UAB takes on SMU Thursday with a Tourney Bid on the line.
The Mustangs showed a resiliency in beating Rice that they will have repeat against a UAB squad playing for their NCAA tournament lives today. Yesterday’s win raised the question, “How in the world did the Mustangs win while turning the ball over 21 times and with their leader, Bryan Hopkins, being held scoreless?” The answer came in the form of a dominating inside game of Donatas Rackauskas and Devon Pearson, who combined for 30 points and 15 rebounds.
Pearson and Rackauskas need to play just as well against UAB, and they can against an undersized Blazer front-line. Hopkins played a good floor game against the Owls with 10 boards and six assists against only two turnovers, and will need to repeat this against UAB’s 40 minutes of pressing defense. Hopkins also must find his shooting stroke because UAB scores in bunches.
The Mustangs must do a better job of guarding Marvett McDonald, who lit up Moody for 39 points just two weeks ago. Somehow limiting UAB’s do-everything point guard Squeaky Johnson, C-USA’s Defensive player of the year, is imperative to having any chance at the streaking Blazers.
UAB (22-5), despite winning 16 of 18 and five straight, finds itself squarely on the bubble, because it has beaten only one RPI Top 50 team this season.
UAB can’t afford a bad loss to the Mustangs, or its bubble will burst.
The Blazer players know this as well as anyone, and if the Mustangs can hang close for a while, UAB will definitely begin to show some nerves with a tourney bid on the line.