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We have gone through 10 of the top 30 players, games and seasons. Today, we start the second ten with a look at #20 – Barry Bearden, the 1996 win over #3 Cincinnati, and the 1991-1992 Blazer team.

BLAZER Top 30 – The 30 Greatest Blazers

30. Will Campbell (2000-2002)
29. Norman Anchrum (1980-1982)
28. McKinley Singleton (1982-1984)
27. Damon Cobb (1995-1999)
26. Jack Gordon (1982-1986)
25. Torrey Ward (1996-2000)
24. Jack Kramer (1988-1991)
23. Carter Long (1990-1994)
22. Larry Rembert (1986-1990)
21. Donell Taylor (2003-2005)

20. Barry Bearden (1986-1990)

Barry Bearden was one of the best point guards to ever come out of the Birmingham High School system. He was a first team All-State and All-Metro selection as a senior point guard at West End High School. He was also an honorable mention All-American selection by the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. He was highly recruited out of high school. UAB’s signing of Bearden, along with the signing of Larry Rembert and Alan Ogg made the 1986 recruiting class one of the best ever. It was especially satisfying for Coach Bartow, who had struggled to sign Birmingham players in the past.

After four outstanding years, UAB no longer had Steve Mitchell running point for the Blazers and many fans were touting Bearden as “the point guard of the future.” It was a huge amount of pressure for the young freshman.

During his freshman year (1986-87), Bearden spent much of the season in the shadows of the two senior guards, James Ponder and Tracy Foster. He played in 28 games a game, averaging about 10 minutes a game. His best game was in the UAB Classic in December. In an exciting championship game against Middle Tennessee state, UAB led 93-91 with three seconds to go, and Barry Bearden found himself in an unenviable spot for a freshman. With three seconds to go, Bearden was at the free throw line for two shots to seal the victory. Coach Bartow had pulled the rest of the Blazers off the line to avoid a foul, so it was Bearden surrounded by MTSU players. Bearden missed both free throws, but in a stroke of luck, on the second missed free throw, the ball bounced off the rim and went straight to Bearden, ensuring the Blazer victory. Bearden scored 55 points during his freshman season, averaging 2 points a game.

With the graduation of Ponder and Foster, Bearden was expected to be a bigger contributor during his sophomore year. He started 28 of 31 games and averaged 9.5 points and 5.5 assists per game. He led the team in assists with 171. He was named to the All Tournament team of the UAB Classic after he had 9 assists in the championship game against Chattanooga and scored 15 points. Bearden had a season high of 23 points in the upset of #1 in waiting Brigham Young. During conference season, Bearden consistently played most of the game with few turnovers. During the season, he played more minutes than any other Blazer. In a win at South Florida, he played 40 minutes without a turnover and hit two free throws to assure the victory. Although he suffered a slight slump at the end of the season, he had begun to show why he was considered “the point guard of the future”.

With the recruitment of Andy Kennedy and Jack Kramer, the start of Bearden’s junior year found him in the sixth man role for the Blazers. However, Coach Bartow soon realized that he needed Bearden on the court as a floor leader and he started the final 22 games of the season. He averaged 9 points per game and was the team’s fourth leading scorer. He saved his best for the end of the season, starting with a 13 assist performance against Auburn in late February, which was a UAB record at the time. In the post season, he had 21 points in a Sun Belt Tournament win over Old Dominion. But it was the NIT tournament where Bearden made the most noise. In a second round game against Richmond, Bearden only scored two points, but those two points were pressure filled free throws with seconds on the clock and secured a victory for the Blazers. He followed that game with a solid 8 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists against Connecticut to send the Blazers to the NIT Final Four. Bearden’s best game was the last game of the year, the NIT Consolation game. In the game against Michigan State, Bearden set a UAB record at the time with eight made three pointers. He had 26 points and the game winning assist to Alan Ogg for a thunderous dunk to win the game. For his efforts, he was named to the NIT All Tournament team along with Reginald Turner. He was also selected to the NIT Summer All Star team which toured West Germany, Holland and Belgium in August of 1989.

Barry Bearden started every game of his senior season and averaged 9.7 points per game. He was one of six players on the team averaging 9 points are better. His best game of the year was the first one, against Kansas in the Preseason NIT when he scored 21 points and hit five of eight three point shots. He made 64 three point shots, second only to Kennedy and shot over 40% from three point range. It was the most successful Blazer team he played for as they won the Sun Belt regular season and advanced to the NCAA tournament. Bearden was named second team All-Conference at the end of the season.

