The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
-215, 112 CUSA
Louisiana Tech
-196, 84 CUSA
Blazers Fall 85-76 at Louisiana Tech Saturday
2/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Steve Irvine, UABSports.com
RUSTON, La. -- The UAB men's basketball, like most visiting teams at the Thomas Assembly Center, couldn't find a way to beat home-standing Louisiana Tech. However, on the bright side, following the 85-76 loss to the Bulldogs, the Blazers return from a stringent road trip with sole possession of first place in Conference USA.
After Saturday's game, though, UAB head coach Jerod Haase focused more on one that he felt got away from his team in a building where the home team has now won 63 of its past 65 games.
"I'm getting tired this season of talking about the same story without us improving and learning from it," Haase said. "It was the same story. The second half we came out, built a 10-point lead, and it's almost like we think it's going to be easy and we're not competing as hard. It only takes a couple of possessions, they build confidence and it steamrolls from there."
UAB (21-5, 11-2 C-USA) controlled the game for most of the first half, largely thanks to an outstanding first 20 minutes by Nick Norton. The sophomore point guard made all five of his first half shots, with four of them coming from outside the 3-point arc, to help the Blazers take a 36-29 halftime lead.
Robert Brown opened the second half with a 3-pointer to give UAB its biggest lead of the game. Five minutes later, however, the tone of the game changed. The Bulldogs began getting to the basket for buckets, which softened things up on the outside. Eventually, Louisiana Tech, which was 1-of-14 on 3-pointers in the first 32 minutes, heated up from the outside.
The Bulldogs (19-6, 8-4 C-USA) used four consecutive 3-pointers to turn a 55-54 lead into a 67-56 advantage with 6:26 left in the game. Louisiana Tech never trailed again but UAB didn't go away easily. The Blazers eventually trimmed the lead to four points - at 71-67 - following a 3-pointer by Norton and a fast break layup by Hakeem Baxter. But Louisiana Tech's Alex Hamilton threw in a 25-foot 3-pointer just before the shot clock buzzer on the following possession to get control back for the Bulldogs.
In the end, the Blazers had trouble containing Hamilton and Erik McCree in the second half. McCree had a career-high 33 points and Hamilton finished with 20 points.
"It was our No. 1 key to the game, obviously we didn't do a good job with that," Haase said of defending the Bulldogs' best two players.
UAB did some positive things offensively. Norton had a season-best 20 points with six 3-pointers, four assists and just one turnover. Chris Cokley had 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists and Brown contributed 15 points and six assists. But Haase was disappointed that UAB went to the free throw line just six times, making all six, while the Bulldogs were 19-of-25 from the line.
"We thought we could have some high quality shots and we did at times," Haase said. "When you look at the stat sheet, one thing you always look at is free throws. I think that showed which team was more aggressive in going to the basket. We've got to do a better job of not having that discrepancy by having a better attack mentality."
The Blazers move on from this one with at least a one-game lead in the C-USA standings. Middle Tennessee and Marshall each trail UAB by two games heading into tonight's games. The Blazers, who enjoy a bye on Thursday, travel to Middle Tennessee next Sunday.
"We have a lot to improve upon, I keep saying that, and hopefully we will this week," Haase said. "We'll have to play our best to have any chance at Middle Tennessee. They are, as we know, a well-coached team. It's a tough environment, a tough place to play, and it's two of the upper echelon teams in the league. We know it's going to be a challenge and we've got to do better."
UAB returns to action Sunday at 5 p.m. when the Blazers travel to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to face Middle Tennessee on CBS Sports Network. Click HERE to purchase tickets.
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.
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).
