AAC Championship Semi Finals Recap: UAB 93 – USF 83
This was a game of runs that saw 5 ties and 4 lead changes in its entirety, however it was UAB who used a team effort to clinch their spot in the finals of the AAC tournament, defeating USF 93-83. UAB had 5 players in double figures and were led by Efrem Johnson and Eric Gaines who scored 21, and 20 respectively.
This game was dominated by free throws in the second half, and UAB made 8 more than USF and outworked the Bulls late to get to the line and close out this game. Chris Youngblood fouled out with 7:07 to play, and with the Bulls trailing by 10 without their best scorer it made it tough to comeback. After the game, UAB Coach Andy Kennedy explained his guys came out on top by playing their best brand of basketball.
“I think the thing was back and forth, back and forth, and that’s just two good basketball teams battling. That’s what we got to do tomorrow. We got together with this group in June and our mantra was best version of self. That’s really all I really ask about these guys, just be the best version of you. Eric, Butta, Yax, whoever it may be, everybody was brought here as a piece to this puzzle and we just got to go out and be the best version of self.
I thought we won the physical fight tonight. I thought mentally we were tough enough to respond when needed. That’s the formula that we’ll need tomorrow,” Coach Kennedy said.
Early on in this game, Yaxel Lendeborg was causing problems down low as he started things off on the defensive end blocking a layup and that translated the other way. He scored 6 out of their first 8, and USF was ice cold, starting 0-7. The Blazers jumped out to an 8-0 lead with 17:16 to play, and they were rolling with momentum early.
USF ended that streak shortly after that and got going offensively, specifically Co-Conference player of the year Chris Youngblood. Youngblood hit 2 triples in a row, and Selton Migel followed that up with one of his own. All of a sudden, the deficit was erased, and they were in the lead, 11-8, with 14:05 to play.
Over the next few minutes, the Bulls had control of momentum, getting the lead up to 7, 19-12, with 11:19 to play off a triple from Jayden Reid. The Blazers weren’t going down early and mainly thanks to a balanced scoring attack which saw 6 players check into the score column within the first 12 minutes of this game.
Trailing by 6 with 8:39 to play, UAB quickly went on a run, scoring 6 points in less than a minute and following a steal and score from Christian Coleman, we were tied at 25 a piece with 7:46 to play in the half.
It remained a tightly contested battle following that, as neither side was able to break past a single possession lead. UAB was capitalizing off turnovers late in the first half, and Eric Gaines scored off one with 2:50 to play, which re-took the lead 32-30 for the blazers. The Blazers closed the half on an 8-0 run and were rolling with a boatload of momentum, they went into the breakup 38-30 and left USF needing to make some serious adjustments.
That momentum that UAB closed out the first half with rolled into the second half with them, as although USF quickly came out and made 2 triples, UAB matched, and quickly extended their lead.
Shortly after they went on an 11-2 run and following back-to-back triples from Efrem Johnson and Alejandro Vasquez, and the blazers lead was up to double digits, 52-38 with 16:20 to play. The Bulls weren’t going to stay down forever, and they quickly cut the lead down to single digits 2 minutes later on a Selton Miguel triple which made it 54-46 with 14:07 to go.
After the lead held at a few buckets in favor of UAB for a couple of minutes, USF was able to bring it within 2, 59-57 on a Kobe Knox free throw with 9:17 to play, and on the next possession a Selton Miguel layup left us tied at 59 a piece.
The comeback from UAB was fierce, as they responded to that with an 11-0 run, sponsored by 7 free throws, and an Eric Gaines jumper made it 70-59 Blazers with 7:44 to play.
Following that stretch, the game really slowed down due to free throws, however it played in the Bulls favor and helped them make a comeback effort. That comeback effort never came to fruition however, and after the game UAB leading scorer Butta Johnson explained the team’s mindset late to battle through adversity.
“When pressures on, you got to be poised. Coach talks about handling pressure, doing all right things, catch swiping, stepping to the ball. I felt like we did those things tonight and we just came out with a good win, and we just handled the pressure. Even when they started to come back, game got close, we stayed together, we stayed one on the court, and we executed well offensively and defensively to pull out a tough win,” Johnson said.
Following a stretch that saw 5 USF free throws the lead was cut to 4, 76-72 with 4:53 to play. Jayden Reid hit 3 of those free throws, and the freshman was helping keep his Bulls in it following Chris Youngblood fouling out.
The Blazers were filled by runs today, and a 10-2 stretch late helped close the door for UAB. Following a resounding Christian Coleman dunk, they were up 89-76 and were rolling with momentum. Even though that dunk resulted in a technical foul, it was to no avail UAB was able to close the door late, winning by a final of 93-83.
A chance to take UAB back to the tourney for the first time in 2 years is on deck tomorrow, and Coach Kennedy is ready for the challenge.
“I don’t know if you heard, somebody said we won a hundred games over the last four years and now we’re back to three straight titles. When I came here, obviously, I played at UAB. I played for Gene Bartow, our founding father, and this was what my expectation was. I wanted to get this program where it was back nationally relevant and we’re working towards that daily. Tomorrow will be a huge opportunity to take another step.
UAB will take on Temple in the AAC championship at 3:15 PM est, with the NCAA selection show directly to follow.