The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
17-16
Louisiana Tech
23-9
UAB Falls to Louisiana Tech in C-USA Quarterfinals
3/9/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Offensive woes in the first half proved too much to overcome for the UAB men’s basketball team as the Blazers ended the season with a 69-57 loss to No. 2 seed Louisiana Tech in the Conference USA Championship quarterfinals at Legacy Arena.
The Blazers, who were seeded No. 7 in the tournament, connected on 6-of-29 first half shots to fall into a 31-18 hole at halftime. Although they heated up a bit after halftime, the deficit was too difficult to overcome and the Blazers ended the season with a 17-16 record.
“I think it was a disappointing way to end our season,” said Robert Ehsan, who concludes his first season as the Blazers head coach. “I thought we had a lot of momentum coming into the game after last night’s win (over Charlotte). I thought we played hard, offensively, we just really struggled to shoot the basketball. Tonight, obviously, in the first half, I’m guessing 18 points is probably close to our low in a half this season. That was a frustrating thing, especially for a great group of seniors.”
The offensive difficulties began immediately. UAB got a quality look – an open 3-pointer from the top of the key by senior Denzell Watts - on its opening possession. On Wednesday night, Watts hit that shot early in the 74-73 win over Charlotte. On Thursday, however, the shot spun out. William Lee grabbed the rebound but the Bulldogs (23-9) forced a jump ball on his follow attempt.
That series was a sign of things to come.
The Bulldogs took a 6-0 lead before Dirk Williams drove to the bucket for a layup. The Blazers eventually trimmed the deficit to 8-6 before the Bulldogs went on a 15-4 run over the next six minutes.
“They weren’t doing anything special, we just didn’t come out and knock down shots like we normally do,” said Lee, who missed all five of his shots from the field in the first half. “That got us in a funk, offensively. We just couldn’t get it going.”
Louisiana Tech didn’t exactly sizzle its way through the first 20 minutes on the offensive end. The Bulldogs shot just 34.6 percent from the field but did have timely buckets and managed to hit five 3-pointers.
UAB did carry a touch of momentum into halftime after Williams drained a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining.
“We tried to fire them up at halftime,” Ehsan said. “(We told them) play with more confidence. Historically, if we don’t shoot the ball well, you kind of see it in the way they play emotionally. I think I challenged the guy’s emotion – play with more confidence, more swagger. We’ve got older guys who had been here before.”
Ehsan got what he wanted in the first two possessions of the second half but, much as it was in the first half, the Blazers failed to convert. UAB missed two shots in the paint on its opening possession, which eventually led to a fast break layup by Louisiana Tech, and missed another open shot in the paint on the next possession.
“I thought that first couple minutes were deflating,” Ehsan said.
Louisiana Tech took advantage and eventually stretched the lead to as many as 21 points. However, UAB refused to fold.
Watts injected some life into Legacy Arena by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers with the second one coming at the 15:50 mark.
“There was a really good environment,” said Louisiana Tech head coach Eric Konkol. “We knew there was going to be adversity, we knew there was going to be a run. Watts hits those two 3s and the place was electric.”
But the Bulldogs still made it difficult for the Blazers to come back. Every time UAB threatened, the Bulldogs pushed back.
The Blazers managed to trim the deficit to 59-49 on a 3-pointer by Lee with 2:09 remaining. UAB then cut the deficit to single digits on a layup by Watts 27 seconds later. But that’s as close as the Blazers would come.
Lee, Watts and Williams all ended with 13 points to pace the Blazers. Chris Cokley managed just two free throws but he did pull down 12 rebounds.
The loss ended the career of five UAB seniors. Watts, Williams, Tyler Madison, Tosin Mehinti and Hakeem Baxter all played their final game in a UAB uniform. Williams was the lone senior who wasn’t part of the team that won the 2014 Conference USA Tournament and upset Iowa State in the NCAA Tournament. All five played on last season’s team that won 26 games and captured the program’s first outright Conference USA regular season title.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Watts said. “There’s been a lot of good moments and some down moments. I could say, over the four years, I’ve had a lot of fun. To be able to say, I’m walking out of here winning two out of four championships with my teammates, it’s a great accomplishment.”
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