BIRMINGHAM – Colby Rogers tied a career high with 29 points and Wichita State made enough plays late to hang on for a 74-66 road win at UAB Wednesday night in Bartow Arena.
Wichita State (12-17, 4-12) snapped a nine-game road losing streak but not without a little drama.
The Shockers led by as many as 19 in the second half before UAB mounted a monster comeback to pull within one with 3:17 to go. After UAB cut it to one, the Shockers finished the game on a 9-2 run.
Rogers lit up the Blazers from the get-go, scoring 29 points on 10-of-14 from the field and 5-of-6 from three-point range. He scored 19 of his 29 in the first half for his seventh 20-point game of the season.
Harlond Beverly finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Xavier Bell chipped in 12 points off the bench.
Wichita State shot 50 percent from the floor and was efficient from long range, converting 8-of-15 tries. Wichita State finished with five more turnovers, but ended up outscoring the Blazers in points off turnovers, 19-18.
UAB built an early seven point lead just over 4:00 minutes in, but the hot shooting of Rogers kept Wichita State in the game. He had 12 of Wichita State’s first 16 points on a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor.
After UAB made it 22-16 at the 8:57 mark, Rogers cashed in his third triple of the half, cutting it back to a three-point game. On the next trip down a Harlond Beverly three-pointer tied the game at 22-22.
UAB quickly scored on the other end, but another three-pointer, this time by Dalen Ridgnal, gave Wichita State its first lead of the game, 25-24.
With 2:00 minutes left in the opening half and still clinging to a one-point lead, Wichita State got back-to-back paint buckets from Beverly and Kenny Pohto to make it 36-31. A UAB jumper in the final 50 seconds brought it back to a three-point game until Rogers’ fourth first half three-pointer, just before the halftime horn sounded, sent the Shockers into the locker room with a 39-33 lead.
Rogers was on fire from the opening tip, scoring a game-high 19 first half points on a perfect 7-of-7 from the field and 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. As a team Wichita State shot just under 60 percent from the field and 6-of-9 from long range.
The only thing that stopped Wichita State on the offensive end were turnovers. They had 10, which led to 10 UAB points. UAB had its share of turnover problems with eight. The Shockers turned those miscues into 12 points.
Wichita State came out of the locker room and kept the foot on the gas, pushing the lead to double digits on a Rogers three-point play and Bell floater. UAB scored on back-to-back possessions to cut it to seven only to see the Shockers blitz the Blazers with a 10-0 run to take a commanding 56-39 lead with 13:10 to go.
Just over a minute later it was 60-41 following a Pohto layup.
Then UAB made its run. The Blazers got right back into it behind a massive 17-2 run where Wichita State went scoreless for nearly 4:00 minutes.
With 3:17 remaining, Wichita State’s 19-point was gone and down to just one, 65-64. In desperate need of a score, Wichita State got back-to-back baskets from Pohto and Ronnie DeGray III. DeGray’s was backbreaking in sense as he grabbed an offensive rebound and put it in plus the foul. His three-point play put the Shockers back up by six, 70-64.
UAB scored its final points on a layup with 1:28 on the clock and wouldn’t score again. A Quincy Ballard slam and two Bell free throws iced the game in the final 37 seconds.
Up Next
Wichita State hosts Rice on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the final home game of the season.
