1981-1982 UAB Blazers Men's Basketball team
The 1981-1982 UAB Blazers men's basketball team represented UAB as a member of the Sun Belt Conference during the 1981-82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season.
The Blazers were coached by Gene Bartow and played their home games at BJCC Coliseum in the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center.
The Blazers finished the regular season with a 21-5 overall and won the Sun Belt regular season championship outright with a 9-1 record in conference play. UAB hosted the conference tournament in Birmingham for the first time defeating South Florida (66-56) and VCU (94-83) to secure the tournament championship and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
UAB was seeded 4th in the Mideast Region and received a first round bye before facing 5th seed Indiana in the 2nd round at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, TN. The game was a rematch of the previous season's Regional Semi-Final and the Blazers were determined to jump out earlier and never give the Hoosiers a chance. UAB sprinted out to an 18 point halftime lead and never looked by ending Indiana's reign as defending champions 80-70.
The Mideast Regionals were scheduled for the BJCC in Birmingham for the first time ever and the hometown host Blazers faced off against the top seed Virginia Cavaliers in front of a sold out crowd of 16,754. Virginia lead by coach Terry Holland and center Ralph Samson were heavily favored in the contest, but the Blazers prevailed with a monumental 66-65 upset sending the Blazers to the Regional Finals in just their 4th year of existance.
Two days later, the Blazers magical run game to an end with a hard fought loss to the 3rd seed Louisville Cardinals by a score of 68-75.
Despite the loss, the Blazers run to the Regional Final was rewarded with the programs first ranking in a final Associated Press Poll at #17.
Schedule/Results
| Date | Rank | Opponent | Score | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 27 | #14 | Illinois Benedictine | 100-63 | Birmingham Coliseum | |
| November 28 | #14 | Pittsburgh | 78-62 | Birmingham Coliseum | |
| December 5 | #11 | Mississippi | 72-58 | Birmingham Coliseum | |
| December 12 | #9 | at #4 Wichita State | 60-75 | Wichita, KS | |
| December 14 | #16 | Roosevelt | 86-40 | Birmingham Coliseum | |
| December 18 | #16 | vs. Southern Mississippi | 71-56 | Atlanta, GA | Cotton State Classic |
| December 19 | #16 | vs. Georgia | 72-76 | Atlanta, GA | Cotton State Classic |
| December 22 | #19 | Cal State - Chico | 80-60 | Birmingham Coliseum | |
| December 27 | #19 | vs. #9 Missouri | 80-98 | Los Angeles, CA | Winston Tire Classic |
| December 28 | vs. Michigan | 73-72 | Los Angeles, CA | Winston Tire Classic | |
| December 30 | Tennessee-Chattanooga | 76-50 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| December 30 | Southern Mississippi | 60-55 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| January 2 | Virginia Commonwealth | 54-55 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| January 4 | Jacksonville | 82-62 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| January 9 | South Alabama | 78-59 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| January 11 | North Carolina - Charlotte | 85-81 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| January 13 | Utica | 73-44 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| January 16 | at South Florida | 54-49 | Tampa, FL | ||
| January 23 | at #4 DePaul | 68-79 | Rosemont, IL | ||
| January 29 | South Florida | 59-51 | Birmingham Coliseum | Homecoming | |
| February 1 | at Jacksonville | 59-57 (OT) | Jacksonville, FL | ||
| February 4 | Mississippi Valley State | 102-77 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| February 9 | at South Alabama | 86-82 | Mobile, AL | ||
| February 11 | at Saint Louis | 79-63 | St. Louis, MO | ||
| February 20 | at Virginia Commonwealth | 56-55 | Richmond, VA | ||
| February 21 | at North Carolina - Charlotte | 78-73 | Charlotte, NC | ||
| February 23 | Samford | 40-27 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| February 27 | South Florida | 66-56 | Birmingham Coliseum | Sun Belt Semi-Finals | |
| February 28 | Virginia Commonwealth | 94-83 | Birmingham Coliseum | Sun Belt Championship | |
| March 13 | #20 | vs. Indiana | 80-70 | Nashville, TN | NCAA Mideast Regional - Second Round |
| March 18 | #20 | #3 Virginia | 68-66 | Birmingham Coliseum | NCAA Mideast Regional - Semi-Finals |
| March 20 | #20 | Louisville | 68-75 | Birmingham Coliseum | NCAA Mideast Regional Finals |
| *Rankings - Associated Press
UAB finished the season ranked #17 in the final Associated Press Poll | |||||
Coaching Staff
| Name | Position | Seasons at UAB |
|---|---|---|
| Gene Bartow | Head coach | 4th |
| Lee Hunt | Associate coach | 4th |
| Oscar Catlin | Assistant coach | 3rd |
| Robert Corn | Assistant coach | 3rd |
Players/Stats
| # | Player | Games | Field Goals | FG% | Free Throws | FT% | Rebounds | Assists | Turnovers | Blocks | Steals | Points | Pts/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Oliver Robinson | 32 | 200-418 | .478 | 109-140 | .779 | 126 | 105 | 58 | 18 | 58 | 509 | 15.9 |
| 40 | Chris Giles | 32 | 154-316 | .487 | 65-92 | .707 | 250 | 63 | 43 | 10 | 28 | 373 | 11.7 |
| 52 | Donnie Speer | 32 | 129-255 | .506 | 46-69 | .667 | 160 | 2 | 41 | 36 | 25 | 304 | 9.5 |
| 44 | Craig Lane | 32 | 112-213 | .526 | 64-119 | .538 | 134 | 14 | 55 | 1 | 32 | 288 | 9.0 |
| 34 | Glenn Marcus | 32 | 97-186 | .522 | 78-107 | .729 | 63 | 131 | 64 | 2 | 61 | 272 | 8.5 |
| 14 | Jonath Nicholas | 32 | 69-132 | .523 | 80-98 | .816 | 36 | 72 | 40 | 2 | 32 | 218 | 6.8 |
| 55 | Norman Anchrum | 30 | 75-159 | .472 | 42-59 | .712 | 131 | 10 | 38 | 51 | 10 | 189 | 6.3 |
| 33 | Leon Morris | 31 | 44-91 | .484 | 34-49 | .694 | 92 | 28 | 28 | 5 | 26 | 122 | 3.9 |
| 21 | Scott Simcik | 14 | 7-17 | .412 | 14-19 | .737 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 2.0 |
| 15 | Luellen Foster | 15 | 10-22 | .455 | 11-15 | .733 | 18 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 31 | 2.1 |
| 32 | Tim Almquist | 24 | 19-38 | .500 | 2-10 | .200 | 35 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 40 | 1.7 |
| 11 | Murry Bartow | 11 | 1-3 | .333 | 3-6 | .500 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0.5 |
| 12 | Bill McCammon | 13 | 11-25 | .440 | 0-4 | .2000 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 1.7 |
| 45 | Tim Richards | 12 | 7-15 | .467 | 8-12 | .667 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 22 | 1.8 |
| — | Others | 12 | 10-32 | .313 | 1-2 | .500 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 25 | 2.0 |
| Team | Totals | 32 | 947-1932 | .490 | 560-808 | .693 | 1162 | 456 | 405 | 133 | 260 | 2454 | 76.7 |
External Links
| Preceded by: 1980-1981 |
UAB Men’s Basketball Teams 1981–1982 |
Succeeded by: 1982-1983 |