Roundup: Tuesday, December 31st
The anniversary of one of the most dominant performances in UAB basketball history.
AROUND THE SITE
Check out the EFEL UAB/North Texas preview.
Check out Sunday’s article about the Mars Bars game, one of the most bizarre incidents in UAB basketball history.
TODAY IN UAB HISTORY
1993: UAB throttles visiting South Florida
The 1993-1994 Blazers enjoyed one of the greatest starts in school history, claiming true road victories over Auburn and Mississippi State en route to a sparkling 13-1 record. The most dominant performance UAB put on during this stretch came not against Mississippi Valley State or Alabama State but instead South Florida.
USF was not a team of slouches: entering New Year’s Eve 1993, the Bulls sported a 7-2 record that included wins over Florida State, Old Dominion, and USC. Sophomore guard Chucky Atkins would go on to spend over a decade in the NBA, while forwards Jesse Salters and Jerome Robinson made up one of the most productive frontcourt duos in the Southeast. It seemed as though the Bulls were going to provide the Blazers their first real home test of the season.
That illusion wore off in fewer than 20 minutes. UAB didn’t immediately assert its authority, leading by just three at the first period’s final media timeout, but once the Blazers starting rolling, “the rest of the game was merely a formality,” as Birmingham Post-Herald reporter Cary Estes later wrote.
Led by guard Carter Long, Gene Bartow’s squad ripped off a 17-0 run in the closing minutes of the first half, raining down a torrent of threes on the overmatched Bulls. In the blink of an eye, UAB had built a 40-20 lead, one that they took into the locker room. Long’s efforts continued to power the Blazers after halftime; the senior would finish the night with a career-high 27 points as his team came away with a 78-41 victory.
The final stats were startling. Although UAB’s offensive performance was more than respectable, it was on the defensive end that the Blazers truly shined, holding USF to a measly 26.9% shooting percentage.
“We really can’t play much better than we did tonight,” said Bartow. “I sure wish we could find a way to bottle it.”
“We had a total lack of mental concentration, which started us having breakdowns in every area,” said USF coach Bobby Paschal. “We just didn’t make UAB play. They really didn’t have to give any effort.”
In his postgame article, Estes speculated that UAB could be in the midst of their best season since the mid-1980s. Although the Blazers’ campaign wouldn’t quite live up to Estes’ expectations, ending in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the New Year’s Eve win remains one of the greatest displays of dominance the Green and Gold have ever put on.
FOOTBALL
Although UAB did get some recruiting news over the weekend, yesterday was a slow day. One can expect today to be similarly boring.
That will change tomorrow when the NCAA “quiet period” officially begins, allowing coaches to make in-person contact with potential mid-year transfer enrollees. UAB is expected to host a significant number of prospects on campus once the calendar changes. Recruiting news will sharply pick up over the next 7-14 days.
In other UAB football news:
Steve Irvine wrote a short summary about the hirings of new UAB coaches Brent Vieselmeyer and Sam Mills III at The Banner yesterday.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
The men’s basketball team travels to Denton this afternoon to open conference play against KenPom #73 North Texas. The Mean Green boast a record of 9-3.
In case you missed it, EFEL’s North Texas preview.
Steve Irvine also wrote an AAC basketball preview at The Banner yesterday.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Looking to recover from Sunday’s blowout loss to Temple, the women’s basketball team (9-4, 0-1) heads to San Antonio tomorrow to face off against Torvik #67 UTSA.