2016–17 UAB Blazers men's basketball team American college basketball season
The 2016–17 UAB Blazers basketball team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season . The Blazers, led by first-year head coach Robert Ehsan , played their home games at the Bartow Arena as members of Conference USA . They finished the season 17–16, 9–9 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They defeated Charlotte in the first round of the C-USA tournament before losing to Louisiana Tech .
Previous season
The Blazers finished the 2015–16 season 26–7, 16–2 in C-USA play to win the regular season championship. They lost in the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament to WKU . As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to BYU .
Following the season, head coach Jerod Haase left UAB to accept the head coaching position at Stanford .[ 1] On April 4, 2016, the school hired Robert Ehsan, who had been an assistant under Haase at UAB, as head coach .[ 2]
Preseason
The Blazers were picked to finish in first place in the preseason Conference USA poll.[ 3] Chris Cokley and William Lee were selected to the preseason All-Conference USA team.[ 3]
Departures
Name
Number
Pos.
Height
Weight
Year
Hometown
Previous School
Robert Brown
4
G
6'5"
195
Senior
Clermont, FL
Graduated
Lionel Love
45
G
6'3"
165
Sophomore
Huntsville, AL
Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons
Incoming recruits
Roster
2016–17 UAB Blazers men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Previous school
Hometown
G
0
Hakeem Baxter
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
186 lb (84 kg)
Sr
Maryland Eastern Shore
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
G
1
Denzell Watts
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
235 lb (107 kg)
Sr
Carman-Ainsworth High School
Flint, Michigan
G
2
Nick Norton
5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
168 lb (76 kg)
Jr
Central Catholic High School
Bloomington, Illinois
F
3
Chris Cokley
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
229 lb (104 kg)
Jr
Savannah High School
Savannah, Georgia
G
5
Deion Lavender
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
192 lb (87 kg)
RS So
Southern Illinois
Alton, Illinois
G
10
Javien Williams
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
Fr
Woodlawn High School
Birmingham, Alabama
G
11
Dirk Williams
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
178 lb (81 kg)
Sr
Tallahassee Community College
Homewood, Alabama
G
13
Nate Darling
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
Fr
DeMatha Catholic High School
Halifax, Nova Scotia
F
21
Tosin Mehinti
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
244 lb (111 kg)
Sr
Greenforest McCalep Christian Academy
Lagos, Nigeria
G
22
Tyler Madison
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
222 lb (101 kg)
Sr
Shelby County High School
Columbiana, Alabama
F
33
Thomas Smallwood
7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
240 lb (109 kg)
So
Lycée Général Saint John Perse
Bordeaux, France
F
34
William Lee
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
209 lb (95 kg)
Jr
Dallas County High School
Plantersville, Alabama
F
35
Lewis Sullivan
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
222 lb (101 kg)
Jr
Hazel Green High School
Hazel Green, Alabama
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
Roster
Schedule and results
Date time, TV
