Howard Crawford scored on a dunk off an inbound play with 1 second
left to lift No. 24 Alabama-Birmingham to a 73-72 win over Arkansas
on Saturday.
UAB (12-2) trailed 72-71 with 2.2 seconds left and called a
timeout to set up a final play. Crawford raced down the lane
unguarded and easily scored the winner for the Blazers.
Arkansas (7-7) led by five points with just over 2 minutes
left after trailing for much of the second half. But UAB's Elijah
Millsap hit two free throws with 1:19 left to pull the Blazers
within 72-71.
After an Arkansas turnover, Millsap missed a long jumper and
Arkansas rebounded with 35 seconds left. The Razorbacks ran the
clock down to under 10 seconds, but Jemal Farmer missed an open
jump shot, setting up the final play for UAB.
Arkansas raced to an 11-point first-half lead and led 25-14
with 9:45 left on a mid-lane jumper by Rotnei Clarke.
The Blazers went on a 15-2 run over the next six minutes to
take a 29-27 lead on a 3-pointer by Jamarr Sanders and built the
lead to 39-31 at halftime after Sanders hit another 3-pointer.
Arkansas opened the second half with a 7-0 run to pull within
39-38 on a three-point play by Marshawn Powell. The score was close
for the rest of the game with Arkansas finally taking a 53-52 lead
on Michael Washington's layup with 10:49 left.
Millsap led UAB with 22 points and Crawford added 13, Cameron
Moore had 11 and Sanders 10.
Powell scored 22 points for Arkansas and Washington added 18
and Clarke 16.
The Blazers open Conference USA play on Wednesday against
East Carolina. Arkansas hosts No. 2 Texas on Tuesday in its final
nonconference game before opening Southeastern Conference play at
Mississippi State on Jan. 14.
