Tulsa Men Fall to UAB 70-63

Sunday, February 11

1:00 PM

Tulsa

12-11,3-8AAC

UAB

16-8,8-3AAC

UAB

Tulsa

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa Men Fall to UAB 70-63

2/11/2024 3:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score GAME BOOK (PDF)POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

TULSA, Okla. –– It was a close game from start to finish but the UAB Blazers (16-8, 8-3 AAC) pulled away in the final two minutes for a 70-63 victory Sunday afternoon in front of 3,124 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

The seven-point win was the largest lead in a game that saw 19 lead changes and 13 ties. In the final 1:26, UAB's six- point lead at 63-57 was the largest of the game for either team until the final tally.

Tulsa (12-11, 3-8 AAC) was led by PJ Haggerty with 21 points and 12 from Isaiah Barnes. Haggerty added nine rebounds and four assists, while Barnes grabbed seven rebounds. Jared Garcia led the Hurricane rebounders with 10 boards.

UAB's frontcourt of Yaxel Lendeborg and Javian Davis combined for 31 points and 22 rebound to pace the Blazers attack, while guard Eric Gaines tied for the team-lead with 17 points.

"In preparation for this game, we talked a lot about needing a great effort and then needing great execution. Especially with the way UAB changes defenses a lot. We were going to need the great effort on the glass because they're a really good offensive rebounding team. I thought our effort was good. I thought we battled," said Tulsa Head Coach Eric Konkol.

"They got some key offensive rebounds, but you look at the stat sheet at the way our team rebounded tonight, and the resistance, I thought our effort was good and where it needed to be. The execution was not where it needed to be, especially on the offensive end. We made a couple of mistakes on defense, but offensively the turnover margin and just some of the plays we needed to make – and give UAB credit, they keep people off balance, that's what they do. We just needed to be better today," Konkol added.

It was a first half that saw 10 lead changes and eight ties as the largest first-half lead was a four-point UAB advantage at 11-7. Haggerty's driving layup knotted the score at 30 with 2:06 remaining in the half and Barnes' jumper at the 0:42 mark put Tulsa ahead 32-30 going into halftime.

UAB took a four-point lead at 38-34 at the 17:44 mark of the second half and the margin remained under four points until 3:15 remaining when Eric Gaines put the Blazers ahead by four at 59-55. UAB made it a six-point game at the 1:26 mark, while Tulsa was able to knock that lead down to three points twice, but the Blazer's nailed 7-of-8 from the charity stripe in the final 0:33 to preserve the victory.

Tulsa connected on 43-percent of its field goals and 80-percent from the free throw line but made just 3-of-15 from behind the arc, including two of those treys coming from Barnes. The Blazers were 38-percent from the field and just 28-percent from the three-point line but made seven treys.

The Hurricane had a 41-to-39 edge in rebounding against the bigger UAB lineup and had a 36-to-30 advantage for points in the paint.

HOW IT HAPPENED
IN THE FIRST HALF . . .
UAB jumped out to a 6-2 lead after the Hurricane scored the game's first two points.

Tulsa tied the score at 12 and took its first lead since 2-0 at the 11:17 mark on two PJ Haggerty free throws to make the score 13-12.

In a first half that saw no lead bigger than four points, there were eight ties and 10 lead changes.

The lone four-point lead in the first half belonged to UAB at the 13:58 mark of the game, 11-7.

With the score tied 30-30, Isiah Barnes knocked down a jumper at the 0:42 mark to put Tulsa ahead at the intermission 32-30.

IN THE SECOND HALF . . .
UAB opened the second half on an 8-2 run for a 38-34 lead at the 17:12 mark.

Haggerty's two free throws at the 15:37 mark gave Tulsa its first lead since halftime at 40-38.

Tulsa took a three-point lead, 50-47, on a Jared Garcia layup, but the Blazers responded by scoring the next five points for a 52-50 lead.

In the nip-and-tuck second half, Carlous Williams' layup at the 5:21 mark put Tulsa back ahead by one point at 55-54.

UAB responded by scoring the next five points for a four-point lead at 59-55 with 3:49 remaining in the game.

In the final two minutes, the Blazers took a six-point lead at the 1:26 mark and converted 7-of-8 free throws in the final 0:33 for the seven-point win.

UAB outscored Tulsa in the second half 40-to-31.

GAME NOTES
• Tulsa fell to 12-10 overall on the season overall and 3-7 in AAC games.
• Tulsa led at halftime for the 13^th time this season and now sits at 9-4 in those games.
• Sophomore Isaiah Barnes had his 11^th double-digit scoring game with 12 points.
• Freshman redshirt PJ Haggerty had his 22^nd double-figure scoring game of the season and his 18^th straight with 21 points.
• It was Haggerty's 14^th game this season with 20+ points and 11^th time in the last 12 games.
• Jared Garcia had his second double-figure rebounding game of the season, the first since his 10-rebound performance in the season opener.

Tulsa will be on the road against league-leading South Florida on Wednesday, Feb. 14, for a 6 p.m. (CT)/7 p.m. (ET) tipoff before returning to the Reynolds Center next Saturday, Feb. 17, on Legends Day to host Rice in a 2 p.m. start time.

The South Florida game can be seen on ESPNU. All Tulsa basketball games can be heard on Big Country 99.5 FM Radio.