Bearden finished his career with 942 points, which ranks him at #19 all time among Blazer scorers. He ranks third on Career Assists leaders with 530, behind Jack Kramer and Steve Mitchell. UAB has had many great guards and Bearden is one of the tops. Although Bearden did not have the flash or scoring threat of some of UAB’s guards, he was always under control and a leader on the floor.

Barry Bearden’s college athletic career was not over, just because his four years of basketball eligibility had expired. In the fall of 1990, he became the quarterback of UAB’s club football team, in its second year of existence. Bearden had been a standout quarterback at West End in high school and he led the Club Blazers to a 3-4 record, including the first ever win as a club football team over Marion Military Institute by the score of 15-7.

Bearden’s talents as a leader and working under control made him a natural fit for his choice of a career. He graduated from UAB with a degree in Criminal Justice and joined the Birmingham Police Force where he served until 2003 as a member of the D.A.R.E program speaking in schools and educating school officials about gang activity. In 2003, he became the head coach at Altamont School, and led the school to several successful seasons.

BLAZER Top 30 – The 30 Greatest Games

30. 11/24/78 - Nebraska (Lost 64-55)
29. 12/3/1988 - Vanderbilt (Won 76-69)
28. 11/26/82 - Auburn (Lost 61-63)
27. 2/4/84 - @Memphis (Lost 51-53ot)
26. 12/23/84 - Villanova (Won 81-76 3ot)
25. 1/30/86 @Old Dominion (Won 71-58)
24. 2/20/08 Houston (Won 101-99)
23. 3/2/05 Depaul (Won 81-80 ot)
22. 1/31/81 South Alabama Won 73-70
21. 3/15/03 @Louisville (Lost 78-83)

20. 1/21/96 Cincinnati (Won 70-68)
UAB has played some great games against Cincinnati in program’s history. Coming in at #20 is one of those games. The Blazers were 12-6 and Cincinnati was undefeated at 12-0 and ranked #3 in the country. This was the first year of Conference USA. Cincinnati had ruled the Great Midwest, but UAB had played the Bearcats as well as anyone in the 1990’s. Six of the ten games in the series had been decided by 7 points or less. The Blazers had won three straight at Bartow Arena, and had last lost at home to Cincinnati in 1992 to a Bearcat team that would go to the Final Four. “We have taken some real mature teams into Birmingham and struggled,” said Bob Huggins before the game.

This was probably the best Bearcat team to come to Birmingham since that 1992 team. The attendance was listed as a sellout at 9233, but Cary Estes reported in the Post Herald that there were a sprinkling of empty seats and the ticket office never stopped selling General Admission tickets, so it was not a “hard” sellout. However, it was the largest crowd in Arena history at the time. Bob Huggins masks were passed out in the student section, and the crowd was perhaps the loudest Bartow Arena had ever been.

The game was close throughout as neither team could shoot well. The Bearcats shot 40% for the game and the Blazers, 38%. There were five lead changes and seven ties in the first half. Tied at 30 at halftime, Cincinnati took a second half lead on their first bucket and led by seven points with 3:13 to go. Cedric Dixon hit his fifth three pointer of the game with 2:34 to go and put UAB on top for good by hitting three straight free throws with 1:51 remaining. It was a thrilling finish as UAB had a four point lead with seven seconds left. Bearcat player Damon Flint drove the length of the court and scored, cutting the lead to two with one second to go. UAB’s inbound pass to get the clock started bounced out of bounds at the Cincinnati bench, which would have given the ball to the Bearcats and a chance for a last second shot. However, officials ruled that the ball was touched inbounds and the clock should have started. Officials ruled that the game was over, and UAB had won 70-68.

UAB’s Anthony Thomas said he had touched the ball as it went out of bounds, but Bob Huggins felt differently. Huggins ran straight to the CUSA supervisor of officials, Dale Kelley to complain after the game. His complaints were ignored and UAB had defeated the #3 team in the country on national television. After the game, Gene Bartow said as he left the interview room, “Bob (Huggins) will be here in a minute. I’d rather be a little ways away when he does.” Although the Blazers had shot badly from the field, the key to the win as hitting their free throws. The Blazers hit 21 of their last 22 including their last 16 free throws in a row. Cincinatti hit just 4 of 10 in the last three minutes. Cedric Dixon led the Blazers with 25 points and Carlos Williams had 20 points. Danny Fortson led the Bearcats with 24 points and 13 rebounds. The Bearcats would be an Elite Eight team and finish the season 28-5.


