Playing four games in an eight-day stretch, the Kansas Jayhawks will open bracket play in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic against UAB at 8:30 p.m. Monday at Sprint Center.
Similar to Siena on Friday, UAB doesn’t have the name-brand to match Duke or Indiana, but was picked to win Conference USA in the preseason coaches poll.
But the Blazers will be without junior point guard Nick Norton, a second-team all-conference selection last year after averaging 8.9 points and 5.1 assists, because of a torn ACL in his right knee.
Without Norton, the Blazers will be relying on guards Deion Lavender, Hakeem Baxter and Denzell Watts to bring the ball up the court, but none of them can match Norton’s strong passing and experience.
Norton’s injury was definitely a major setback, but the Blazers have enough talent to make sure it doesn’t derail their season. They have a couple of impressive shot blockers to protect the rim, plus they are one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the country (80 percent).
Under first-year coach Robert Ehsan, who replaced former Kansas guard Jerod Haase, UAB opened the season with victories against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Troy, sandwiched around a 10-point home loss to Furman.
The Blazers, 100th in the KenPom rankings, have started fast in each game this season — shooting an average of 53 percent in the first half of their first three games.
**Interesting note:** UAB is 11-2 in its last 13 games decided by five points or less, including eight straight wins.
**Series history:** Kansas leads, 2-1. The Jayhawks won the last meeting in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2004 NCAA Tournament, 100-74.
**UAB STARTERS**
————
*No. 0 — G Hakeem Baxter | 6-2, 186, sr.*
—————————————-
– A transfer from Maryland Eastern Shore, Baxter is averaging 11 points and 3.7 rebounds through three games. But he hasn’t shot the ball particularly well, 7-of-21 from the floor (33 percent) and 3-of-11 from deep (27 percent).
– Despite not shooting the ball well, Baxter is known as UAB’s top defender on the perimeter.
– An aggressive slasher, he’s had trouble finishing shots inside of the paint. According to hoop-math.com, Baxter is only shooting 37.5 percent on shots at the rim.
– *QUOTE:* “You gotta be tough in Philly, especially in the neighborhood I come from, said Baxter, who hails from North Philadelphia. “But not even that, just playing basketball period. If you’re not tough then none of the teams are going to want you, the AAU teams or the high school teams. They just want tough players.”
*No. 5 — G Deion Lavender | 6-4, 192, soph.*
—————————————-
Deion Lavender was a difficult man to stop tonight.. #TogetherWeAre #Blockingham pic.twitter.com/gDOSMaZwe2
— UAB Men's Basketball (@UAB_MBB) November 18, 2016
– A transfer from Southern Illinois, Lavender averaged 6.6 points and 2.5 rebounds per contest in 13 games during the 2014-15 season.
– After sitting out all of the last season because of the NCAA transfer rule, Lavender is averaging 4.7 points and 5.3 rebounds through three games. Taking over point guard duties after Norton’s injury, Lavender has dished a team-high 16 assists in 85 minutes with only seven turnovers.
– Lavender hasn’t shot the ball well, going 3-of-10 from the field and 1-of-4 from behind three-point line.
– *QUOTE:* “He’s a very good playmaker off the dribble and can really pass,” UAB coach Robert Ehsan said. “I don’t know exactly what role he can take on, but I think he can have an important role not just this year, but for his the future.”
*No. 11 — G Dirk Williams | 6-5, 178, sr.*
—————————————-
Dirk Williams reaches double-figures. If the Blazers hold on, they will improve to 15-1 when Dirk scores 10+ pts #TogetherWeAre #Blockingham pic.twitter.com/XU9IAYo7OP
— UAB Men's Basketball (@UAB_MBB) November 12, 2016
– A high-flying leaper, Williams earned Conference USA Sixth Man of the Year honors after averaging 9.5 points off of the bench.
– Through three games, Williams ranks second on the Blazers with 13 points per game. He’s averaged 3.3 rebounds and he’s perfect from the free throw line: 13-for-13. He’s only missed five of his 62 attempts in his career at UAB.
– He’s scored in double figures in 18 games during his UAB career, helping his team to a 16-2 record in those games.
– Williams originally committed to Virginia Tech but switched following a coaching change to UAB.
– *QUOTE:* “There was not much adjusting from coming off the bench,” Williams said. “I worked hard over the summer and got better. This is a role that I will have to get used to.”
