Going into Thursday’s bout in Bartow Arena, the UAB Blazers (12-8, 3-4) looked to complete the season sweep against the University of South Florida Bulls following their three-point double overtime win earlier this month in Tampa Bay’s Yuengling Center. The Blazers had four days of rest before the 6:00 p.m. tipoff following their 99-77 loss against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane this past weekend. This matchup was an opportunity to end the team’s three-game losing streak in home conference games; though only three games behind conference leader Florida Atlantic, UAB sits at 10th in the American Conference basketball standings.
Early play remained relatively close, and the Blazers found themselves ahead 8-7 after playing just under 3 minutes of game time; this would ultimately be UAB’s last lead of the night. Nonetheless, USF’s differential didn’t eclipse more than 5 points until late in the first half, when a 33-32 game quickly turned into a 10-point 42-32 lead for the Bulls, a lead that would carry into the second half and ultimately linger for the rest of the game.
Coach Andy Kennedy cited offensive inefficiencies as the team’s preeminent problem; the Blazers shot 29% from the field and 16% from beyond the arc, both stark diversions from their season averages of 45% and 30%, respectively. Still, the Blazers remained competitive until the end. “We had our opportunity to get back,” said Coach Kennedy, “we got nine consecutive stops in the second half…and scored 4 points [in that span], that was our chance.” Furthermore, UAB won the turnover battle 16-10, but scored only 8 points off turnovers compared to 17 from USF.
The Blazers, with more than two months of basketball left to play, are currently 3-4 in conference games. They’ll have six days of rest before they head to San Antonio’s Convocation Center to take on the UTSA Roadrunners (4-15, 0-7), who currently sit at the bottom of American conference rankings.
