Blazers Coast to Road Win Over Florida Atlantic

Thursday, January 4

Boca Raton, Fla.

6:00 PM

UAB

-105, 11 CUSA

Florida Atlantic

-68, 02 CUSA

UAB

Florida Atlantic

Blazers Coast to Road Win Over Florida Atlantic

1/4/2018 9:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

BOCA RATON, Fla. – UAB made things look easy at what has historically been a tough place to play on Thursday night. The Blazers started to pull away late in the first half, ran away early in the second half and coasted to a 75-44 Conference USA victory over Florida Atlantic at FAU Arena.

"I think it was a couple minutes to go, because of the history down here, as a coach, you're just coaching as hard as you can to the buzzer, regardless of the score," UAB head coach Robert Ehsan said. "I was really proud of just how our guys competed. Defensively, we locked into the scouting report. I thought there was a good stretch of that game where we were as good as maybe we've been defensively in a while."

FAU (6-8 overall, 0-2 C-USA) scored just 21 points in the first half and managed 23 in the second half. The Owls shot 29.5 percent overall from the field, were 3-of-23 on 3-point attempts and committed 16 turnovers. Even one of the good things the Owls did – 11 offensive rebounds – turned into just five second-chance points.

"We kind of did a good job of slipping into their sets and taking them out of all their actions," said UAB senior Chris Cokley. "I was impressed with the defensive end."

Cokley said the key was – and always is – the team's practice early in the day on game days.

"I would say it's more important than the game itself," Cokley said of the game day preparations. "We have to sit and focus on what they do, who they like to go to and all of their actions and plays. It's just getting it down pat and knowing how to stop it."

Florida Atlantic never figured out a way to stop Cokley on Thursday night. The 6-foot-8 senior scored a game-high 24 points and added 10 rebounds. He was 9-of-14 from the field, 6-of-8 from the free throw line and added two assists in 26 minutes.

UAB (10-5 overall, 1-1 C-USA) scored the first six points of the game – all on Nate Darling 3-pointers – and never trailed in the first half. Part of the reason for the first half advantage, which was 32-21 at halftime, was that Cokley was easily the best player on the floor. Cokley had 14 points, six rebounds, an assist and no turnovers in the first half.

FAU was able to use a 7-0 run to trim the deficit to 15-13 with 9:09 left in the half. UAB countered with an 11-2 run, that included seven points by Cokley and culminated with a dynamic drive and dunk by Zack Bryant over FAU's 7-foot center Ronald Delph with 3:49 left in the half.

FAU managed to trim the deficit back to 27-21 before UAB closed the first half scoring with a three-point play by Cokley and a layup by Jalen Perry.

FAU had seven offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes, but turned that into just two second-chance points. UAB had three second-chance points despite grabbing just one offensive rebound in the first half.

UAB came out quickly in the second half to put the Owls in a huge hole. Bryant, playing his first college game in his home state, opened the half by scoring an alley-oop pass from William Lee. Nick Norton followed with a 3-pointer and, after a FAU bucket, Cokley had a steal and layup and Darling hit his third 3-pointer to give the Blazers a 42-23 lead.

The Owls trimmed the deficit to 14 on three different occasions. UAB finally put things out of reach with a 10-0 run, which featured eight points by Cokley. His final bucket – a 17-footer – gave UAB a 61-35 lead with 6:40 left.

Deion Lavender came off the bench late in the game to make an impact for the Blazers. Lavender had six points, four rebounds and three assists in nine minutes.

It was also a solid night for Lee, even if the box score doesn't indicate his contribution. He scored just two points and added three rebounds, an assist and three blocked shots. It was his energy and effort, including both of his blocks coming on one possession, which helped the Blazers on the defensive end.

"He has 17 games left," said Ehsan. "He's banged up. He didn't practice a lot this week. We just talked about playing hard, don't settle for outside shots, get inside the paint and be aggressive. As a senior, he knows how hard it is on the road. I'm shocked he only had two points. It felt like he impacted the game in many ways."

UAB now makes the short trip to FIU on Saturday night. The Panthers dropped a 71-66 decision to Middle Tennessee on Thursday.

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