The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Thursday, March 1
Bartow Arena
7:00 PM
UAB
18-12, 9-8
91
vs
77
Marshall
20-10, 11-6
1
2
F
Marshall
37
40
77
UAB
41
50
91
Six Blazers Reach Double Figures in Victory Over Marshall
3/1/2018 10:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB men's basketball team made it fun for the Bartow Arena crowd on Thursday night as the Blazers clicked in all areas during a thorough 91-77 Conference USA victory over Marshall.
Add UAB head coach Robert Ehsan to the list of people having a good time at Bartow Arena.
"It was a fun team to coach tonight," said Ehsan, whose team bounced back from a miserable Saturday evening at Middle Tennessee. "They played hard, they shared the basketball, they played offensively with a lot of confidence. It's a great momentum game, I hope, going into Saturday's game against Western Kentucky."
There are plenty of ways to chart UAB's success on Thursday night. Six double figure scorers, including William Lee, who had 15 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots, is a good place to start, and 23 assists was also impressive. The Blazers also outrebounded Marshall, 51-31, overall and won the offensive rebound battle, 18-7. And points in the paint, which UAB had a 44-26 advantage, was also important.
All those were numbers were huge. But, it all starts with Chris Cokley's performance.
"It shows with a healthy Chris, we're a really good team," said UAB guard Nick Norton, who had 15 points, four 3-pointers, nine assists and no turnovers himself.
Cokley played just 18 minutes on Thursday, largely because two first half fouls limited him to just five minutes before halftime. It's what he did in those 18 minutes that was impressive. Cokley finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, including six on the offensive end, an assist and a blocked shot. He was 9-of-13 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
He also played a role in Marshall's Ajdin Penava finishing with just three points, five rebounds and two blocked shots.
"We're just a different team with him, not only him scoring, but just the attention he causes," said Ehsan.
UAB (18-12 overall, 9-8 C-USA) looked good right away. Cokley scored the game's first four points and the Blazers followed with back-to-back 3-pointers by Norton and Nate Darling to claim a 10-0 lead. It was exactly what Ehsan had hoped would happen for his team.
The Blazers led by as many as 12 points in the first half but Marshall (20-10 overall, 11-6 C-USA) chipped away by shooting 3-pointers, which is what the Herd does. Marshall made 8-of-20 3-pointers in the first half and forged a 37-36 lead with 3:03 left. UAB scored the final five points of the half on a Jalen Perry free throw and a layup and dunk by Lee. Marshall's Jon Elmore missed a wide open layup just before the buzzer and UAB carried a 41-37 lead into halftime.
The second half began with one of the best seven-minute stretches of the season for the Blazers. Naturally, Cokley had his fingerprints all over the start. The teams were tied at 44 with just under eight minutes left when Cokley began a string of six consecutive points, on two free throws, a layup and a follow shot. Cokley then fed a cutting Lee for a layup and followed with two more free throws. Norton drove to the bucket for a layup to give UAB a 56-44 lead with 15:13 remaining.
Marshall stopped the run on a Jon Elmore layup before UAB began another burst. This one began with a Lewis Sullivan layup and the Blazers followed with three consecutive 3-pointers, two by Norton and the other by Lee, to take a 67-46 lead with 12:52 remaining.
"It's pretty satisfying," said Cokley, who had 17 points and all six of his offensive rebounds in the second half. "When a team scores (that many consecutive) buckets and you're getting stops, it's fun. You feel like you keep building momentum."
Marshall didn't go away quietly, even though the Blazers kept a double-digit advantage for most of the time. The Herd scored five 3-pointers in the final 13 minutes, including back-to-back long range shots by Elmore to cut the deficit to 78-71 with 4:11 left. UAB answered Elmore's 3-pointers with baskets by Cokley and Perry and sealed the win with a 9-2 run over the final two minutes.
"We showed Birmingham, our fans, ourselves, Coach Ehsan what we're capable of," Cokley said.
