Senior Robert Brown attempts a shot against Marshall. (Photo from UAB Sports).Tamara Imam - Copy Editorcopyed@insideuab.com
The UAB men’s basketball team’s long-standing winning streak came to an end on Thursday, Jan. 28 after they stumbled 69-62 against conference opponent Western Kentucky University in Diddle Arena.
Prior to Thursday night’s loss to the Hilltoppers, the Blazers led the NCAA in longest winning streak with 14 straight wins. UAB had not lost a game since its 82-77 overtime loss to Virginia Tech on Nov. 28.
The Blazers trailed the Hilltoppers, who held the lead the entire game, by as many as 14 points in the first half. Although UAB came back to successfully cut the deficit in the second half, the Blazers failed to take the lead.
"The guys were certainly very, very upset," Head Coach Jerod Haase said in an interview with UABsports.com. "There was a lot of emotion on their part. At the same time, it's not something we're going to dwell on. In a very, very, very short amount of time, we've got to get back on the court again. Bottom line is we have not played a complete game, maybe the entire season. Once we do play a complete game, we're going to be in a good spot."
Although the loss to WKU marked the end of the overall winning streak, the Blazers’ still hold a school record 21 game winning streak in Bartow. Therefore, junior Ryan Kailey does not believe that Thursday’s loss will be detrimental to fan and student support.
“So the loss to WKU I think won't have any big impact on student support: if it did I would really be ashamed of our students! You've gotta be a fan through the wins and the losses,” Kailey said. “Also, our streak in Bartow/Birmingham is still alive so that's something to be proud of. These guys are just plain fun to watch and I love it when Bartow is packed with students!”
After Thursday’s game, the team traveled to Huntington, West Virginia where they beat Marshall University Thundering Herd 81-78 in the Cam Henderson Center on Saturday, Jan. 30. Junior guard Dirk Williams led the Blazers with 16 points.
Following Saturday’s win, Kailey remains optimistic about UAB’s prospects for a bid to the 2016 NCAA Tournament, where the Blazers upset No. 3 Iowa State to make it to the Round of 32 last year.
“I don't know a ton about how the bidding works for the NCAA Tournament, but I'm sure that loss didn't help us. However, I still feel really good about our chances in the CUSA tournament with it being in the Ham again this year. If we can pull out another win in that tournament, I like our chances of going to the big dance,“ Kailey said. “Overall, I'm trying to take Thomas Smallwood's words to heart. He told the team... ‘Well, yeah, we just won 14 games in a row. We're 14-1 over the last 15 games. We're pretty darn good. Stop acting like the end of the world is here.’ I think that's a good attitude for all of the Blazer fans to have.”
The Blazers (18-4, 8-1) return to Bartow Arena on Thursday, Feb. 4 to face the Florida International University Panthers (11-11, 5-4) at 6 p.m.
