UAB failed its first true test of the season, falling to Toledo, 93-85, in the Barstool Invitational at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
The problems were multi-layered in a game that the Blazers led for much of the first 20 minutes. In the second half, UAB had trouble stopping Toledo, and the Blazers cooled off considerably from the floor. Put that together, and UAB fell to 1-1 on the season.
"It's hard for solid, mid-majors to get quality opponents in a setting such as this to test yourself early," said UAB head coach Andy Kennedy. "I wish we would have played better, but we learned a lot about ourselves playing a quality opponent such as Toledo. They've got an outstanding team. It thought they did a terrific job, especially in the second half, of executing at a different level than we were able to."
UAB hurt itself with 22 turnovers, including six by Eric Gaines and five by Jordan Walker. Those turnovers led to 20 Toledo points. Walker had 25 points, but he was 9 of 23 from the field and 4 of 11 on 3-pointers. The Blazers had double-doubles from KJ Buffen (11 points, 10 rebounds) and Javian Davis (10 points, 10 rebounds) and Tavin Lovan had 13 points.
UAB returns to the court on Wednesday night against Presbyterian at 6:30 p.m. at Bartow Arena.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email steve.irvine@1819news.com.
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