UAB Upsets #3 Memphis in Bartow Arena

The game everyone at UAB had been circling on the calendar for months finally arrived Thursday night at Bartow Arena, when the #3 ranked Memphis Tigers came to town. Earlier in the season UAB played Memphis tough in Memphis but ended up losing in the end. Memphis was undefeated in Conference USA play coming into the game and was trying to secure a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, while UAB was trying to add the one quality win that would hopefully secure their own invitation to the tourney.

The game had been sold out for weeks; luckily I remembered to get tickets online while we were on a trip to Boston a month ago. Game night arrived and the atmosphere was lively thanks to live blues music being played outside amidst the smell of BBQ and the buzz inside the arena due to the capacity crowd of 8,500, the anticipation of the big matchup and the presence of the ESPN2 crew for the nationally televised game.

Off of the opening tipoff Squeaky Johnson buried a 3 and the crowd exploded, the beginning of a very tense night. The game was back and forth until Memphis opened a 33-23 lead and UAB was forced to call a timeout. UAB then went on a 23-7 run to enter halftime with a 46-40 lead. The lead was quickly erased by Memphis at the beginning of the 2nd half, and then it was back and forth from there until Memphis went horribly cold, with UAB holding them scoreless for nearly 8 minutes. However, UAB's poor free throw shooting meant that they could not pull away from Memphis during their drought. Finally, as time was running out with UAB clinging to a slim lead, Memphis was forced to start fouling, and the free throw shooting of UAB got back on track just in time. Hitting several clutch free throws down the stretch, UAB held off Memphis through an excruciating last 1:00 where Memphis hit two 3 pointers only to see UAB hit their free throws at the other end. As time expired, UAB had an 80-74 victory, Bartow erupted and the student section flooded the court!


The 500+ loud, obnoxious, blue-clad, nonsensical-cheer-cheering Memphis fans sat in stunned silence, many not even able to rise from their seats for the long trip back to Memphis. The big win should be enough to get UAB the invitation to the NCAA tournament while the stage is now set for an excellent Conference USA tourney where Memphis and UAB will be the #1 and #2 seeds next weekend.