By Austin Duncan
NORMAL, Ill.-The University of Alabama-Birmingham hit seven of 12 threes in the second half to take down Illinois State 74-61 at Redbird Arena.
The Redbirds began the game with sophomore forward Mikyle McIntosh scoring on the first possession of the game. Three pointers from freshman guard Roland Griffin and junior guard Tony Wills expanded the Redbird lead to 14-4 early in the game.
UAB went on 7-0 run to cut the ISU lead to 14-11 with just over 12 minutes to play in the half.
McIntosh scored six points early in the game, but was sent to the bench with two fouls shortly after.
Anchored by defense, the Redbirds were able to expand its lead to 10 once again as junior forward Nick Banyard connected on a three pointer, giving ISU a 23-13 lead.
The Blazers again put together a 10-2 run sparked by Chris Cokley, who collected four points during that time. UAB cut the defect to two at the 1:14 mark of the first half.
Senior forward Quintin Brewer, who collected his first career start, rattled off four straight points to give the Redbirds a four point lead.
UAB ended the half on making four of five shots including a Dirk Williams three to make to cut ISU’s lead to 29-28 at halftime.
Out of the locker room the Redbirds gained some momentum on a dunk by senior guard Devaughn Akoon-Purcell, assisted by McIntosh.
The Blazers would not shy away, cutting the ISU lead to 33-32 with just over 17 minutes to play.
However the Redbirds used good interior passing on a pass from McIntosh to Banyard for dunk to expand the ISU lead to five.
With 14:25 to play, Central Catholic High School product, Nick Norton hit a three pointer gave UAB its first lead of the game at 39-37.
UAB went on a 26-4 run over eight minutes to balloon its lead to 58-41.
Devaughn Akoon-Purcell stopped the 14-0 run with a bucket at the 7:05 mark.
That would not slow down UAB, who answered with threes by Denzell Watts, William Lee, and Dirk Williams to lead 67-48 with 3:52 remaining.
Illinois State was led by Akoon-Purcell’s 18 points. No other Redbird scored in double figures. Akoon-Purcell also collected a team high eight rebounds. ISU shot made just five three pointers, shooting 16 percent.
UAB’s Chris Cokely lead all scorers with 20 points on 10-13 shooting. Dirk Williams and William Lee collected 16 and 10 points, respectively. Tosin Mehinti collected 10 rebounds while adding six points. The Blazers connected on 58 percent of its three point attempts in the second half, and shot 50 percent during the game. UAB had 19 assists on 28 makes.
Bloomington-Normal native Nick Norton scored six points and dished out four assists.
The Redbirds fall to 3-6 on the season and return to action Sunday, December 13 when it hosts Murray State.
Listen to postgame interviews with head coach Dan Muller, and Devaughn Akoon-Purcell here.
Before the game, Illinois State University remembered its former associate head coach, Torrey Ward who played basketball at UAB. Both teams wore Ward’s No. 3 during pregame warmups. The ISU basketball team was lead on to the court by Ward’s son, Torrey Jr.
Austin Duncan can be reached at [email protected]