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 3 *7:30 pm
Lindenwood
W 92–69
Bartow Arena Birmingham, AL
Non-conference regular season
November 11 *7:00 pm
Arkansas–Pine Bluff CBE Hall of Fame Classic
W 86–66
1–0
Bartow Arena (4,289)Birmingham, AL
November 14 *7:00 pm
Furman CBE Hall of Fame Classic
L 74–84
1–1
Bartow Arena (3,682)Birmingham, AL
November 17 *7:00 pm
Troy
W 74–51
2–1
Bartow Arena (4,656)Birmingham, AL
November 21 *8:30 pm, ESPN2
vs. No. 5 Kansas CBE Hall of Fame Classic semifinals
L 63–83
2–2
Sprint Center (10,071)Kansas City, MO
November 22 *6:30 pm, ESPN3
vs. George Washington CBE Hall of Fame Classic 3rd place game
W 81–74
3–2
Sprint Center (3,527)Kansas City, MO
November 27 *4:00 pm
vs. No. 15 Saint Mary's
L 63–76
3–3
Orleans Arena (862)Las Vegas, NV
November 29 *7:00 pm
Alabama A&M
W 75–45
4–3
Bartow Arena (3,719)Birmingham, AL
December 3 *7:30 pm, beIN
Auburn Rivalry
L 70–74
4–4
Bartow Arena (8,728)Birmingham, AL
December 7 *7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Stephen F. Austin
W 84–73
5–4
William R. Johnson Coliseum (3,650)Nacogdoches, TX
December 10 *12:00 pm, ESPN3
at Memphis
L 55–62
5–5
FedEx Forum (9,424)Memphis, TN
December 18 *4:00 pm
Southern
W 75–74 OT
6–5
Bartow Arena (3,436)Birmingham, AL
December 21 *7:00 pm, LHN
at Texas
L 60–96
6–6
Frank Erwin Center (9,106)Austin, TX
December 28 *5:00 pm
Miles College
W 98–66
7–6
Bartow Arena (3,572)Birmingham, AL
Conference USA regular season
January 1 3:00 pm, CI
at Middle Tennessee
L 49–60
7–7 (0–1)
Murphy Center (4,227)Murfreesboro, TN
January 5 7:00 pm, ESPN3
at North Texas
W 54–52
8–7 (1–1)
The Super Pit (1,603)Denton, TX
January 7 7:00 pm
at Rice
W 88–81 OT
9–7 (2–1)
Tudor Fieldhouse (2,001)Houston, TX
January 12 7:00 pm, CI
WKU
W 72–54
10–7 (3–1)
Bartow Arena (3,745)Birmingham, AL
January 14 1:00 pm
Marshall
W 94–78
11–7 (4–1)
Bartow Arena (3,275)Birmingham, AL
January 19 7:00 pm, beIN
at Florida Atlantic
W 80–78
12–7 (5–1)
FAU Arena (1,706)Boca Raton, FL
January 21 6:00 pm
at FIU
L 85–94
12–8 (5–2)
FIU Arena (1,263)Miami, FL
January 26 8:00 pm, ASN
Louisiana Tech
W 79–70
13–8 (6–2)
Bartow Arena (3,642)Birmingham, AL
January 28 7:00 pm
Southern Miss
W 87–43
14–8 (7–2)
Bartow Arena (4,915)Birmingham, AL
February 2 9:00 pm, CBSSN
at UTEP
L 59–63
14–9 (7–3)
Don Haskins Center (6,248)El Paso, TX
February 4 3:00 pm
at UTSA
L 67–82
14–10 (7–4)
Convocation Center (1,145)San Antonio, TX
February 9 7:00 pm, CI
Charlotte
W 82–69
15–10 (8–4)
Bartow Arena (3,841)Birmingham, AL
February 11 7:00 pm, ASN
Old Dominion Bartow Classic
L 62–83
15–11 (8–5)
Bartow Arena (4,185)Birmingham, AL
February 16 6:00 pm, CBSSN
at Marshall
L 59–74
15–12 (8–6)
Cam Henderson Center (5,637)Huntington, WV
February 18 1:00 pm, CBSSN
at WKU
L 64–76
15–13 (8–7)
E. A. Diddle Arena (3,553)Bowling Green, KY
February 26 12:00 pm, CBSSN
Middle Tennessee
L 64–66
15–14 (8–8)
Bartow Arena (3,371)Birmingham, AL
March 2 7:00 pm
Florida Atlantic
W 79–59
16–14 (9–8)
Bartow Arena (3,209)Birmingham, AL
March 4 7:00 pm
FIU
L 56–68
16–15 (9–9)
Bartow Arena (3,881)Birmingham, AL
Conference USA tournament
March 8 5:30 pm, CI
(7)
vs. (10) Charlotte First round
W 74–73
17–15
Legacy Arena (6,410)Birmingham, AL
March 9 5:30 pm, ASN
(7)
(2) Louisiana Tech Quarterfinals
L 57–69
17–16
Legacy Arena (4,005)Birmingham, AL
*Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in
Eastern Time .
References
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons