Blazers Falls to WKU in Conference USA Quarterfinals

Thursday, March 8

Frisco, Texas

9:00 PM

UAB

20-13

WKU

23-9

UAB

WKU

Blazers Falls to WKU in Conference USA Quarterfinals

3/8/2018 11:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

FRISCO, Texas – The UAB men's basketball team was on the wrong end of the rematch this time. Less than a week ago, the Blazers played perhaps its best game of the season in a 28-point win over WKU. The Hilltoppers got their revenge on Thursday night in a Conference USA Tournament quarterfinal game at the Ford Center at The Star.

WKU built a cushion late in the first half and spent the second half completely running away in what eventually became a 98-70 victory over the Blazers.

The Hilltoppers (23-9) move on to a semifinal matchup with No. 2 seed Old Dominion on Friday. UAB (20-13) heads home and says goodbye to two of the best players in school history. Seniors Chris Cokley and William Lee, whose impact on the program extends well beyond the record book, played their final game in a UAB uniform.

"William and Chris, the impact that they've made over the last four years," said UAB head coach Robert Ehsan. "Two great ambassadors for UAB, who will hopefully be very successful. I told them they will represent those letters on the front of the jersey, well beyond their playing days, in the right manner."

Each scored 12 points in their final outing but that was not nearly enough to overcome a WKU team playing at a very high level.

Neither team could pull away for most of the half. Unfortunately, for the Blazers, the last four minutes were dominated by WKU. UAB was leading, 33-30, following a Cokley bucket with 4:38 left. That was the final UAB field goal of the first half.

WKU scored on seven of its nine possessions in the final 4:15. The Hilltoppers closed the first half on a 16-2 run with Nate Darling providing the only two points on free throws with 1:02 remaining. WKU's Justin Johnson hit a 3-pointer at the first half buzzer to give the Hilltoppers a 46-35 lead.

A big part of the problem, at least late in the half, was the absence of Nick Norton, who went to the bench after his second foul with 5:27 left before halftime.

"When Nick picked his second foul and went out, that hurt us," Ehsan said. "We had a couple turnovers, a couple missed free throws in the last two minutes. We missed two free throws and they hit that 3-pointer. It's a five-point swing. That could have been a seven-point game, which is a whole lot, mentally, different than an 11-point game."

UAB didn't shoot the ball nearly as well as the Blazers did last Saturday in the win over the Hilltoppers. But the Blazers did make 48 percent from the field, with Cokley and Lee providing eight points each. Defense was the problem for the Blazers. WKU made 57.6 percent overall from the field and 57.1 percent on 3-point shots.

It was much the same in the second half. UAB went through stretches where they took some bad shots, but it was defense that hurt the most.

"We could not get stops," Ehsan said. "When we did get stops, they got the offensive rebound. That was very frustrating. They didn't run a whole lot. I thought they just kind of spread us out and tried to go one-on-one and use their athleticism."

WKU shot 62 percent from the field in the second half and 60 percent overall. The Hilltoppers outscored UAB, 52-35, in the second half and the Blazers never threatened.

Zack Bryant led UAB with 16 points but was 7-of-19 from the field. Darling had 13 points and Lewis Sullivan finished with 10.

"It's just a disappointing end because we were playing really good basketball," Ehsan said. "For them to get us like this, that was the frustrating part for our guys."

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