2020–21 UAB Blazers men's basketball team

American college basketball season

2020–21 UAB Blazers men's basketball

Conference	Conference USA
Division	West Division
Record	22–7 (13–5 C-USA)
Head coach	Andy Kennedy (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Philip Pearson Ryan Cross Terry Parker
Home arena	Bartow Arena
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 Conference USA men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
East
Western Kentucky	11	–	3	.786	21	–	8	.724
Old Dominion	11	–	5	.688	15	–	8	.652
Marshall	9	–	5	.643	15	–	7	.682
Florida Atlantic	7	–	5	.583	13	–	10	.565
Charlotte	5	–	11	.313	9	–	15	.375
Middle Tennessee	3	–	13	.188	5	–	18	.217
FIU	2	–	15	.118	9	–	17	.346
West
Louisiana Tech	12	–	4	.750	24	–	8	.750
UAB	13	–	5	.722	22	–	7	.759
North Texas †	9	–	5	.643	18	–	10	.643
UTSA	9	–	7	.563	15	–	11	.577
UTEP	8	–	8	.500	12	–	12	.500
Rice	6	–	10	.375	15	–	13	.536
Southern Miss	4	–	13	.235	8	–	17	.320

† 2021 C-USA Tournament winner

The 2020–21 UAB Blazers basketball team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Blazers, led by first-year head coach Andy Kennedy, played their home games at the Bartow Arena as members of Conference USA.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Makhtar Gueye	5	F	6'10"	210	Junior	Rufisque, Senegal	Transferred to California Baptist
Luis Hurtado	10	G	6'6"	210	RS Sophomore	Mérida, Venezuela	Transferred to Bryant
Will Butler	12	F	6'8"	245	Senior	Troy, New York	Graduated
Joshua Sippial	15	G	6'2"	180	Sophomore	Montgomery, Alabama	Transferred
Jordan Brinson	23	G	6'2"	175	Freshman	Inglewood, California	Transferred to Utah Valley
Antonio Ralat	25	G	6'2"	200	Senior	San Juan,Puerto Rico	Graduated
Rashawn Fredericks	32	G	6'5"	200	Senior	St. Croix, Virgin Islands	Graduate Transfer to James Madison
Jude Akabueze	34	F	6'8"	260	RS Freshman	Lagos, Nigeria	Transferred to Jones County Junior College

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Michael Ertel	2	G	6'2"	190	Senior	Indianapolis, Indiana	Graduate transfer from Louisiana–Monroe
Simeon Kirkland	10	F	6'10"	225	Junior	Ocala, Florida	Junior college transfer from Florida Southwestern State College
Quan Jackson	13	G	6'4"	180	Senior	Tallahassee, Florida	Graduate transfer from Georgia Southern
Trey Jemison	55	C	7'0"	256	Junior	Birmingham, Alabama	Transferred from Clemson. Granted immediate eligibility wavier from the NCAA.

Roster

2020–21 UAB Blazers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Tyreek Scott-Grayson	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	Sr	Suffield Academy State Fair Community College	Brick, New Jersey
G	2	Michael Ertel	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr	Louisiana–Monroe	Indianapolis, Indiana
G	3	Tavin Lovan	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	196 lb (89 kg)	Jr	Franklin-Simpson High School	Franklin, Kentucky
G	4	Koby Jeffries	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	RS Fr	First Assembly Christian School	Olive Branch, Mississippi
G	5	Jalen Benjamin	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	140 lb (64 kg)	RS So	Meadowcreek High School	Raleigh, North Carolina
F	10	Simeon Kirkland	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jr	IMG Academy Florida Southwestern State College	Ocala, Florida
G	11	Kassim Nicholson	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr	Callaway High School Holmes CC	Jackson, MS
G	12	Tony Toney	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Mae Jeminson High School	Huntsville, Alabama
G	13	Quan Jackson	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Georgia Southern	Tallahassee, Florida
F	15	Terrell Ard,Jr.	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Putnam Science Academy	Acworth, Georgia
G	21	Jon Coleman	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	So	Hall High School	Little Rock, Arkansas
G	25	Rongie Gordon	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Fr	Jefferson Davis High School	Montgomery, Alabama
G	33	Tobias Rotegaard	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Sunrise Christian Academy	Kongsberg, Norway
C	55	Trey Jemison	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	256 lb (116 kg)	Jr	Hoover High School Clemson	Birmingham, Alabama

Head coach

Andy Kennedy (UAB)

Assistant coach(es)

