UAB MBB Downs South Florida to Earn Spot in AAC Championship Game

Saturday, March 16

Fort Worth, Texas

2 p.m.

UAB

22-11,12-6AAC

South Florida

24-7,16-2AAC

UAB

South Fla.

Photo by: Mario Terrana

UAB MBB Downs South Florida to Earn Spot in AAC Championship Game

3/16/2024 6:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Postgame Press Conference

FORT WORTH, Texas – UAB men's basketball (22-11) took down top-seeded South Florida (24-7) by a score of 93-83 on Saturday afternoon to advance to the American Conference title game. Efrem "Butta" Johnson scored 21 points and Eric Gaines added 20 points to go with five assists in the win.

The Blazers opened the game with plenty of energy, jumping out to a quick 8-0 lead, but the Bulls answered right back. USF responded with a 13-0 run of its own to take the lead and from there, it became a battle.

South Florida led 25-19 at the 8:39 mark in the first half and Yaxel Lendeborg had already picked up two quick fouls. However, the Blazers outscored the Bulls 19-5 for the remainder of the half, holding USF without a field goal for the final six minutes.

UAB's 8-0 run over the final 2:50 of the half put the Blazers on top 38-30 heading into the second half.

Each team came out of the locker room firing, both hitting threes on their first two possessions. UAB took its first double-digit lead of the game at 46-36 on an Alejandro Vasquez layup just over two minutes into the half.

Vasquez hit a three a few minutes later to give UAB its largest lead of the night at 52-38 with 16:20 to go.

The Bulls did not go away quietly. South Florida tied the game at 59 with less than nine minutes to go after a steal and fastbreak layup by Miguel. Yaxel Lendeborg did not let the Blazers trail for long, however, hitting a floater while drawing a foul for a three-point play on the next possession.

With the Blazers leading by three, Lendeborg drove in and drew a foul to get to the free throw line, but in the aftermath, he was struck in the face, resulting in a deadball contact technical foul. Thus, the Blazers shot four free throws and regained possession. After hitting 3-of-4 free throws, Efrem "Butta" Johnson was then fouled shooting a three and he knocked down all three free throws to put UAB ahead by nine.

The Bulls cut UAB's advantage down to just four points with less than five minutes to go after a UAB technical foul gave the Bulls four consecutive free throws.

Christian Coleman came up big for the Blazers, quickly getting the lead back to six with a five straight points. Eric Gaines then put the finishing touches on the game with a three as the shot clock was winding down, putting UAB ahead 87-74 with 1:19 remaining.

Vasquez's layup put the score at 93-83, where it would finish. The Blazers finished the game making their last eight field goal attempts.

NOTES

The Blazers have advanced to their third straight conference championship game.
Andy Kennedy reached 100 wins in his UAB career, he is the fastest coach in program history to reach the mark.
Efrem "Butta" Johnson had a career high 21 points in the win with 14 points coming in the second half.
Eric Gaines added 20 points and five assists in the win. UAB is 7-0 when Gaines has at least 20 points over the last two seasons.
Christian Coleman added 15 points and grabbed five rebounds for his fifth straight game in double figures.
Alejandro Vasquez scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half and grabbed five rebounds.
Yaxel Lendeborg became UAB's single season double-doubles record holder with his 18^th of the season.
He also became the American Conference single season rebounding record holder, passing Alexis Yetna of South Florida's 346.

UP NEXT
The Blazers will take on either Florida Atlantic or Temple in the American Conference championship game at 2:15 p.m. CT on ESPN.

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