AAC Championship Recap: UAB 72 – Wichita State 60
This game was a closely contested battle having 9 ties and 7 lead changes, until UAB caught fire late. For a majority of the game, it stayed between a few possessions, but UAB went on a 11-0 run late in the second half, turning a 2-point deficit into a 9-point lead and never looking back, winning by a score of 72-60 and punching their ticket to the Semi Finals Vs USF.
UAB got a team effort as 5 players scored in double figures and they were led by their big man Yaxel Lendeborg, who had 18 points and 14 rebounds. Wichita State was led by Harlon Beverly who had 14, but the offense was inconsistent at times, and it cost them in the end.
A defensive battle was brewing between UAB and Wichita state early as it was a low scoring affair through the first 4 minutes and at the first media break with 15:58 to play in the first half, UAB was holding a 7-6 lead.
Both sides were struggling early, shooting in the mid 30s and it showed. Bijan Cortes and Colby Rodgers hit 3s for Wichita State to get the offense rolling in the first 10 minutes and gave the shockers a 13-10 lead with 14:11 to play.
Bijan Cortes and Colby Rodgers were the only ones providing offense for Wichita State in the first half of this one, while Christian Coleman was doing a majority of the work for UAB, and it led to a back-and-forth tussle in the first half.
It remained a low scoring battle that didn’t see either side reach 20 points until 9:12 in the first half, when UAB grabbed a 20-18 lead over Wichita State.
Not much changed throughout the remainder of the half, as hard-nosed basketball was being played and a one possession lead was being exchanged by the teams. With 2:27 to play in the first half it was 31-29 in favor of UAB, and there had already been 5 first half lead changes.
UAB took a 33-31 lead into the break and that was filled by points in the paint as they held a 22-12 advantage in that department going into the break.
The tightly contested battle continued into the second half, as neither side was letting it get past a one possession ball game. UAB was able to grab a 4 point lead a few times, but the shocks weren’t letting it get past that.
With 10:30 to play in the ball game we had our second maintenance delay of the tournament as the rim was bent, and we had a 5-minute pause with UAB holding a slim 47-46 lead.
Wichita State tied it up on a Xavier Bell jumper a few possessions later, and the close game remained that way throughout the final minutes of the second half.
Efrem Johnson converted on a 4-point play with 6;32 to play, and Daniel Ortiz cashed in from deep with 6:18 to play and all of a sudden, the blazers had serious momentum and were up 60-54. Ortiz cashed in again with 4:21 to play and the lead was up to 9, 63-54 and that forced Coach Mills into a timeout as the Shockers looked to grab momentum.
The Blazers never looked back from there, as Wichita State was briefly able to cut it to 7 with 2:13 to play, but that was as close as it would get as Daniel Ortiz’s triple with 1:04 made it 72-60 and that was our final score.
UAB will play tomorrow in the Semi-Finals against USF on ESPN 2 at 3 pm EST.