SWEET HOME ALABAMA: After completing fall quarter finals, Seattle University makes its longest single-game road trip of the season, heading to Birmingham, Alabama, to face the UAB Blazers, a team that reached the NCAA Tournament last season. This will be a homecoming for junior William Powell, a star at Huntsville High School.
THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE GAME: Four Redhawk players reached double figures in points as Seattle University executed its offense and stopped Mississippi Valley State at key times to defeat the Delta Devils, 84-72, last Sunday night at KeyArena. Jack Crook shot 11-of-18 from the field as he finished with 22 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two blocked shots, while Manroop Clair hit six three-pointers as he scored a career-high 22 points. Brendan Westendorf contributed 18 points, nine assists, six rebounds, and two steals, and William Powell added 11 points, nine rebounds, and six assists to the winning effort. The Redhawks stayed close and eventually took a 33-27 lead thanks to eight unanswered points late in the first half, including consecutive three-pointers from Clair. The Delta Devils scored the next five points to close to within one, but a dunk by Crook off a Westendorf pass gave the Redhawks a 35-32 lead at halftime. Clair hit a three-pointer on the first possession of the second half to double the Seattle U lead, but MVSU battled back, going on an 11-2 run over a four-minute span to take its biggest lead of the night at 50-44. The Redhawks responded with 10 unanswered points, including traditional three-point plays by Powell and Malik Montoya, to pull ahead, 54-50, halfway through the second half. After a free throw by Young, Seattle U extended its lead into double digits thanks to an 18-3 scoring run over a six-minute span, starting with consecutive three-pointers by Westendorf. After missing their first five free throw attempts, the Redhawks were perfect on their final 11 attempts from the charity stripe, including six straight made free throws down the stretch.
SCOUTING ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM: The Blazers enter Sunday’s game with a 5-3 overall record after victories over Georgia State and at Illinois State. Including the win over Georgia State, UAB is 3-0 at home so far this season. The Blazers are scoring 69.9 points per game and giving up 66.9 points per contest. As a team, UAB is shooting 44.4 percent from the field, including 30.0 percent from behind the three-point line, and 70.2 percent from the free throw line. Chris Cokley leads the Blazers with 15.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game as he is shooting 62.8 percent from the field. Robert Brown has contributed 9.8 points and 3.9 assists per game, while Nick Norton, the only player to start all eight games for UAB so far this year, has hit 18 three-pointers as he is averaging 9.0 points and 4.4 assists per game. Another player to watch is William Lee, who is averaging 6.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.9 blocked shots per game. This will be the first meeting all-time between Seattle U and UAB.