The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
14-8, 7-2
Southern Miss
6-15, 3-6
Darling Paces Blazers to Rout of Southern Miss
1/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 28, 2017
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- UAB freshman Nate Darling did what he often does on the Bartow Arena basketball court. He made a bunch of 3-pointers.
This time, though, he did it while the fans were watching.
It was Darling who ignited the UAB offense in Saturday night's 87-43 Conference USA domination of visiting Southern Miss at Bartow Arena. The 6-foot-4 Canadian scored a career-high 20 points and hit 6-of-9 shots from outside the 3-point stripe.
"Nate has played this good in practice, you guys just don't see it," said UAB head coach Robert Ehsan in his postgame press conference. "He has really played this well, consistently, in practice. I think, from a coaching staff, we've kind of been waiting for this to come out. Tonight, due to our circumstance, he got more minutes, got more opportunity and he took advantage of it. I'm hoping this can carry on into the future."
UAB point guard Denzell Watts said Darling's big night could pay dividends for the Blazers (14-8 overall, 7-2 C-USA) down the stretch.
"That was big," Watts said. "He's been doing it in practice every day. It's crazy. It was just good to see it translate over to the game. It couldn't come at a better time for us, because we are going to need him big down the stretch."
Darling, who also added two rebounds, two assists and a steal in 25 minutes, has shown flashes of his ability throughout the season. He was 9-of-16 on 3-pointers coming into the game. But this was his first chance to get extended minutes and more shots.
"I got a little opportunity and I took advantage of it," Darling said. "I've been shooting a lot of shots in practice. To come out in the game and have my teammates have confidence in me, it gives me a lot of confidence in myself."
As the score indicates, though, Darling was just part of a really good night for the Blazers. UAB jumped out to a 13-2 lead and never let Southern Miss (6-15, 3-6) get back into the game. The lead was 42-16 at halftime and the final score was the largest margin of the game.
"All around, a very well-played game for us, maybe the most complete game we've played all year, on both sides of the basketball," Ehsan said. "I thought there was really no lull, even when we did get the good lead. I thought we moved the basketball extremely well tonight, 25 assists were huge."
Watts and Deion Lavender, who share the point guard spot, combined for 12 of the team's 25 assists. Lavender had seven assists and turned the ball over just once. Watts had five assists and two turnovers. Both also contributed to the scoring with Lavender tallying 10 points to reach double figures in the sixth consecutive game and seventh time in the past eight games. Watts scored all nine of his points on 3-pointers and is 14-of-20 from outside the 3-point stripe over the past four games.
"I'm very confident," said Watts of his 3-point success. "It's just knowing I can shoot it and always being shot ready. A lot of credit goes to (assistant coach) Kevin Devitt. We spend a lot of time in the gym, just getting up shots and focusing on shooting the same way every time."
Two other things that stood out in Saturday's lopsided win was the play of freshman Javien Williams and the Blazers' domination on defense. Williams, who started in place of senior Hakeem Baxter, had 13 points, four rebounds and three assists and hit his first 3-pointer in C-USA play.
The Blazer defense harassed Southern Miss into 23.2 percent shooting from the field. The Golden Eagles were 0-of-17 from outside the 3-point stripe, which was huge for a UAB team that has been hurt on 3-pointers at times this season. The Blazers past two opponents -- Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech -- were a combined 5-of-41 on 3-pointers.
"I think it's more just scouting report driven and really getting better defensively," said Ehsan, whose team outrebounded Southern Miss, 43-32. "My first year here as an assistant, we went down and played at Southern Miss. They were really good and we went O-for-something on 3s. Maybe that's payback from the basketball gods, you never know."
UAB leaves the weekend in sole possession of second place after Louisiana Tech and Marshall each lost on Saturday.
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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