March 5, 2005

Results

HOUSTON, Texas - An emotional Marvett McDonald put UAB up with a late three-pointer and scored the final seven points of the game Saturday night to lift UAB to a 71-66 road win over Houston. McDonald, whose mother passed away Friday, returned to the team Saturday morning and scored 13 points to lift the Blazers.

"Our hearts are still heavy with the passing of Marvett's mom," UAB head coach Mike Anderson said. "But it's amazing how much character he has to want to be here with us. I gave him every opportunity to stay with his family, but he said that we're his family, too. It speaks volumes of that young man to just be here tonight, then to come out and play the way he did ... he's a special young man."

The victory, coupled with a DePaul loss to Louisville earlier in the day, gave UAB a No. 4 seed and first-round bye in next week's Kelly Tires Conference USA Tournament in Memphis. The Blazers (20-9, 10-6 C-USA) will await the winner of Wednesday's first-round contest between No. 5 seed DePaul and No. 12 seed Tulane, who play at 2:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday. UAB and the winner will play at 2:30 p.m. CT on Thursday in the FedExForum in Memphis.

Donell Taylor joined McDonald with the team lead with 13 points. Senior Marques Lewis notched a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Demario Eddins added 11 in the UAB win. UAB overcame a combined 43 points from Houston backcourt mates Andre Owens and Lanny Smith, who scored 23 and 20, respectively.

UAB trailed, 37-35, at the half and withstood a 10-0 run to start the second half by Houston which made it a 12-point deficit for the Blazers at 47-35 with 17:23 to play. A Marques Lewis lay in and a Squeaky Johnson three-pointer with 16:23 to play cut the lead to seven at 47-40. Ernest Little's dunk with 12:20 to go cut the Cougars' lead to two at 49-47 as UAB stormed back.

Houston (18-12, 9-7 C-USA) inched ahead on free throws by Chris Lawson and a Lanny Smith three-point play which put the Blazer deficit at eight with 9:48 to play and the score 56-48. But a McDonald jumper and Paul Delaney hanging layup with 8:23 to go cut it the three at 56-53.

"Early in the game, we had them on their heels and then all of a sudden, they start attacking us," Anderson said. "But I think after the fatigue set in, it enabled us to get back in the game."

With Houston leading by eight again at 64-56, Eddins responded, scoring six points in an 8-0 run to tie the game at 64 with 2:24 to play. After a pair of Brian Latham free throws, McDonald launched his game-changing trifecta with 1:29 to play to make it 67-66 and give UAB its first lead since the 8:20 mark of the first half. Houston missed a pair of three-pointers which bookended a pair of McDonald free throws to put the Blazers ahead, 69-66 with :18 left. The second Cougar miss, a three by Smith, landed in the hands of Brandon Tobias, who was fouled. Tobias missed both charity tosses, but Owens stepped out of bounds on the ensuing fastbreak and set up McDonald's final two charity tosses with :01 on the clock.

"We didn't get the number of turnovers we normally get, per say," Anderson said. "But look at the time of the turnovers. They came at critical times in the game. We trapped them in the final possession and forced them to step out of bounds. We were able to get the ball back in a tight game and that told the story."

The Blazers forced just 11 Houston turnovers -- 10 below their opponents' season average. UAB shot 51 percent (25-of-49) for the game, however, and held Houston to zero-for-12 three-point shooting after halftime. The Cougars shot just 37.7 percent (23-of-61) for the contest.

The victory secured the 15th 20-win season in UAB history. The milestone also eclipsed last season's eventual Sweet 16 squad, which was 19-8 in the regular season.

"It's amazing," Anderson admitted. "This team improved upon what we did last year. We have 20 wins by the end of the regular season and we did it the hard way. We just came off an overtime game with DePaul and we're in a game where we're down with two or three minutes to go. We found a way to win and guys were making plays."

UAB now takes a four-game win streak to the Conference USA tournament. The Blazers have a 9-9 overall record in the history of the league postseason tournament and are 4-2 in the event under Mike Anderson's guidance.