UAB wins C-USA Men's Basketball Championship - Mar 15, 2015

Robert Brown (6'5''-G) scored 22 points and made four 3-pointers to lead UAB to a 73-60 victory over Middle Tennessee on Saturday for the Blazers' first Conference USA tournament championship.

The Blazers (19-15) earned their first NCAA tournament trip since 2011 with a team largely built on underclassmen and without a first- or second-team all-conference pick.

Middle Tennessee (19-16) never made much of a dent in UAB's 11-point halftime lead, which the Blazers eventually doubled.

UAB hit 64 percent from the floor (14-of-22) in the second half and finished with nine 3-pointers.

Brown, the tournament MVP, made half of his eight 3-point attempts. Freshman William Lee (6'9''-F-95) was 6-of-8 shooting for 13 points.

Jaqawn Raymond (6'4''-G-93) led Middle Tennessee with 12 points. Perrin Buford had 11 points after scoring 29 in the last meeting, which UAB won in triple overtime on Feb. 28.

Brown and UAB never cooled off after opening the tournament with a one-point win over Western Kentucky and an overtime victory over top-seeded Louisiana Tech.

The Blazers took a 55-39 lead with 11:25 to play with eight straight points after the lead briefly dipped into single digits. Brown started the run with a 3-pointer from the right corner and ended it with a second one from the left corner. Chris Cokley (6'8''-F-96), the league's sixth man of the year, made a jump shot in between.

UAB didn't let up after building the big lead, making nine straight shots and pushing the cushion up to 22 points.

The Blazers made the NCAA field for the 15th time. UAB coach Jerod Haase , a former Kansas guard, had been an assistant on 12 NCAA tournament teams under Roy Williams for the Jayhawks and North Carolina.

Courtesy of C-USA

C-USA Tournament Final: UAB - Middle Tennessee 73-60
C-USA Tournament Semifinals:
UAB - LA Tech 72-62
Middle Tennessee - UTEP 53-50