | Box Score (PDF)
By Steve Irvine, UABSports.com
TAMPA, Fla. - UAB senior Robert Brown always loves returning to his home state. He made sure the latest visit was extra special.
Brown exploded for 18 points in the first half and finished with a season-best 23 points in the 79-68 non-conference victory over USF at the Sun Dome.
The 6-foot-5 Brown hails from Clermont, Fla., which is about 20 miles outside Orlando and 70 miles from Tampa. A group of approximately 30 friends and family members made the trip to see Brown put together his top offensive half of the season. In the first half, alone, Brown scored 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, including 4-of-6 from outside the three-point arc. He punctuated the first half with a running left-handed shot from about six feet away to give UAB the 44-34 halftime lead.
"At the start of the game, he was fantastic," UAB head coach Jerod Haase said.
Overall, Brown finished with 23 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
"Being away from home for so long, I haven't seen a lot of people who came out to watch us tonight," said Brown, who finished his high school career at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia and began his college career at Virginia Tech. "Being able to play well with them here was a blessing."
Brown's performance was part of a really good night for the Blazers, who improved to 3-1 in true road games and won for the fifth consecutive game overall. UAB (8-3) showed its scoring balance on a night when leading scorer Chris Cokley scored under double digits for just the second time in 11 games. Nine of the 10 UAB players to see action scored at least three points with William Lee (11 points) and Nick Norton (10 points) reaching double digits. Cokley just missed double digits after scoring eight of his nine points in the second half.
"We go 10 deep," Brown said. "Not too many teams I've seen in the country or in my time in college can go 10 deep and really have everybody produce for you. That's a real luxury we have."
On Saturday, it also helped that the Blazers pressured a big USF team into 19 turnovers while turning the ball over just eight times. UAB easily won the points off turnover battle by a score of 26-12. Coupled with that, the Blazers also dished out 21 assists, marking the third consecutive game with at least 20 assists.
Norton had nine assists and one turnover, giving him an assist-turnover total of 19-to-2 in two games this week. Hakeem Baxter had six assists without a turnover.
"With Nick and Denzell Watts, they're certainly doing a nice job," Haase said. "But when you have Hakeem Baxter with six assists and zero turnovers, it's fantastic. Guys seem to really be embracing the idea of sharing the basketball. You get a lot of attention, and it really helps the team. It's such a positive stat."
As expected, UAB was challenged inside by the larger USF front court. The Bulls (3-9) did hurt UAB on the boards, outrebounding the Blazers, 36-26, and scoring 15 second-chance points. But the Blazers still managed to stay nearly even in points in the paint. USF outscored UAB in the paint but the final margin was just 36-34. Lee also had four blocked shots.
UAB led for nearly 35 minutes of the 40-minute game and enjoyed a double-digit lead for the final 16 minutes of the game.
"Fantastic win," Haase said. "There are a lot of positives that we're going to be able to take from it. But the exciting thing to me, is we beat an American Conference team who is a good, big strong team. I didn't think anybody played above their heads. We had some guys who played good games but we still have a lot of room for improvement."
The Blazers return to action Tuesday at 7 p.m. CST when UAB welcomes Hiwassee to Bartow Arena.
The Conference USA Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are 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 ticket mini plans are now on sale and in high demand. The Holiday 3-Pointer includes games against Hiwassee College (Dec. 22), 2015 NCAA Tournament participant Stephen F. Austin (Dec. 29) and the Blazer's Conference USA home opener against Middle Tennessee (Jan 3). Lower level seats can be purchased for $36 ($60 value), or $24 in the upper level ($45 value). The Conference USA Season Pass is available for $119 in the lower level, (a savings of over $60) and only $79 in the upper level, ($56 off the regular price).
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).
