Late Run Lifts Blazers

Saturday, January 15

Birmingham, Ala.

4 PM

Florida Atlantic

-88,12 CUSA

UAB

-154,51 CUSA

Fla. Atlantic

UAB

1/15/2022 6:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score FAU-UAB Box Score (PDF)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (FAUSports.com) – The Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought contest at UAB Saturday afternoon at Bartow Arena. The Owls (8-8, 1-2 CUSA) led by seven points midway through the second half. But UAB (15-4, 5-1) used a 15-4 spurt over the next five minutes to take control and hold on for the Conference USA victory.

UAB guards Quan Jackson and Jordan Walker scored 56 of the Blazers' 76 points, tallying 29 and 27, respectively. The duo was 20-of-37 from the field and 12-of-14 from the free-throw line. FAU was paced by Alijah Martin, who tallied a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds. Michael Forrest and Giancarlo Rosado were also in double-figure scoring for the Owls with 12 and 10, respectively.

"We played much better than we did Thursday," FAU head coach Dusty May said. "Each one of these games have so many learning lessons and moments to grow from and that's what we have to do. We have to continue to get better. Incremental progress throughout the season."

It was an uphill climb from the beginning for FAU. UAB jumped on top early and built an 11-point advantage midway through the first half. But the Owls continued chipping away at the deficit, refusing to let the Blazers build on that lead.

A Bitumba Baruti jumper sparked a 9-0 run for the Owls over a span of five minutes, cutting UAB's lead to 21-19. Five different times over the remainder of the half, FAU cut its deficit to one point. Finally, with less than one second remaining in the half, a Johnell Davis free throw tied the game, 31-31, at halftime.

Jackson gave the Blazers a 33-31 lead in the opening minute of the second half. But a Martin 3-pointer put the Owls on top. FAU maintained that advantage for the next 13 minutes. At one point, the Owls held UAB without a field goal for nearly eight minutes, as the Blazers were 0-for-11 during that stretch.

UAB heated back up behind a defensive change. That change in strategy led to a steal and breakaway layup from Walker with 7:32 remaining that pulled UAB within one, 51-50. From there, the Blazers outscored FAU 20-9 over the next five minutes. In that five-minute span, UAB hit 9-of-11 field goal attempts, while FAU was just 3-for-8 with a pair of turnovers.

"Their 1-3-1 (defense) late ... we weren't able to get it into the paint, we had a costly turnover which led to a 'pick six,'" May said. "We just didn't make enough plays late. The 1-3-1 definitely affected that. That fueled their run and gave them a little bit of separation, then Walker hit two three's. Against UAB, you can't give them second shots and you can't give them live-ball turnovers. Overall, we did a very good job. It was just the worst times when they got to what they do well."

The Blazers were 6-of-8 from the free throw line over the final two minutes to seal the victory.

The Owls are back in action again Monday. FAU will play its first Conference USA home game of the season when Charlotte visits Abessinio Court at FAU Arena in a 4 p.m. contest.