UAB survived a late game comeback from Southern Miss to sweep their first opponent of the conference season. The 62-58 win puts the Blazers at 9-1 on the season and 2-0 to start off conference play.
The Blazers never trailed, but Southern Miss found themselves playing for a chance to win in the final seconds of the game. A quick 9-2 start to the game put the Blazers in control of a lead they would maintain the entirety of the game.
The Blazers did not walk away with anything in the game. Southern Miss cut the UAB lead to within one score multiple times throughout the game.
The Blazers pushed the lead to as much as 14 in the second half, but an extended scoring drought late in the game allowed Southern Miss the opportunity to rally. With less than 30 seconds on the clock, Southern Miss inbounded the ball, but a huge turnover by Jay Malone sent it back to UAB almost immediately and allowed the Blazers to knock down free throws to finish the game.
The Blazers struggled offensively, posting their lowest scoring result of the season. Southern Miss’ pressure forced UAB into multiple turnovers and late game shots. Regular UAB scorers like Michael Ertel failed to connect, putting up only four points off of 2-8 shooting.
“It was not the most aesthetically pleasing game,” head coach Andy Kennedy said. “We just did not knock [shots]down as efficiently as we did last night.”
Tyreek Scott-Grayson led the Blazers in scoring with 16. Jalen Benjamin and Tavin Lovan also scored in the double digits.
The Blazers did better on defense keeping Southern Miss to 60 or less in both games and forcing critical turnovers like the one that occurred in the final minute.
For the Golden Eagles, Tyler Stevenson led all scorers with 18 points and seven rebounds. Deandre Pinckney added 15 points and eight rebounds.
The difficulty of playing back-to-back games were on display with Southern Miss making the necessary adjustments to keep the score closer than yesterday’s matchup. With the win, UAB becomes only the second team to go 2-0 on the week in Conference USA play and becomes the sole undefeated team in conference play.
“It’s hard to play somebody back-to-back,” Kennedy said. “And I was just glad, we were able to just fight through it.”
By beating Southern Miss, the Blazers improve to 9-1 for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
UAB returns to play Friday with the first of back-to-back games against Charlotte on the road.
