DENTON, Texas–Tyreek Scott-Grayson’s free throws with 3.1 seconds remaining gave UAB a 65-61 victory over North Texas on Saturday afternoon at the Super Pit. With the win, the Blazers (21-6, 13-5 C-USA) will be the No. 2 West seed in the Conference USA Championships with a First-round bye.
Michael Ertel continued his hot shooting from last night by scoring 16 points. Scott-Grayson had 11 points and Tavin Lovan had 10 points for the Blazers. Trey Jemison pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
Javion Hamlet and Thomas Bell each had 19 points for the Mean Green (13-8, 9-5 C-USA).
UAB came out of the gates by scoring the first six points of the game as Jemison had four rebounds before the first media timeout. Jemison’s jumper followed by an Ertel field goal gave the Blazers their first double-figure lead of the game at 24-14 at the midway point of the 1sthalf. Lovan’s jumper at 2:35 made the score 34-22, giving UAB its largest lead of the half. The Blazers took a 36-28 lead into halftime.
UAB shot 46% in the 1st half and committed only a pair of turnovers. Jemison grabbed eight rebounds, six on the offensive side.
Jemison opened the 2nd half scoring with a jumper to put the Blazers ahead by 10 points. They would hold a double-digit lead until the 9:54 mark of the half when a pair of Hamlet free throws made the score 46-38. Hamlet would add two more from the charity strip to cut the lead to six points less than a minute later. It became a two-possession game on Bell’s jumper at the 8:28 mark.
Lovan’s driving layup with 3:42 left put UAB ahead by nine points at 59-50. However, a Reese 3-pointer with 1:37 started a 7-0 run over the next 42 seconds that got the Mean Green within two points at 59-57.
Lovan would make three free throws in 27 seconds to put UAB ahead by five with 28 seconds remaining. On North Texas’ next possession, Reese drained a 3-pointer with 19.9 seconds left to make the score 62-60. The teams would exchange free throws and with 3.1 seconds remaining, Scott-Grayson was fouled and then calmly drained both foul shots to ice the game.
UAB out-rebounded UNT 37-25 and had 24 points in the paint to the Mean Green’s 18. The Blazers led for all by 41 seconds of the game.
“I am incredibly proud of our guys,” said head coach Andy Kennedy. “We came into North Texas and led for 79 of the 80 total minutes. We came here understanding that if we could get our fifth conference series sweep, which is the most by any team in Conference USA, we would earn the bye in the tournament and not have to play until Thursday. I would definitely say toughness & resilience carried us to the sweep.”
Up next is the 2021 Air Force Conference USA Championship. The event, which will be held at The Star in Frisco, Texas, begins on March 9.
MEN’S BASKETBALL TICKET INFORMATION
Men’s basketball season tickets for the 2021-22 season are on sale now. Current basketball season ticket holders can click hereto renew their original 2020-21 seat locations prior to social distancing adjustments. Click hereto purchase new 2021-22 season which start as low as $100 with the Blaze’s Corner season ticket.
Fans interested in season tickets can fill out the season ticket request form or contact the UAB Ticket Office at (205) 975-UAB1 to receive additional information.
For more information on the UAB men’s basketball team, follow @UAB_MBB on Twitter and Instagram.