BLAZER Top 30 – The 30 Greatest Seasons

30. 2001-02 team (13-17) CUSA (6-10) - 4th National Division
29. 1994-95 team (14-16) Great Midwest (5-7) - 6th place
28. 2006-07 team (15-16) CUSA (7-9) - tie 8th place
27. 1999-00 team (14-14) CUSA (7-9) - 3rd National Division
26. 1987-88 team (16-15) Sun Belt (7-7) - 5th place
25. 1995-96 team (16-14) Conference USA (6-8) - 2nd Place Red Division
24. 1978-79 team (15-11) Sun Belt associate member – ineligible for postseason
23. 2000-01 team (17-14) Conference USA (8-8) - 4th National Division
22. 1996-1997 team (18-14) Conference USA (7-7) - 2nd Red Division
21. 1990-1991 team (18-13 Sun Belt (9-5) - 2nd place

20. 1991-1992 team (20-9 Great Midwest Conference (4-6) - 5th place

The 1991-1992 season was a season of new beginnings. The Blazers were no longer in the Sun Belt Conference, and was beginning a new chapter in the Great Midwest Conference. Gone from the 1990-91 team were Andy Kennedy and Jack Kramer, both of whom had broken many UAB records. Also gone from the previous season, was Stan Rose, who had decided to be closer to home and transferred to Weber State for his senior year. With the loss of Kennedy, Kramer and Rose, Coach Gene Bartow had to replace 40 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists per game. Bartow would look to senior Elbert Rogers and junior Stanley Jackson to replace that production.

Bartow called the 1991-92 home schedule “the toughest home schedule in our history” because it included the Great Midwest Conference opponents, plus teams like Minnesota, Auburn, Tulsa and New Orleans. However, the schedule also included five SWAC teams and the likes of Southwest Baptist and Bethune Cookman. The conference schedule would definitely be tougher. UAB was replacing Sun Belt schools with nationally respected schools such as Memphis State, Depaul and Cincinnati. It was up to UAB to prove that they belonged in such an elite conference.

The Roster
Returning Players

Elbert Rogers – Senior forward
Stanley Jackson – Junior guard
George Wilkerson – Junior guard
Willie Chapman – Junior forward
Carter Long – Sophomore guard
Frank Haywood – Sophomore forward
Reginald Allen – Sophomore forward

Newcomers
Clarence Thrash – Sophomore forward – missed 1990-91 for academic reasons.
Willie Shears – Sophomore guard – JC transfer – originally signed with Clemson
Corey Jackson – Freshman guard – from Auburn HS
Carlos Browning – Freshman forward – played at Selma HS
Greg Edmonds – Freshman forward – redshirt freshman after breaking foot in preseason

It is interesting to note that only one of the newcomers (Clarence Thrash) would stay through their senior year. This poor recruiting class would lead to the bad Blazer teams in the mid 1990’s.

The Season:
November:
The season opened on the road in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the Lobo Classic. The first game was against the Duquesne Dukes. The day before the first game, trouble struck when Clarence Thrash severely sprained his ankle and would miss several games at the beginning of the season. The Blazers were ragged and committed 28 turnovers in the game. The Blazers trailed 42-33 at the half. In the second half, Elbert Rogers took over. Duquesne led 48-43 when Rogers scored 16 of UAB’s 18 points in a six minute span. He scored 14 consecutive points at one point and put UAB up 61-60. However, when Coach Bartow gave Rogers a well deserved rest on the bench for less than two minutes, the Blazers fell apart and Duquesne went on a 12-3 run, taking a 72-64 lead. Rogers reentered the game and UAB slowly closed the gap to 74-70 with 6 minutes to go. The Blazers were down five points, with 2 ½ minutes to go, but committed another turnover, and Duquesne was able to hold on to win, 87-77. Elbert Rogers would score 34 points, including 26 points in the second half.

