1984-1985 UAB Blazers Men's Basketball team
The 1984-1985 UAB Blazers men's basketball team represented UAB as a member of the Sun Belt Conference during the 1984-85 NCAA Division I men's basketball season.
The Blazers were coached by Gene Bartow and played their home games at Birmingham Coliseum in the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center.
UAB's season began in Anchorage, Alaska at the prestigious Great Alaska Shootout. The Blazers followed up an opening round 70-65 win over the Tennessee Volunteers, with victories over #2 Illinois (59-52) and #19 Kansas (50-46) to claim the championship. UAB joined a select group of champions of the event which included, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina and North Carolina State.
The Blazers completed the regular season with a 23-7 record overall; 11-3 in the Sun Belt Conference.
UAB entered the conference tournament in Hampton, Virginia as the #2 seed. The Blazers defeated Western Kentucky (64-56) in the quarter-finals before falling to the 3rd seed Old Dominion (67-68) in the semi-finals.
The Blazers received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament marking their fifth consecutive appearance in the tournament. UAB was seeded 7th in the Midwest Region matched up with the 10 seed Michigan State to be played in Houston, Texas. The Blazers beat the Spartans (70-68) in the first round before losing in overtime to the 2 seed Memphis State (66-67) two days later.
UAB ended the season with 25-9 record.
Schedule/Results
| Date | Rank | Opponent | Score | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 23 | vs. Tennessee | 70-65 | Anchorage, AK | Great Alaska Shootout | |
| November 24 | vs. #2 Illinois | 59-52 | Anchorage, AK | Great Alaska Shootout | |
| November 25 | vs. #19 Kansas | 50-46 | Anchorage, AK | Great Alaska Shootout | |
| November 30 | Auburn | 59-61 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| December 1 | Rhodes College | 95-72 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| December 5 | South Carolina State | 73-56 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| December 12 | at Cincinnati | 67-69 | Cincinnati, OH | ||
| December 15 | East Tennessee State | 72-57 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| December 17 | Mississippi State | 65-63 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| December 21 | Austin Peay | 80-68 | Birmingham Coliseum | UAB Classic | |
| December 22 | George Mason | 60-61 | Birmingham Coliseum | UAB Classic | |
| December 28 | vs. #2 Duke | 62-76 | Los Angeles, CA | Trojan Classic | |
| December 29 | vs. The Citadel | 79-64 | Los Angeles, CA | Trojan Classic | |
| January 3 | Wisconsin-Parkside | 89-65 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| January 5 | #10 DePaul | 66-59 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| January 10 | Jacksonville | 67-55 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| January 12 | at South Florida | 58-52 | Tampa, FL | ||
| January 16 | at Jacksonville | 69-64 | Jacksonville, FL | ||
| January 19 | at Western Kentucky | 68-66 | Bowling Green, KY | ||
| January 22 | North Carolina-Charlotte | 65-62 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| January 24 | at Old Dominion | 56-55 | Norfolk, VA | ||
| January 26 | #19 Virginia Commonwealth | 66-62 | Birmingham Coliseum | Homecoming | |
| January 31 | #20 | Old Dominion | 58-59 | Birmingham Coliseum | |
| February 4 | South Alabama | 81-73 (OT) | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| February 7 | Jackson State | 80-57 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| February 9 | Western Kentucky | 77-62 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| February 13 | #19 | at Virginia Commonwealth | 53-67 | Richmond, VA | |
| February 19 | South Florida | 62-61 | Birmingham Coliseum | ||
| February 21 | at North Carolina-Charlotte | 60-55 | Charlotte, NC | ||
| February 23 | at South Alabama | 68-80 | Mobile, AL | ||
| March 1 | vs. Western Kentucky | 64-56 | Hampton, VA | Sun Belt Quarter-Finals | |
| March 2 | vs. Old Dominion | 67-68 | Hampton, VA | Sun Belt Semi-Finals | |
| March 15 | vs. Michigan State | 70-68 | Houston, TX | NCAA Midwest Regional 1st Round | |
| March 17 | vs. #5 Memphis State | 66-67 (OT) | Houston, TX | NCAA Midwest Regional 2nd Round | |
| *Rankings - Associated Press | |||||
Coaching Staff
| Name | Position | Seasons at UAB |
|---|---|---|
| Gene Bartow | Head coach | 7th |
| Oscar Catlin | Assistant coach | 6th |
| Robert Corn | Assistant coach | 6th |
| John Prince | Assistant coach | 3rd |
| Chris Giles | Graduate Assistant coach | 1st |
Players/Stats
| # | Player | Games | Field Goals | FG% | Free Throws | FT% | Rebounds | Assists | Turnovers | Blocks | Steals | Points | Pts/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Steve Mitchell | 34 | 254-557 | .456 | 108-148 | .730 | 110 | 147 | 85 | 12 | 72 | 616 | 18.1 |
| 40 | Jerome Mincy | 34 | 146-323 | .452 | 131-214 | .612 | 290 | 11 | 53 | 36 | 25 | 423 | 12.4 |
| 32 | James Ponder | 33 | 153-344 | .445 | 96-128 | .750 | 99 | 61 | 56 | 8 | 34 | 402 | 12.2 |
| 12 | Marvin Ray Johnson | 34 | 95-197 | .482 | 44-72 | .611 | 123 | 86 | 53 | 9 | 30 | 234 | 6.9 |
| 44 | Anthony Gordon | 34 | 73-169 | .432 | 39-60 | .650 | 236 | 19 | 41 | 22 | 27 | 185 | 5.4 |
| 4 | Tracy Foster | 23 | 40-105 | .381 | 5-8 | .625 | 20 | 25 | 19 | 2 | 2 | 85 | 3.7 |
| 24 | Michael Charles | 32 | 48-91 | .527 | 22-52 | .423 | 61 | 54 | 24 | 7 | 27 | 118 | 3.7 |
| 50 | Archie Johnson | 31 | 37-63 | .587 | 28-56 | .500 | 95 | 3 | 20 | 15 | 8 | 102 | 3.3 |
| 55 | Bruce Baker | 24 | 24-56 | .429 | 9-15 | .600 | 33 | 17 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 57 | 2.4 |
| 31 | Eddie Collins | 27 | 15-37 | .405 | 4-12 | .333 | 49 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 3 | 34 | 1.3 |
| 11 | Murry Bartow | 27 | 10-31 | .323 | 8-12 | .667 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 28 | 1.0 |
| 34 | Pipo Marrero | 20 | 4-11 | .364 | 2-3 | .667 | 24 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 0.5 |
| 52 | Cedric Evans | 18 | 3-11 | .273 | 1-2 | .500 | 21 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0.4 |
| Team | Totals | 34 | 902-1995 | .452 | 497-782 | .636 | 1256 | 444 | 393 | 134 | 242 | 2301 | 67.7 |
External Links
| Preceded by: 1983-1984 |
UAB Men’s Basketball Teams 1984–1985 |
Succeeded by: 1985-1986 |