PARADISE ISLAND, THE BAHAMAS – For 38 minutes, UAB was the equal of No. 18 Florida. It was those final two minutes that proved to be the Blazers’ undoing.
Florida scored the final 11 points of the game to finally break away from a determined UAB squad and emerge with a 56-47 victory in the second round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Blazers (2-4) either led or were tied with Florida (3-2) in the game for 25 minutes.
“It’s a loss that hurts a lot,” UAB coach Jerod Haase said. “I think our guys gave a tremendous effort. Our big thing that we talked about from the end of last night’s game to today was to play as hard as you possibly can, and I think the guys did that.”
As for the Gators, it appeared they might have still had some lingering effects from their intense overtime loss to Georgetown in the opening round.
“One of the things you wanted to see after an emotional loss was whether we could play better today,” Florida coach Bill Donavan said. “I thought we improved in some areas. At times we’re getting bogged down offensively, but at times we’re getting pretty good looks at the basket.”
The Gators continued to struggle shooting the ball, making only 34 percent of their shots from the field (18-of-53) and 56.5 percent from the free-throw line (13-of-23). Through five games this season, Florida has yet to top the 70-point mark.
“We had missed layups and missed free throws,” Donavan said. “We have to understand how to manufacture points. Sometimes we sabotage ourselves with turnovers and those kinds of things.
“We had 13 assists. I’d like to see a little bit more, but it’s hard to get a high number of assists when you shoot 34 percent. The floor movement and spacing were better. We just have to learn how to make the game easier for each other.”
Florida made only two baskets in the first 10 minutes of the game, allowing UAB (2-4) to jump out to a 12-5 lead. The Gators eventually got their offense on track and went on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 14 with five minutes left in the half.
It looked like the Gators might run away with it after they scored nine consecutive points on the way to a 27-22 halftime lead. But UAB made two 3-pointers in a 30-second span early in the second half and pulled into a 30-30 tie.
That set up a close contest the rest of the way. In fact, for nearly the entire final 13 minutes of the game, neither team led by more than two points.
Florida finally managed to take control by scoring the final 11 points of the game, going 7-of-8 from the foul line during that stretch.
“We put ourselves in a position to win,” Haase said. “I think our guys gave everything they had. Certainly you have to give a lot of credit to Florida for making plays and making their free-throws and doing the things it took to win the game.
Michael Frazier led Florida with 14 points and eight rebounds. Robert Brown had 12 points and six boards for UAB.
