1985–86 UAB Blazers men's basketball team

1985–86 UAB Blazers men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Second Round
ConferenceSun Belt Conference
Record25–11 (9–5 Sun Belt)
Head coach
Home arenaBJCC Coliseum
Seasons
1985–86 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Old Dominion 11 – 3   .786 23 – 8   .742
Western Kentucky 10 – 4   .714 23 – 8   .742
UAB 9 – 5   .643 25 – 11   .694
Jacksonville † 9 – 5   .643 21 – 10   .677
VCU 6 – 8   .429 12 – 16   .429
South Alabama 5 – 9   .357 16 – 16   .500
South Florida 5 – 9   .357 14 – 14   .500
UNC Charlotte 1 – 13   .071 8 – 20   .286
† 1986 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1985–86 UAB Blazers men's basketball team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham as a member of the Sun Belt Conference during the 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Gene Bartow's 8th season at UAB, and the Blazers played their home games at BJCC Coliseum. They finished the season 25–11, 9–5 in Sun Belt play and lost in the championship game of the Sun Belt tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 6 seed in the West region. The Blazers defeated Missouri in the opening round[1] before falling to No. 3 seed North Carolina in the round of 32, 77–59.[2]

Roster

1985–86 UAB Blazers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
G 4 Tracy Foster 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Fort Wayne, Indiana
G 14 Steve Mitchell 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Memphis, Tennessee
G 21 Larry Wiksell 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Ventura, California
G 24 Michael Charles 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Birmingham, Alabama
G 25 Chris Thomas 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Alabaster, Alabama
C 31 Eddie Collins 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Marion Junction, Alabama
G 32 James Ponder 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Atlanta, Georgia
F 33 Reggie Turner 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Birmingham, Alabama
F 34 Dylan Howard 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Fort Wayne, Indiana
F 40 Jerome Mincy 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Memphis, Tennessee
F 44 Anthony Gordon 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Memphis, Tennessee
C 50 Archie Johnson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Memphis, Tennessee
C 52 Cedric Evans 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Fort Pierce, Florida
F 55 Bruce Baker 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Benton, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

[3]

