Tulsa Falls On The Road At Alabama-Birmingham

NewsOn6.com

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Tulsa was still gunning for a potential No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament, but UAB had other plans.

The Golden Hurricane couldn't close out a close one in a 68-64 loss to the Blazers on Wednesday night.

With the loss, TU's chances of winning a share of the Conference USA regular season title and a No. 1 seed in the tournament are eliminated. That honor will fall to either Memphis or Southern Miss.

The game went back-and-forth numerous times in the final 10 minutes, with the teams swapping leads and putting up a number of ties.

With 32 seconds to play, however, TU's Jordan Clarkson committed a foul that would put the Blazers up for good.

Jordan Swing of UAB hit both his free throws for a 66-64 lead.

Clarkson had a chance to redeem himself on the other end with a strange stretch that gave TU three looks at a potential game-tying shot.

He missed a jumper, but TU's Steven Idlet pulled down the offensive rebound. After Idlet missed a jumper of his own, the Golden Hurricane pulled down another offensive rebound and called a timeout.

Clarkson had a good look at a layup to tie it up, but couldn't get it to fall and the Blazers hit their free throws to seal the contest.

Four TU players scored in double figures, including Clarkson with a team-high 21. Idlet had 15, Eric McLellan had 14 and Kodi Maduka added 10.

Center D.J. Magley had 12 rebounds for the Golden Hurricane, which fell to 17-12 (10-5). Magley helped Tulsa with a strong inside showing as it scored 42 of its 64 points in the paint and outrebounded UAB 45-33.

Though Tulsa's final regular season game won't have nearly as much riding on it now, it will still finish out the season at home against first-place Memphis. Tipoff against the Tigers is at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Reynolds Center.