Philip Pearson (Alabama)
Ryan Cross (Buffalo)
Terry Parker (Louisiana Tech)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 25, 2020* 2:30 pm, CUSAtv		Alcorn State	W 99–50^[1]	1–0	Bartow Arena (906) Birmingham, AL
Nov 28, 2020* 2:00 pm		Southeastern Louisiana	W 84–59	2–0	Bartow Arena (709) Birmingham, AL
Dec 2, 2020* 6:30 pm		Kennesaw State	W 73–48	3–0	Bartow Arena (820) Birmingham, AL
Dec 6, 2020* 2:00 pm		Troy	W 77–55	4–0	Bartow Arena (969) Birmingham, AL
Dec 9, 2020* 6:30 pm		Mobile	Canceled ^[a]^[2]		Bartow Arena Birmingham, AL
Dec 9, 2020* 6:30 pm		Tuskegee	W 89–64 ^[2]	5–0	Bartow Arena (771) Birmingham, AL
Dec 12, 2020* 3:00 pm, ESPN+		at East Tennessee State	W 65–61	6–0	Freedom Hall Civic Center (124) Johnson City, TN
Dec 16, 2020* 6:30 pm		Southern	W 88–46	7–0	Bartow Arena (784) Birmingham, AL
Dec 19, 2020* 2:00 pm		Chattanooga	L 66–69	7–1	Bartow Arena (819) Birmingham, AL
Dec 23, 2020* 8:00 pm, CBSSN		Georgia Tech	Canceled ^[a]^[3]		Bartow Arena Birmingham, AL
Jan 1, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at North Texas	Postponed ^[b]^[4]		The Super Pit Denton, TX
Jan 2, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at North Texas	Postponed ^[b]^[4]		The Super Pit Denton, TX
Jan 8, 2021 6:30 pm		Southern Miss	W 72–60	8–1 (1–0)	Bartow Arena (925) Birmingham, AL
Jan 9, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN+		Southern Miss	W 62–58	9–1 (2–0)	Bartow Arena (932) Birmingham, AL
Jan 15, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPNU		at Charlotte	W 61–37	10–1 (3–0)	Dale F. Halton Arena Charlotte, NC
Jan 16, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN+		at Charlotte	L 55–70	10–2 (3–1)	Dale F. Halton Arena Charlotte, NC
Jan 22, 2021 6:30 pm		Rice	W 78–68	11–2 (4–1)	Bartow Arena (1,099) Birmingham, AL
Jan 23, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN+		Rice	W 86–74	12–2 (5–1)	Bartow Arena (989) Birmingham, AL
Jan 29, 2021 8:00 pm, CBSSN		at Middle Tennessee	W 70–59	13–2 (6–1)	Murphy Center (100) Murfreesboro, TN
Jan 31, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Middle Tennessee	W 63–52	14–2 (7–1)	Bartow Arena (1,068) Birmingham, AL
Feb 5, 2021 6:30 pm, ESPN+		UTEP	W 63–51	15–2 (8–1)	Bartow Arena (1,138) Birmingham, AL
Feb 6, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN+		UTEP	W 75–60	16–2 (9–1)	Bartow Arena (1,058) Birmingham, AL
Feb 12, 2021 6:30 pm, Stadium		at Louisiana Tech	L 58–70	16–3 (9–2)	Thomas Assembly Center (1,200) Ruston, LA
Feb 13, 2021 6:00 pm, Stadium		at Louisiana Tech	L 64–69	16–4 (9–3)	Thomas Assembly Center (1,200) Ruston, LA
Feb 19, 2021 6:30 pm, Stadium		Old Dominion	W 76–69	17–4 (10–3)	Bartow Arena (1,024) Birmingham, AL
Feb 20, 2021 3:00 pm, Stadium		Old Dominion	L 58–65	17–5 (10–4)	Bartow Arena (1,028) Birmingham, AL
Feb 22, 2021* 6:00 pm, CUSAtv		Rust College	W 117–45	18–5	Bartow Arena (722) Birmingham, AL
Feb 26, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at UTSA	W 64–57	19–5 (11–4)	Convocation Center (429) San Antonio, TX
Feb 27, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN+		at UTSA	L 79–96	19–6 (11–5)	Convocation Center (394) San Antonio, TX
Mar 5, 2021^[5] 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at North Texas	W 65–51	20–6 (12–5)	UNT Coliseum (1,359) Denton, TX
Mar 6, 2021^[5] 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at North Texas	W 65–61	21–6 (13–5)	UNT Coliseum (1,450) Denton, TX
Conference USA tournament
Mar 11, 2021 6:00 p.m., Stadium	(W2)	vs. (W6) Rice Quarterfinals	W 73–60	22–6	Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX
Mar 12, 2021 11:00 a.m., CBSSN	(W2)	vs. (E1) Western Kentucky Semifinals	L 60–64	22–7	Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source^[6]

Notes

^ ^a ^b Game was canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic related issues.
^ ^a ^b Game was postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic related issues.

References

^ "UAB Alcorn St boxscore". Retrieved November 26, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "UAB rolls to 89-64 win over Tuskegee; improves to 5-0 for second time in program history". The Birmingham News. December 9, 2020. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
^ "Georgia Tech's basketball game at UAB canceled". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. December 23, 2020. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Vito, Brett (December 30, 2020). "North Texas' C-USA opening series against UAB in men's basketball postponed". Denton Record-Chronicle. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
^ ^a ^b "C-USA Announces Rescheduled Men's Basketball Games". Conference USA. February 11, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
^ UAB Official Athletic Site – Men's Basketball

v t e UAB Blazers men's basketball
Venues	BJCC Coliseum (1978–1988) Bartow Arena (1988–present)
Rivalries	Auburn Memphis
Culture & lore	Blaze
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
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