By Ken Cross
TAMPA, Fla. – The UAB Blazers stopped South Florida, 92-83, on Wednesday evening and again showed a rise in their offensive production since entering AAC play.
The Blazers used an 11-4 run midway through the first half to build a 25-14 lead with 7:31 left when Tony Toney scored eight points in a 1:37 clip with two three-pointers and a foul line jump shot.
“Tony Toney got going,” said Alabama-Birmingham head coach Andy Kennedy. “He makes five threes two games ago, he made three the last game, and he makes four this game. He was 4-for-4 early and missed two pretty clean looks in the second half to end the streak.”
Toney and Christian Coleman provided an inside-outside offensive attack that saw the Blazers land six players in double figures. UAB is in the top 10 in college basketball in both field goals made and attempted and they average 85 points per game.
Coleman led the Blazers with 21 points and 8 rebounds while Toney was 7-of-10 from the field with 18.
“He was 9-of-11 and he was at the right place at the right time,” explained Bulls interim-head coach Ben Fletcher. “Really good rim-runner, offensive rebounder, and energy guy. He plays at the top of that 1-3-1 and it makes it tough because he has a long wingspan that makes it tough to reverse it.”
Yaxel Lendeborg joined Coleman to provide a solid one-two punch in the post where Lendenborg scored 11 points with five rebounds and six assists.
“I thought Chris and Yazel did a good job of playing two-man basketball,” Kennedy noted. “We were trying to isolate them inside.”
Kennedy noted that the immensity of UAB outrebounding USF, 40-20, in recording 16 offensive boards.
“I thought we did a good job just flying around,” he said. “Chris Coleman – one rebound short of a double-double. He was very efficient 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field.”
The Blazers have upgraded their three-point game since entering conference play by shooting 42.9 percent in the four league games. UAB had problems from the field early this season to cost them some early losses.
They made 8-of-13 triples Wednesday night which was a major catalyst as Toney and Efrem Johnson knocked in one each before Coleman’s dunks pushed UAB to a 47-27 halftime lead.
“Our perimeter shooting has been not up to our standard early on, but as we have gotten into the league, Tony Toney, ‘Butta’ (Efrem Johnson), A.J. (Alejandro Vasquez) are starting to get more confident collectively,” said Kennedy.