Dirk Williams goes in for a layup in the win against George Washington University. Photo from UABsports.comJack Ryan - Staff Writerjackryan@uab.edu
Last week, the UAB men's basketball team traveled to Kansas City, Mo. to participate in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic and came back to Birmingham with a 1-1 record and a third place title.
The Blazers fell to Kansas 83-63 in their first game on Monday, Nov. 21, but bounced back against George Washington University on Tuesday, winning 81-74. The win against GWU was the first early season tournament win for the Blazers since defeating Nebraska in 2013.
The first game went as most everyone thought it would. I personally just wanted to see UAB keep this game under 20, which they did for most of the game. However, the Blazers gave the No. 5 Jayhawks quite a scare going into the half. After getting down 20 early, UAB fought back to be only down nine points at half and at one point getting it to seven.
Dirk Williams was instrumental in getting the team back in the game. UAB was able to get stops, and then he went down and hit three straight 3-point shots. Even Bill Self, head coach for the Jayhawks, had a look of disbelief on how Williams was shooting. Last year, Williams was the rotation man for Robert Brown, who graduated in April. This year, many people see Williams as a Brown-type role, as he can hit those quick threes on queue. This game, in my opinion, looked to settle him into this role and increased his confidence in his abilities
This game also cemented Tyler Madison as one of the main leaders of this team. The senior guard did not get much playing time last year, but this season, he has been a dominate force in the paint.
One thing Madison provides cannot be recorded on a stat sheet — he is a high energy player. He fights under the rim for every loose ball and never quits on a play. This high energy seems to spread to everyone on the team when he gets into the game. Madison's minutes have been on the rise, and I think he should continue playing as much as possible.
Just about everyone in the country knew coming into this game that Kansas has arguably some of the best guards in the country. Frank Mason III and Devonte Graham will be playing in the NBA some day, but people questioned how their big men would handle the game. UAB took it to the Jayhawks in the paint. Kansas's forwards only scored eight points in the entire game. Madison and Tosin Mehinti both stepped up in this game. William Lee and Chris Cokely had uncharacteristic games, but Mehinti and Madison were able to keep things rolling in the paint.
UAB kept most of the bigs for Kansas on the bench in foul trouble. I was very proud to see this team keep fighting to keep things close.
The second game, on the other hand, was one that was going to be extremely competitive. Both GWU and UAB were top tier mid-major colleges. Both teams went to the National Invitational Tournament, with GWU winning the tournament. Going into the game, I noticed GWU would be similar to Kansas. They also have some excellent guards, but not so much in terms of their forwards and center.
UAB overall did a decent job keeping the guards in check and not letting the bigger guys score in the paint. However, late in the game, GWU switched to a 1-2-1 zone, grabbing a quick lead over the Blazers. But UAB was able to settle down and get good looks at open shots; Lee and Williams were able to hit some late 3- pointers to put UAB back on top.
The Blazers dominated the post play in this game. Both Cokely and Lee had bounce-back games, scoring 19 points and grabbing 11 rebounds as a unit. The great thing about this team is the incredible depth. In the Kansas game, Lee and Cokely just could not find the net, but Mehinti and Madison stepped in and dominated the post. During the GWU game, Mehinti and Madison were in foul trouble, but Cokely and Lee stepped up and asserted their dominance inside.
We will never know what this team could have done with Nick Norton, but Deion Lavender is starting to settle into his role. In the game against GWU, he had eight assists without a single turnover. He even gave us the patented "Norton alley-oop."
UAB will be tested the rest of December. Starting next weekend, the team will rematch against Auburn, renew the rivalry with Memphis, play a tough Texas team and travel to face Stephen F. Austin, a team that has not lost at home in over 30 games. It will be very important for the Blazers to win a couple of these games before heading to the regular season conference play, so be on the lookout for these match-ups.
The Blazers will be back home on Tuesday, Nov. 29 to take on Alabama A&M in Bartow Arena.