The Duquesne loss would be UAB’s last loss for 41 days. The Blazers would set a record for consecutive wins by winning 13 straight games. The streak began in the consolation game of the Lobo Classic against Idaho State. In the first half, the Blazers found themselves down 25-11. Coach Bartow then made a key discovery that would play a big part in a 13 game winning streak. He went to the bench and found freshman Corey Jackson, who was Stanley Jackson’s cousin. As point guard, Corey Jackson directed the offense in a comeback that would put UAB up by two at halftime. In the second half, the Blazers built on their lead and won the game 99-80. Elbert Rogers scored 25 points. That combined with his 34 points the previous night set a Lobo Classic two game scoring record. Freshman point guard Corey Jackson played 28 minutes, passed out eight assists and had no turnovers. The win streak was on.

There were a couple of key elements that made this win streak possible. One of them was that they played five SWAC teams, not the toughest competition. The other factor was that the Blazers played nine consecutive home games through the month of December. Bartow had added the home games because with the Great Midwest having only six members, he did not have enough home games scheduled and had to make some late additions. So he added SWAC teams.

There were a few good teams as well. After soundly defeating SWAC team #1, Mississippi Valley State, the Blazers hosted Auburn. The Blazers had won three straight games over Auburn. The game was played at the Civic Center, the first time the Blazers had played there in two years. Corey Jackson was starting his first game. He and cousin Stanley combined for 30 points, six assists and 8 rebounds in the game. Corey had 14 points against his hometown college team and Stanley had 16 points. UAB led by 11 points at the half, and when Auburn challenged in the second half, Corey scored six consecutive points, all on layups. UAB won the game 88-74 before a crowd of 8,823.

December
The SWAC Attack continued as the Blazers opened December. Prairie View A&M, Jackson State and Alabama State all came to UAB Arena and left as big losers as UAB won by 61 points over Prairie View, 21 points over Jackson State and 22 points over Alabama State. The last two games were played in the UAB Classic. Elbert Rogers was named MVP.

On December 14, the Blazers finally had a good team to play when Clem Haskins brought his Minnesota team to Bartow Arena. Like, UAB, Minnesota only had one loss on the season. It was the first time in six years that UAB had faced Haskins, who was the former coach at Western Kentucky. The Blazers were undersized. UAB’s tallest player was 6’7 and Minnesota started to 6’8” players and a 7 foot center. Minnesota played a matchup zone in the first half, virtually shutting down UAB’s leading scorer, Elbert Rogers. Carter Long managed to get the Gophers out of their zone with three long jumpers, two of them just before the half. UAB held a one point lead at the half, due to Long’s quick eight points going to intermission. Minnesota took the lead 46-41 with just over 16 minutes left in the game. At that point, Elbert Rogers went to work and scored ten points as a part of a 13-2 run in three minutes, giving the Blazers a six point lead. Minnesota would not get any closer and UAB led by as many as 13 points. The Blazers won at home by the score of 86-80. Rogers would finish with 32 points, 26 of those points in the second half. It was the Blazers 7th win in a row.

Next up was Tulsa, coached by Tubby Smith, in the first year of his first job as a head coach. Although the game was tied at the half, UAB’s defense held Tulsa to only 34% from the field in the second half and the Blazers put the game away at the free throw line. UAB won the game 90-75 on the strength of hitting 35 of 46 free throws. Elbert Rogers led UAB with 23 points. He also had 13 of the 19 team rebounds the Blazers had.

UAB closed out their nine game home stand with another holiday tournament, the UAB Invitational. The field was Pepperdine, Georgia Southern and Southwest Texas State. The Blazers defeated Southwest Texas State and Georgia Southern convincingly to win the championship. In the Georgia Southern game, Stanley Jackson scored 28 points, 21 in the second half on 10 of 15 shooting and was named MVP of the Tournament. Elbert Rogers scored 26 points.

The Blazers had played nine home games and was on a ten game winning streak. It was time to play a game on the road, something they had not done in over a month. They headed to Santa Clara, California to play in the Cable Car Classic. The first game was against the host team, Santa Clara. They won the game 73-62 and met up with West Virginia in the championship game.

