Jan. 16, 2008

Final Stats |  Photo Gallery 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Robert Vaden scored 33 points to tie a career high and lead UAB to a 72-65 victory over Southern Mississippi Wednesday night.

"I thought we did a great job tonight defensively because Southern Miss is a tough team to defend in the half court," UAB head coach Mike Davis said. "The motion that they run they are going to get looks. You have to be patient defensively. I thought we got off to a rocky start, but we bounced back. We held them to 18 points the first half unfortunately we gave up 47 points in the second half."

Vaden scored 22 points in the second half and finished with six 3-pointers. He scored 33 points earlier this season against Kentucky.

Courtney Beasley scored 19 points, and Jeremy Wise had 18 for Southern Miss.

UAB (12-5, 2-0 CUSA) won for the tenth time in last 12 games. Southern Miss (9-8, 1-2 CUSA) has lost five of its last six.

Vaden scored the first five points of the game, and the Blazers were ahead the rest of the way. Southern Miss did not score until about five minutes into the game, and the Golden Eagles trailed 30-18 at halftime.

The Southern Miss offense heated up in the second half, producing 47 points after intermission. But Vaden repeatedly hit big shots to keep UAB comfortably in front.

The Blazers led by as many as 16 points in the second half, and Southern Miss could get no closer than the seven-point final margin. The Blazers will next travel to Huntington, W.Va. to take on the Marshall Thundering Herd on Saturday, Jan. 19, at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT).