The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
15-12, 8-6
Marshall
15-11, 8-5
UAB Falls to Marshall 74-59 on the Road
2/16/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Box Score (PDF)
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- The UAB men's basketball team did something it isn't used to doing on Thursday night in Huntington, West Virginia. The Blazers dropped a 74-59 Conference USA decision to the Thundering Herd at the Cam Henderson Center.
Thursday's loss snapped an eight-game winning streak for the Blazers over Marshall. It was UAB's first loss in Huntington since Jan. 23, 2010. The Blazers are 17-7 against the Herd in a series that began in 2003.
The loss came on a night that swingman Dirk Williams put together his best overall performance of his senior season. The 6-foot-5 Williams scored 23 points. He made his first eight shots before finishing 9-of-11 from the field and connected on 4-of-6 3-pointers while adding six rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Unfortunately, though, for the second consecutive game, only one Blazer reached double digits in points. This time, the Blazers (15-12 overall, 8-6 C-USA) also had trouble taking care of the basketball while committing 21 turnovers.
"It felt like the at times in the beginning of the year when we struggled to take care of the basketball," said UAB head coach Robert Ehsan. "The turnovers were just outrageous. You can't win on the road with 21 turnovers."
The Blazers did enough defensively to put themselves in position to win on the road. Marshall, which is one of the conference's top offensive teams, shot 40 percent from the field and connected on just 25 percent of its 3-pointers.
"With three minutes left, they had 60-something points and I thought to myself `That's not bad for these guys," Ehsan said. "They scored 100 last game against Western Kentucky. Tonight (the problem) was the offense (for UAB), that's the disappointing thing. They're one of the best offensive teams in the conference and we guarded them well. Offensively, outside of Dirk, we couldn't get anything going."
The offensive problems began early but the Blazers still had enough to match the Herd with 34 points in the first half. Williams had 11 points in the first half but the Blazers also had solid efforts from junior forward Chris Cokley (six points, five rebounds) and senior swingman Tyler Madison (six points, four rebounds).
Unfortunately, though, the first half was just the start of a frustrating evening for junior forward William Lee. He played just seven minutes before halftime, because of foul trouble, and was scoreless in the first half. He finished with just five points and two rebounds.
The Blazers scored the first four points of the second half on a layups by Denzell Watts and Williams. Marshall (15-11 overall, 8-5 C-USA) countered with a 9-0 run and the Thundering Herd never trailed again. But the score remained close for much of the second half.
Williams' only 3-pointer of the second half sliced into a 51-42 Marshall lead. About three minutes later, Williams had a spectacular follow dunk on a fast break to trim the Herd lead to 56-51.
However, the Herd scored the next seven points and kept the lead in double digits for much of the final five minutes.
"I think, in the second half, we have to play better, we have to execute better," said Ehsan, whose team outrebounded the Herd, 44-38. "That's on me, we have to fix that."
The Blazers stay on the road for its final regular season game away from Bartow Arena. The Blazers take on Western Kentucky on Sunday afternoon.
"Since that Southern Miss game, we haven't been the same," said Ehsan, whose team is 1-4 since beating the Golden Eagles, 87-43, on Jan. 28. "We have to get this group back together, on both ends of the floor, getting some chemistry. There are still four games and the conference tournament. I still have a lot of believe in these guys. It's my responsibility, we have to get them better, more together, more efficient."