West Virgnia was 6-2 and had advanced to the championship game by upsetting undefeated Boston College. There were 17 lead changes and 10 ties in the first half, and they Blazers led by one point at halftime. UAB maintained the lead in the second half, and led by 10 points with 5:13 to go in the game. However, missed free throws and turnovers helped the Mountaineers mount a comeback. West Virginia cut the lead to 80-79 with under two minutes to go. The Blazer worked the 45 second clock down to eight seconds and got the ball to Elbert Rogers who sank a 12 foot jumper to give a three point lead. The Mountaineers cut the lead to one and set up a half court press. UAB had difficulty breaking the press, but found Rogers open. Rogers dribbled out of trouble like a seasoned point guard and the Blazers won the game 88-84, winning the Cable Car Classic. Rogers was named Most Valuable Player. He had scored 51 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in two games. With 12 straight wins, the Blazers had set the record for the schools longest winning streak, which still stands today at 13 wins.

January
UAB wrapped up its non conference schedule win #13 over SWAC team #5, Southern University of Baton Rouge. The Blazers stood at 13-1 and was ready to begin conference play in their new conference. The conference was a small conference with only six teams, UAB, Memphis, DePaul, Marquette, Cincinnati and St. Louis. Gene Bartow was excited about moving into the new conference and excited to be playing in cities like Chicago, Memphis, Milwaukee and St. Louis. “The only ties I had in the cities of the Sun Belt were somebody who wanted to throw something at me or spit on me. I’m looking forward to this league.” He saw the Great Midwest as a conference of big arenas verses the Sun Belt with “a handful of fans in dreary buildings”. He also said that “the nuts stand out in a small building”. Although the Great Midwest was small, it was formidable. Four of the six teams reached postseason play the previous year, and the Great Midwest Conference was the only conference that could boast that every member had participated in a Final Four in either the NCAA tournament or the NIT Tournament.

UAB’s first ever Great Midwest game was a home game against Memphis State. UAB was the hottest team in the league with a 13 game winning streak and a 13-1 record. Elbert Rogers was averaging 21.6 points per game and had scored in double figures in 28 straight games. Although UAB was 0-3 against Memphis lifetime, two of the three games had gone to overtime, one in the NCAA tournament and one in the NIT tournament. As the two southernmost cities in the conference, this series had the making of a good rivalry. Memphis was led by Anfernee Hardaway and David Vaughn, but was struggling at 5-3. UAB came out strong in the first half before a sellout crowd of 8510 and led by seven points at halftime. In the second half, David Vaughn scored the Tigers’ first six points and sparked a comeback for Memphis. They went ahead 35-34, but the Blazers went on a 10-0 run. The Tigers answered with a 9-1 run and took a 57-56 lead with 5:33 left. The lead bounced back and forth and with 15 seconds to go in the game, Memphis State led 65-63. UAB had the ball and freshman point guard, Corey Jackson brought the ball down. He had his game tying shot blocked, but UAB retained possession as the ball went out of bounds off the Tigers. Unfortunately, Corey Jackson stepped on the line with 13 seconds left, killing the Blazers hopes of winning the game. Memphis State won 67-63 and the Blazers win streak was over. After the game, Bartow complained that Corey had been pushed out of bounds on the last play and that a foul should have been called. UAB didn’t get the call and the Blazers were served notice that the easy part of their schedule was over.

The next game was against the team picked to win the conference in the preseason. UAB and Depaul had played every year since UAB started its program, but this was the first time they were playing the game as a conference game. Depaul had been ranked early in the season, but had lost their ranking. Their record was 6-4. The game was played at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center. UAB had a 69-60 lead with 1:26 left to play, but Depaul cut it to two points. The Blazers had lost the second half lead to Memphis in the previous game and had lost, but this time, Elbert Rogers hit a basket with 34 seconds left and held on to win 75-69. UAB was now 14-2 and 1-1 in conference.

UAB’s next game was a road game against Marquette. Although the Blazers had played 16 games in the season, they had only been on the road for four games, and only one of those had been on an opponents court. That game was been Santa Clara and there had been only 3000 fans in attendance. Now UAB was facing its first truly large hostile crowd at the Bradley Center, with over 12,000 in attendance. It was the very first time UAB and Marquette had ever played. UAB spotted Marquette 10 points as the Warriors jumped out to a 10-0 start, but then Stanley Jackson hit two three pointers in six seconds and got the Blazers back in the game. They trailed by two at halftime. The game continued to be close in the second half and the Blazers were ahead 50-48 with 6:24 left. At that point, Marquette went on a 9-0 run and UAB went over three minutes without scoring. Marquette won the game 66-54. Marquette coach, Kevin O’Neill said his second half strategy was to shut Stanley Jackson down. Stamp Jackson had 13 points in the first half, but O'Neill put Will Gates on him in the second half and held him to just four points. Will Gates would become famous a couple of years later as the star of the documentary "Hoop Dreams."

