BARTOW ARENA - A pair of technical fouls against Prairie View, early in the second half, sparked a second-half, come-from-behind 76-70 win by UAB over the visitors from Texas. Rod Rucker led the Blazers with a double-double - 25 points and 12 rebounds - as the team struggled for the first time at home this season.

Prairie View jumped out to a 7-0 lead and still lead 9-4 at the first media timeout. They scored the next six points before Isiah Jones stopped the run with a three-pointer. Still, Prairie View held a 24-16 lead at the eight-minute mark.

Jekore Tyler came off the bench and scored four straight points to cut the margin to 26-22. That prompted a timeout from Prairie View coach Byron Rimm II. Terrence Jones picked up the slack with five more points that cut the lead to 29-27. Prairie View went on a 9-6 run after that to take a 38-33 lead into the halftime.

Prairie View got called by for a pair of technical fouls quickly in the second half, one on a player and one on the bench. UAB converted four free throws and got the basket on the possession to take its first lead in the game, 39-38, at the 38:46 mark. That was the beginning of an eight-point run that gave UAB a 46-38 lead with 14:14 remaining in the game.

The Blazers still held the lead, 49-42, at the 11:20 timeout. They increased it to 55-44 at the 7:52 mark. The Panthers scored five straight points to cut the score to 55-49, prompting a timeout from coach Jerod Haase.

UAB scored the next four points, but Prairie View put together a brief run of their own. With 3:34 remaining in the game, UAB held a 60-53 lead.

A three-pointer and a flagrant foul be UAB let the Panthers close the gap to 64-59. UAB responded with a 7-2 run for a 71-61 lead with 1:01 remaining.

Prairie View followed with a quick bucket and started fouling. The Blazers hit five-of-eight - good enough for a 76-70 win.

UAB shot just 36.8 percent (14-of-38) in the first half, to 51.5 percent (17-of-33) for Prairie View. The Blazers were even worse in the second half, hitting only 8-of-28 shots for 28.6 percent, but the Panthers dropped back to reality with a 31.7 percent rate (13-of-41) in the second period.

The Panthers also out-rebounded UAB in the first half, 26-16, but UAB had a slight edge in that statistic in the second half (27-26). UAB stayed in the game with 14 steals on the night.

Three players joined Rucker in double figures for the Blazers. Jordan Swing, Fahro Alihodzic, and Isiah Jones had ten points each.

Prairie View had two players in double figures. Ryan Gesiakowski led the team with 18 points. Carl Blair added 15.


The win gives UAB a 3-1 record on the young season. Prairie View dropped to 2-3 on the year.

The Blazers next travel to South Padre Island on November 23 to take on Illinois State in the first round of a tournament. The travel to Troy, Alabama to challenge the Trojans on October 27. Road games at North Carolina and Middle Tennessee open the month of December before the team returns to Bartow Arena to host South Alabama on December 8.


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