UAB rolls past Troy in basketball

TROY — A vocal group of UAB supporters filled much of the upper level on one side of Trojan Arena on Saturday afternoon after making the journey from Birmingham to watch the first ever basketball battle between the Blazers and Troy.

Turns out, it was certainly worth their trip.

Despite getting only four points from All-America candidate and star senior guard Robert Vaden, UAB found plenty of other scoring options to get the job done in defeating Troy 87-66 in the season opener for both teams.

Paul Delaney III scored 24, Lawrence Kinnard 22 and Terrence Roderick 17 as UAB took full control in the second half after leading by just two (36-34) at halftime.

“I thought our team played too fast in the first half,” UAB coach Mike Davis said. “We didn’t play an exhibition game, so this was the first game before the fans. I thought in the second half we played well.”

Vaden, who averaged 21 points a year ago, never could find his rhythm against some good defensive pressure by Troy. He was 2-of-13 from the field, 0-of-6 from 3-point territory.

“That’s not going to happen again the rest of the season,” Troy coach Don Maestri said of Vaden’s tough night.

And Troy took advantage early, playing UAB toe-to-toe in the first half before the Blazers’ fast-passing, motion offense got in gear in the second half and the Trojans went cold from the field.

Troy led 21-16 following a 3-pointer by Travis Lee with just under eight minutes to play in the first half before UAB went on an 11-0 run. Troy tied it up at 36-36 on the first basket of the second half by Brandon Hazzard, but UAB then went on a 6-0 run and never relinquished the lead again.

UAB shot 54.5 percent from the field in the second half while Troy shot 31.7 percent in the final 20 minutes.

“In the second half they shot the ball a lot better and we shot it a lot worse,” Maestri said in simple terms. “The disappointing thing is when you get good wide open looks, you’ve got to cash in.

“A lot of those shots were good looking shots — shots we’ve got to make.”

Troy didn’t, and UAB began pulling away in the first seven minutes of the second half as Kinnard hit back-to-back 3-pointers to complete a 10-0 UAB run to put the Blazers up 55-40. UAB built its biggest lead at 73-49 when Roderick made a steal and went the length of the court to dunk with 8:32 left. 

Troy only had one player reach double figures in scoring as 6-foot-7 forward Chris Leggett, a junior college transfer, scored 12 on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line.

“To be honest with you, that was a surprise,” Maestri said of Leggett’s impressive debut. “He has a feel for the basketball and shows it when the lights go on.”

Leggett said he felt more comfortable as the game moved along.

“This was my first time to play in a game like this and I just had to get my feet wet,” Leggett said. “They (UAB) did a good job moving the ball and keeping us off balance.”

Lee and forward Mario Telfair each scored nine to follow Leggett in scoring for the Trojans.

Lee, a junior college transfer, gave the Trojans a lift in the first half by draining three 3-pointers. But he never could get untracked in the second half, though the opportunities were present.

“We just missed shots,” Lee said. “There were a lot of shots we could have made.”

Richard Delk, a transfer guard from Mississippi State, scored six points in his first game for Troy. Hampered by a broken bone in his shooting hand during the preseason, Delk was 3-of-12 from the field in playing a team-high 28 minutes.

Despite the shooting woes, Maestri was pleased that the offense generated open shots.

“Our offense worked better tonight than it did at any time last year,” Maestri said.

Troy’s 7-foot center Tom Jervis led the team in rebounding with nine. He scored four points.

“This was a big thing for him tonight,” Maestri said. “I don’t think he even came close to leading us in rebounds last year, so I was proud of him.”

Trojan notes: It was made known that junior forward Trayce Macon will redshirt this season. It had been previously announced that Bernard Toombs, a 6-10 junior, is also redshirting. Junior point guard Michael Vogler, who has been hampered with an ankle injury, dressed out but did not play Saturday.