The Blazers returned to Birmingham for another cupcake win over a non conference opponent, Southwest Baptist. The Great Midwest Conference schedule had UAB off for two weeks between the Marquette and Cincinnati games, but Coach Bartow did not want his team to go that long between games, so he called friends in Missouri and scheduled Southwest Baptist. Southwest Baptist was a Division III team that had gone 29-3 the previous season and had made the Division III final four. A steady snow was coming down in Birmingham and only 1147 people saw the Blazers win by 16 points, as Bartow experimented with different lineups.

It was back on the road to Cincinnati a week later. The Bearcats would tie with Depaul for the regular season championship. During the Great Midwest years, the Bearcats would rule the conference, but UAB would always play them tough. In this game, the Blazers were down by 10 at halftime, but cut the lead to five with 8:36 remaining. However, a late Bearcat surge and an injury to defensive specialist, George Wilkerson spelled doom for the Blazers, and Cincinnati won 76-52.

The last game of the month of January was another out of conference game against New Orleans. In the early 1990’s, the Privateers were coached by Tim Floyd and had a very good team. They had beaten the Blazers the previous year. This game was at Bartow Arena. Tim Floyd’s game plan was to slow the game down and run the shot clock before shooting. Floyd said he did this to keep his poor defense off the court. The halftime score was New Orleans up 18-13, which was a new school scoring low for the Blazers in a half. In the second half, UNO increased their lead to 32-23. In a slow down game, that margin might have been too much to overcome, but the Blazers caught a break when New Orleans started missing free throws. UAB finally took the lead at the 2:14 mark when Carter Long hit a three point shot, making the score 47-46. UAB held on to win the game 54-50. UAB improved its record to 16-4 overall.

February
Since the previous season, UAB was 3-10 on opponents courts. Coach Bartow hoped that the next game, at Depaul would start a new trend. Unfortunately, it seemed that the rest of the league coaches had learned that if you stopped Elbert Rogers, you stopped UAB. Rogers was the leading scorer in the Great Midwest Conference, but in the last two losses against Marquette and Cincinnati, he took only eleven shots. Bartow stated that the team was going to have to get him the ball more and he was going to have to shoot more for UAB to win. Against Depaul, Rogers did better, scoring 27 points, but DePaul’s zone press slowed the Blazers down. In the first half, both teams shot 51%, but in the second half, Depaul heated up to 64% and UAB cooled down to 47%. Depaul won the game 94-82. UAB shot 49% for the game, which was their best effort since January 2. UAB had lost their third straight conference game, dropping to 1-4 in conference and had not won consecutive games since their win streak was snapped in early January.

The Blazers finally won on the road when they played Saint Louis, the worst team in the country. Prior to the game, Coach Bartow had closed practices to all fans and reporters and had not allowed players to do interviews. UAB never trailed against Saint Louis, but could not get the lead above 10 points, and UAB needed a basket at the buzzer to assure the win, 78-74 over the Billikins.

The next game was homecoming and the opponent was Marquette. UAB trailed 25-22 at the half after a furious first half in which UAB shot 32% and Marquette shot 52.6%, but only got off 19 shots. The Warriors led by 5 early in the second half, but the Blazers took the lead at 35-34 on a two Elbert Rogers free throws. They pushed the lead out to 6, 40-34 on a 14-2 run. Marquette managed to cut it to two, 62-60 with 15 seconds to go, but Rogers sealed the victory with two free throws. UAB won the game 64-60 It was also the first time in 154 games that UAB did not hit a three point shot.

UAB padded their record in their next game with a victory over another out of conference opponent.against an easy opponent in their next game. This time the opponent was Bethune Cookman, which the Blazers defeated 114-67.

With three games left the Blazers’ record was 19-5. It was generally believed that 20 wins would get a team into the NCAA tournament, but had the Blazers played enough quality opponents. According to the RPI, which was not as well known as it is now, the Great Midwest was the fourth toughest conference in the nation. To be sure to be included, UAB needed to finish strong.

