Score Predictions for West Virginia at UAB
The West Virginia Mountaineers (9-1) are on the road at the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Basketball Classic at Legacy Arena in Birmingham to take on the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers (9-2) Saturday at 5:00 pm with the game broadcasting on CBS Sports Network.
Schuyler Callihan: UAB 68, West Virginia 65
For the first time in nearly a month, the Mountaineers will be playing away from the Coliseum and it won't be an easy one going up against Andy Kennedy's UAB Blazers. The Blazers are off to a 9-2 start but a win over West Virginia will be big for their NCAA Tournament resume, especially if they aren't crowned C-USA champions at the end of the season.
Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil have carried this team offensively to this point and this season and at some point, those guys are going to need to have some help. Whether it be from Jalen Bridges, Kobe Johnson, or some inside scoring from Isaiah Cottrell, they need another one or two guys to start making shots. UAB will place their focus on eliminating Sean McNeil. They know Sherman is going to get his points just simply because he can score over and around just about anyone. If McNeil becomes a non-factor, UAB will be in a good position.
I've got UAB pulling out a close one and you can chalk up struggles from the free-throw line for WVU being the difference.
Christopher Hall: West Virginia 72 UAB 71
This might be West Virginia's stiffest test to date. Yes, West Virginia beat a top 20 Connecticut team but was down two starters, most notably one of the best big men in the country, and was in the comfy confines of the WVU Coliseum. While West Virginia is not playing on the campus of UAB, it will be right down the road in Legacy Arena, but the crowd is to be determined with the Blazers football team playing in the Independence Bowl at 3:30. Nonetheless, this is a solid UAB team ranked 20th in scoring at 82.7 points per game and leads the country in steals at 13.3 per game.
Jordan "Jelly" Walker leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.4 ppg, but the frontcourt may determine the outcome of this one. At center, 7'0" Trey Jamison leads the team in rebounding at 8.0 ppg, but forward KJ Buffen has averaged a double double 14.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in the last four games.
Rebounding has been an area of emphasis for the Mountaineers since the beginning of the season, and as a team, the Mountaineers have improved after starting the year, averaging -4.0 in rebounding margin in the first three games to +4.8 in the last four outings. Meanwhile, the bulk of the offense has come from senior guards Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil. Sherman is sixth nationally and second in the Big 12 Conference in scoring, averaging 21.8 ppg, while his counterpart Sean McNeil has averaged 16.3 ppg in the last three outings.
This is undoubtedly a tough matchup, but I like the grittiness of this group, particularly forwards Gabe Osabuohien and Pauly Paulicap, and despite a possibly raucous UAB crowd, I believe WVU finds a way to win in the end, with Oabuohien once again sealing the win with a scrappy play.
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