Tulane University
UAB
Green Wave Fall at UAB, 76-55
Feb 27, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 27, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Kevin Sims became just the second player in Tulane men's basketball history to reach the 1,300 point and 400 assist plateau on Saturday afternoon, but the day was owned by UAB as the Blazers proved to be too much for the Green Wave in a 76-55 final in Bartow Arena.
Sims joined Jerald Honeycutt as the only other player in Green Wave (7-20, 2-12 C-USA) history to score at least 1,300 points and dish out at least 400 assists in a career. Sims finished the game with 12 points and two assists to give the senior point guard 1,315 points and 400 assists. Honeycutt ended his career as Tulane's all-time leader with 2,209 points and 419 assists.
Kendall Timmons was another bright spot for the Green Wave. The freshman guard led Tulane with 13 points and six rebounds for his sixth straight double figure scoring game.
UAB (23-5, 11-3 C-USA) remained in the hunt for the Conference USA regular season title with the victory. The Blazers sit in second-place, a game and a half behind first-place UTEP.
"UAB played like a team with a purpose," Tulane head coach Dave Dickerson said. "They played with NCAA swagger and they just out played us in every phase of the game today. Even though we rebounded well and competed on the boards, their body language, offensive execution and ability to make shots was as good as any team we played against all year."
The Blazers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never trailed en route to the victory. UAB took its first double figure lead, 18-8, with 11:12 remaining in the first half and led 20-8 before Tulane put together a 5-0 run on a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer by Sims to cut the deficit to 20-13 with 9:30 left in the half. UAB answered with a 12-0 run to retake a double digit lead and eventually held a 41-21 lead at the break.
Tulane was able to score four of the first six points of the second half to cut UAB's lead to 18, 43-25, but that was as close as it would get.
The Blazers charged to a 28-point lead, 59-31, with just over 10 minute remaining in the game, the largest deficit Tulane had faced all season.
A pair of late 3-pointers by the Green Wave, one by Johnny Mayhane and the other by Trent Rogers made the final score 76-55.
Tulane grabbed 33 rebounds, including 16 on the offensive end, but could convert those to only six second chance points. UAB also grabbed 33 rebounds, including 26 on the defensive end. The Blazers shot 55.6 percent (25-45) from the floor in the game, including 58.3 percent (14-24) in the opening 20 minutes. The Green Wave shot 34.0 percent (17-50) from the floor and hit four of 15 from long range.
"Our team struggled today, but UAB had a lot to do with that," Dickerson added. "Give credit to UAB. This was the worst beating we've had all year. Our effort was good, but that shows how good UAB was today."
The Green Wave defense did force 15 turnovers and collected 10 steals, but UAB converted Tulane's 18 turnovers into 23 points.
Elijah Millsap led the Blazers with a game-high 20 points and six rebounds, while Howard Crawford added 14 points, Dexter Fields had 10 points and Aaron Johnson dished out 10 assists to go with seven points.
Tulane will have a quick turnaround and travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., on Tuesday to face Southern Miss at 7 p.m. CST.
GAME NOTES
- Kris Richard started for the first time since suffering an ankle injury in the SMU game on Feb 6.
- With his second assist of the game, late in the first half, Kevin Sims reached the 400 career assist mark, becoming just the second player in Tulane history to record at least 1,300 points and 400 assists in a career. Sims joins Jerald Honeycutt.
- Kendall Timmons scored in double figures for the 11th time this season and the 13th game of his career with his 13 points today. It also marks his seventh straight double figure scoring game.
- Kevin Sims scored in double figures for the 13th time this season and the 76th game of his career with his 12 points today.