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
Nov 21, 1985*
 No. 16 vs. Texas A&M
Preseason NIT 		W 71–68  1–0
 The Summit (1,250)
Houston, Texas
Nov 24, 1985*
 No. 16 vs. No. 6 Duke
Preseason NIT 		L 54–66  1–1
 The Summit (947)
Houston, Texas
Nov 26, 1985*
 Missouri Baptist W 94–52  2–1
 Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (10,053)
Birmingham, Alabama
Dec 4, 1985*
 No. 17 at ETSU W 63–44  3–1
 Freedom Hall Civic Center (4,775)
Johnson City, Tennessee
Dec 6, 1985*
 No. 17 vs. Lehigh
Amana-Hawkeye Classic 		W 71–61  4–1
 Carver-Hawkeye Arena (8,253)
Iowa City, Iowa
Dec 7, 1985*
 No. 17 vs. Arkansas State
Amana-Hawkeye Classic 		W 78–59  5–1
 Carver-Hawkeye Arena (10,942)
Iowa City, Iowa
Dec 10, 1985*
 No. 16 Auburn W 62–56  6–1
 Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (15,502)
Birmingham, Alabama
Dec 13, 1985*
 vs. Hawaii Pacific
Early Season Tournament 		W 69–59  7–1
 Neal S. Blaisdell Center (3,200)
Honolulu, Hawaii
Dec 14, 1985*
 No. 16 vs. Texas State
Early Season Tournament 		W 65–56  8–1
 Neal S. Blaisdell Center (2,543)
Honolulu, Hawaii
Dec 17, 1985*
 No. 14 Cincinnati W 69–53  9–1
 Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (5,871)
Birmingham, Alabama
Dec 20, 1985*
 No. 14 Campbell
UAB Classic 		W 86–46  10–1
 Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (5,269)
Birmingham, Alabama
Dec 21, 1985*
 No. 14 Chattanooga
UAB Classic 		W 76–60  11–1
 Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (6,207)
Birmingham, Alabama
Dec 27, 1985*
 No. 14 vs. TCU
UNLV Holiday Classic 		W 69–62  12–1
 Thomas & Mack Center (5,700)
Las Vegas, Nevada
Dec 28, 1985*
 No. 14 at No. 12 UNLV
UNLV Holiday Classic 		L 72–73  12–2
 Thomas & Mack Center (17,980)
Las Vegas, Nevada
Jan 4, 1986
 No. 16 Old Dominion W 66–51  13–2
(1–0) 		Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (10,497)
Birmingham, Alabama
Jan 6, 1986
 No. 14 at South Florida W 57–46  14–2
(2–0) 		Sun Dome (2,945)
Tampa, Florida
Jan 9, 1986
 No. 14 VCU W 72–70 OT 15–2
(3–0) 		Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (7,491)
Birmingham, Alabama
Jan 13, 1986
 No. 12 South Alabama W 77–64  16–2
(4–0) 		Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (5,719)
Birmingham, Alabama
Jan 16, 1986
 No. 12 Western Kentucky L 72–75 OT 16–3
(4–1) 		Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (10,071)
Birmingham, Alabama
Jan 18, 1986*
 No. 12 at DePaul L 61–70  16–4
 Rosemont Horizon (12,591)
Rosemont, Illinois
Jan 21, 1986
 No. 18 at Jacksonville W 75–67  17–4
(5–1) 		Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum (6,078)
Jacksonville, Florida
Jan 23, 1986
 No. 18 UNC Charlotte W 81–63  18–4
(6–1) 		Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (7,717)
Birmingham, Alabama
Jan 25, 1986
 No. 18 at Western Kentucky L 75–81  18–5
(6–2) 		E. A. Diddle Arena (13,300)
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Jan 27, 1986
 South Florida W 71–56  19–5
(7–2) 		Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (8,091)
Birmingham, Alabama
Jan 30, 1986
 at Old Dominion W 71–58  20–5
(8–2) 		Norfolk Scope (7,214)
Norfolk, Virginia
Feb 1, 1986
 Jacksonville L 60–65  20–6
(8–3) 		Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (12,167)
Birmingham, Alabama
Feb 6, 1986
 at VCU L 57–63  20–7
(8–4) 		Richmond Coliseum (7,152)
Richmond, Virginia
Feb 8, 1986*
 South Carolina W 83–54  21–7
 Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (6,251)
Birmingham, Alabama
Feb 15, 1986
 at South Alabama L 46–48  21–8
(8–5) 		Jaguar Gym (4,259)
Mobile, Alabama
Feb 17, 1986
 at UNC Charlotte W 70–54  22–8
(9–5) 		Charlotte Coliseum (6,507)
Charlotte, North Carolina
Feb 22, 1986*
 at No. 7 Michigan L 54–62  22–9
 Crisler Arena (13,609)
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Sun Belt tournament
Feb 27, 1986*
 (3) (6) South Alabama
Quarterfinals 		W 64–51  23–9
 Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (6,802)
Birmingham, Alabama
Feb 28, 1986*
 (3) (2) Western Kentucky
Semifinals 		W 57–45  24–9
 Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (8,011)
Birmingham, Alabama
Mar 1, 1986*
 (3) (4) Jacksonville
Championship game 		L 69–70  24–10
 Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (8,715)
Birmingham, Alabama
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1986*
 (6 W) vs. (11 W) Missouri
First Round 		W 66–64  25–10
 Dee Events Center (11,298)
Ogden, Utah
Mar 15, 1986*
 (6 W) vs. (3 W) No. 8 North Carolina
Second Round 		L 59–77  25–11
 Dee Events Center (11,234)
Ogden, Utah
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
W=West.
All times are in Central Time.

[4][5]

Rankings

Main article: 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

[6]

NBA draft

Main article: 1986 NBA draft
Round Pick Player NBA Club
2 36 Steve Mitchell Washington Bullets

[7]

References

  1. ^ "West Regional Roundup". UPI Archives. March 14, 1986. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  2. ^ "N. Carolina, Louisville Pull Away". The Washington Post. March 16, 1986. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  3. ^ "1985–86 Alabama–Birmingham Blazers Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  4. ^ "2019-20 UAB Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). UAB Athletics. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  5. ^ "1985-86 Men's Basketball Schedule". UAB Athletics. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  6. ^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 899–900. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  7. ^ "1986 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 3, 2022.