*No. 3 — F Chris Cokley | 6-8, 229, jr.*
—————————————-
– UAB’s leading scorer, Cokley is averaging 14.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in only 19.7 minutes. He’s shooting 16-of-26 (.615) for the field, making 67 percent of his shots at the rim according to hoop-math.com.
– Cokley was picked for the preseason C-USA All-Conference team. He averaged 13.1 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game last season on 57 percent shooting. He was a second-team C-USA pick in the 2015-16 season.
– The Savannah, Ga., native is dominant on straight line drives from the elbow. At times he can be pretty efficient when he posts up, scoring on 48 percent of his post-up possessions, according to Synergy Sports Technology.
– Cokley played his freshman season at 215 pounds and he earned C-USA Sixth Man of the Year honors.
– *QUOTE:* “Big challenge but rankings don’t really matter,” Cokley said about the upcoming KU matchup. “It’s all about who plays the hardest, who makes all of the plays. So we’ll be looking forward to that.”
*No. 34 — F William “Haha” Lee | 6-9, 209, jr.*
—————————————-
– Last year’s Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year, Lee ranked eighth in the country with 2.9 blocked shots per game. His 95 blocks were second on the school’s all-time single-season list.
– Through three games, Lee is averaging 9.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game. He’s shooting 10-of-23 from the floor, including 3-of-8 from deep. His 4.3 blocks a night rank fifth in the nation.
– He’s recorded four or more blocks in 14 career games. In UAB’s win against Troy, Lee had seven blocked shot with only two fouls. He leads the nation in blocks per foul at 6.5.
– In a 60-59 win over Iowa State in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament, Lee posted 14 points and 12 rebounds.
– *QUOTE:* “I’d like him to … get more physical, create more easy baskets for himself inside, get stronger, develop more as a leader and get more consistent,” Ehsan said. “We’ve seen him play at a high level and I want to get that out of him all the time.”
**UAB BENCH**
———
*No. 21 — F Tosin Mehinti | 6-9, 244, sr.*
—————————————-
– In UAB’s first three games, Mehinti is averaging 4.7 points and 4.3 rebounds off of the bench.
– Mehiniti ranks fourth all-time on UAB’s career blocked shots list with 135 rejections. His teammate, Lee, is second with 159.
– He battle a hamstring injury at the beginning of fall camp.
– *QUOTE:* “I think Tosin has a chance to be and is probably the most physical and best defender we have,” Ehsan said. “I’m going to challenge him to get back to blocking more shots, being that physical enforcer we know he can be.”
*No. 22 — G Tyler Madison | 6-4, 222, sr.*
—————————————-
– After leading UAB with 16 points in its season opener, Madison is the leading scorer off of the bench with 10 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. He’s shooting 9-of-13 from field (.692).
– His older brother by 15 years, Kei, was a 6-10 post player recruited to Indiana by Bobby Knight, but he didn’t qualify academically to play his freshman season, eventually ending up with the Harlem Globetrotters. Another brother, Bobby, played at Western Michigan.
– In high school, at Shelby County (Ala.), he was the program’s all-time leading scorer (2,378 points) and rebounder (1,222 boards).
*No. 10 — G Javien Williams | 6-4, 175, fr.*
—————————————-
– Williams is averaging 16.7 minutes per contest through three games, averaging 5 points and 1.3 rebounds off of the bench.
– He finished fourth in the 2016 Alabama Mr. Basketball voting last year after averaging 21.4 points in his senior season.
*No. 1 — G Denzell Watts | 6-2, 235, sr.*
—————————————-
– Watts was initially expected to redshirt this season because of UAB’s depth at guard. But Norton’s season-ending injury has forced him onto the court for the past two games.
– Helping at point guard, the Flint, Mich., native has one assist and one turnover in 26 minutes. He’s scored 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting.
*No. 2 — G Nick Norton | 5-10, 168, jr.*
—————————————-
– UAB’s starting point guard is out for the remainder of the season after tearing the ACL in his right knee in the team’s season opener. He suffered the same injury during his junior year of high school.
– The Bloomington, Ill., native averaged 8.9 points and 5.1 assists last year, earning an All-Conference USA third-team selection. He was 18th in the nation with a 3.0 assist/turnover ratio.