The last road trip of the regular season was at Memphis, where the Tigers were playing in the brand new Pyramid, which had replaced the Mid South Coliseum. It was the second time the Blazers had played All American Anfernee Hardaway. In the previous season, George Wilkerson had held Hardaway to 10 points. In this game, UAB led by five in the first half, but in the second half, Bartow slowed the game down and the plan backfired. The Blazers shot 36% in the second half and Elbert Rogers who was 6 for 11 in the first half, went 2 for 10 in the second half. Remember, “stop Elbert, you stop UAB”. The Blazers went cold in the second half and did not score for more than five minutes. Memphis State went up by six and the Blazers never regained the lead. UAB did pull within one point with 3:47 left in the game and twice, the Blazers had the ball with a chance to go ahead, and twice they turned the ball over. The Tigers won 79-67. Wilkerson again held Hardaway below his average, limiting him to eight points and 2 of 7 from the field.

The next game was a home game against Cincinnati, the first time the Bearcats ever played in Birmingham. A near sellout crowd of 8375 turned out to see the game, which also featured the retirement of Steve Mitchell’s jersey. Once the game started, it was very intense. Both Gene Bartow and Bob Huggins received technicals. There were 10 lead changes and four ties in the second half. At the 3:49 mark, Cincinnati hit a three point shot to take the lead, 55-52. UAB cut the lead to one at 57-56 and at 59-58, but could not get over the hump. Cincinnati won the game 63-58. Elbert Rogers was held to only 13 points.

March
The last game of the year was against Saint Louis. It was senior day for the Blazers’ lone senior, Elbert Rogers. Elbert closed out the regular season by scoring 21 points and 13 rebounds as the Blazers blasted Saint Louis 104-76. It gave the Blazers their 20th win with a record of 20-7.

The Blazers had finished the conference race with a 4-6 record, fifth out of six teams. Elbert Rogers, the leading scorer in the conference was named to the First team All Conference. Stanley Jackson was named to the Second Team All Conference. UAB’s first round matchup in the conference tournament in Chicago would be Memphis State. UAB hoped its record of 20-7, with victories over Depaul, Minnesota, West Virginia and New Orleans would be enough to earn them an NCAA bid. Memphis State’s record was 19-9 and it was believed by many that the winner of the game would receive a bid.

The Blazers were cold the entire game, shooting 27% in the first half and 25% in the second half. UAB trailed by 21 with 1:41 left in the game but went on an 11-2 run.to make the final score a slightly more respectable 79-67. For the second straight year, the Blazers were knocked out of the first round of the conference tournament. Memphis would receive the NCAA bid and UAB had to settle for the NIT.

In terms of post season play, it was a good year for the inaugural Great Midwest Conference. Five of the six teams were invited to post season tournaments. Cincinnati, Memphis and Depaul would go to the NCAA tournament and Cincinnati would make it all the way to the Final Four, knocking Memphis State out in the Elite Eight. Marquette and UAB would go to the NIT. Only Saint Louis stayed home.

UAB’s first round opponent was Tennessee at Thompson Boling Arena. The Blazers received good news early when it was announced that one of the Tennessee’s best inside players had been suspended for one game for fighting with Shaquille O’Neil in the SEC Tournament. The other challenge for the Blazers was stopping Tennessee’s star, Allan Houston. UAB’s best defender, George Wilkerson was tasked with the job. Only 4810 fans showed up in the cavernous arena which seats 24,000. Elbert Rogers gave UAB a 6 point lead, 68-62 with 4:48 left. However, the Blazers had trouble finishing games all year, and this game would be no exception. After taking a six point lead, UAB did not score again and Tennessee went on a 9-0 run. During 9-0 run, Wilkerson and Rogers missed front ends of one and ones, when UAB was up 68-67. In the last few seconds, UAB had a chance to tie, but Reggie Allen’s three point attempt was short, and Carter Long got the rebound, but had his shot blocked. The Volunteers won 71-68.

Summary
UAB finished the 1991-92 season 20-9. After starting 13-1, their best start ever, they would finish the season 7-8 against very tough competition in a new conference. Elbert Rogers carried much of the offensive load for the Blazers. In order to compete in the new conference, the Blazers were going to have to learn to balance their scoring and learn to win on the road, where they had went 2-5 on opponent’s courts.