For more information on UAB men's basketball, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_MBB), Instagram (@UAB_MBB) and Snapchat (@UAB_MBB).
Add UAB head coach Robert Ehsan to the list of people having a good time at Bartow Arena.
"It was a fun team to coach tonight," said Ehsan, whose team bounced back from a miserable Saturday evening at Middle Tennessee. "They played hard, they shared the basketball, they played offensively with a lot of confidence. It's a great momentum game, I hope, going into Saturday's game against Western Kentucky."
There are plenty of ways to chart UAB's success on Thursday night. Six double figure scorers, including William Lee, who had 15 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots, is a good place to start, and 23 assists was also impressive. The Blazers also outrebounded Marshall, 51-31, overall and won the offensive rebound battle, 18-7. And points in the paint, which UAB had a 44-26 advantage, was also important.
All those were numbers were huge. But, it all starts with Chris Cokley's performance.
"It shows with a healthy Chris, we're a really good team," said UAB guard Nick Norton, who had 15 points, four 3-pointers, nine assists and no turnovers himself.
Cokley played just 18 minutes on Thursday, largely because two first half fouls limited him to just five minutes before halftime. It's what he did in those 18 minutes that was impressive. Cokley finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, including six on the offensive end, an assist and a blocked shot. He was 9-of-13 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
He also played a role in Marshall's Ajdin Penava finishing with just three points, five rebounds and two blocked shots.
"We're just a different team with him, not only him scoring, but just the attention he causes," said Ehsan.
UAB (18-12 overall, 9-8 C-USA) looked good right away. Cokley scored the game's first four points and the Blazers followed with back-to-back 3-pointers by Norton and Nate Darling to claim a 10-0 lead. It was exactly what Ehsan had hoped would happen for his team.
The Blazers led by as many as 12 points in the first half but Marshall (20-10 overall, 11-6 C-USA) chipped away by shooting 3-pointers, which is what the Herd does. Marshall made 8-of-20 3-pointers in the first half and forged a 37-36 lead with 3:03 left. UAB scored the final five points of the half on a Jalen Perry free throw and a layup and dunk by Lee. Marshall's Jon Elmore missed a wide open layup just before the buzzer and UAB carried a 41-37 lead into halftime.
The second half began with one of the best seven-minute stretches of the season for the Blazers. Naturally, Cokley had his fingerprints all over the start. The teams were tied at 44 with just under eight minutes left when Cokley began a string of six consecutive points, on two free throws, a layup and a follow shot. Cokley then fed a cutting Lee for a layup and followed with two more free throws. Norton drove to the bucket for a layup to give UAB a 56-44 lead with 15:13 remaining.
Marshall stopped the run on a Jon Elmore layup before UAB began another burst. This one began with a Lewis Sullivan layup and the Blazers followed with three consecutive 3-pointers, two by Norton and the other by Lee, to take a 67-46 lead with 12:52 remaining.
"It's pretty satisfying," said Cokley, who had 17 points and all six of his offensive rebounds in the second half. "When a team scores (that many consecutive) buckets and you're getting stops, it's fun. You feel like you keep building momentum."
Marshall didn't go away quietly, even though the Blazers kept a double-digit advantage for most of the time. The Herd scored five 3-pointers in the final 13 minutes, including back-to-back long range shots by Elmore to cut the deficit to 78-71 with 4:11 left. UAB answered Elmore's 3-pointers with baskets by Cokley and Perry and sealed the win with a 9-2 run over the final two minutes.
"We showed Birmingham, our fans, ourselves, Coach Ehsan what we're capable of," Cokley said.
For more information on UAB men's basketball, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_MBB), Instagram (@UAB_MBB) and Snapchat (@UAB_MBB).
Team Stats
MAR
UAB
FG%
.438
.486
3FG%
.371
.381
FT%
.615
.733
RB
31
49
TO
14
12
STL
7
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's BasketballForward
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's BasketballForward
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