The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
2-1
Troy
2-1
Blazers Down Troy to Close Homestand
11/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 17, 2016
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Chris Cokley scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead UAB to a 74-51 victory over Troy Thursday from Bartow Arena.
UAB (2-1) improves to 9-0 all-time against Troy and has won eight of the nine meetings by double digits.
"I thought it was a very good way to bounce back after Monday's loss," UAB head coach Robert Ehsan said. "We watched a lot of video this week and really focused on guarding the three-pointer. We didn't get beat off the ball as much, and we kept our man in front of us which was a huge help."
Denzell Watts added 11 points and tied a career-high with three 3-pointers, and Deion Lavender fell just shy of a triple-double with nine points, nine assists and seven rebounds. William Lee finished with seven points and blocked seven shots.
"I thought I was going to redshirt this season and then things changed, so I had to change my mindset really fast," Watts said. "It felt good being out there with my teammates and getting a good win like we did tonight."
UAB shot 54.5 percent from the field in the first half and limited Troy to six field goals and 17.6 percent en route to a 32-17 halftime lead. The Trojans managed to trim UAB's lead to eight points with just over five minutes left in the first half, but the Blazers answered with a 13-6 run over the final 5:09.
Lee put the Blazers ahead 38-20 less than three minutes into the second half with a baseline jumper. Troy scored the next 11 points on a jumper and three 3-pointers to pull within seven points midway through the period.
Four straight points by Tyler Madison and a three-pointer from Watts pushed the lead up to 14 and UAB maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game.
"Coach challenged the whole team after the Furman loss," Cokley said. "He wanted to see how everyone would bounce back from that. We had a tough, but good, practice and we were able to execute everything we wanted to do."
Kevin Baker led Troy with 12 points. DeVon Walker grabbed 11 rebounds and Jordon Varnado had nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks for the Trojans.
UAB returns to action Monday at 8:30 p.m. when the Blazers face No. 7 Kansas on ESPN2 in the opening round of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic from Kansas City, Mo.
For more information on UAB men's basketball, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_MBB), Instagram (@blazerhoops) and Snapchat (@UAB_MBB).
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