# 2015–16 UAB Blazers men's basketball team

The 2015–16 UAB Blazers basketball team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Blazers, led by fourth year head coach Jerod Haase, played their home games at the Bartow Arena as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 26–7, 16–2 in C-USA play to win the C-USA regular season championship. They lost in the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament to WKU. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to BYU.
Following the season, head coach Jerod Haase left UAB to accept the head coaching position at Stanford. On April 4, 2016, the school hired Robert Ehsan, who had been an assistant under Haase at UAB, as head coach .

## Previous season

The Blazers finished the 2014–15 season 20–16, 12–6 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They defeated WKU, Louisiana Tech, and Middle Tennessee to become champions of the C-USA tournament. They received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 14 seed where they upset No. 3-seeded and No. 9-ranked Iowa State in the Second round before losing in the Third round to No. 11-seeded UCLA.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Jarvis Calhoun | 5 | G | 6'0" | 165 | Freshman | Trussville, AL | Transferred to John A. Logan College |
| C. J. Washington | 25 | F | 6'8" | 219 | Senior | Augusta, GA | Graduated |
| Denzel Collins | 40 | G | 6'2" | 200 | Senior | Savannah, GA | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Deion Lavender | 5 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Sophomore | Alton, IL | Transferred from Southern Illinois. Under NCAA transfer rules, Lavender will have to sit out for the 2015–16 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |

## Incoming recruits

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Dirk Williams SG | Homewood, AL | Tallahassee Community College | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: JR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 27, 2014. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 6* 7:00 pm | | Cal State East Bay | W 99–59 | | Bartow Arena (3,553) Birmingham, AL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 13* 8:30 pm, SECN+ | | at Auburn | L 74–75 | 0–1 | Auburn Arena (9,121) Auburn, AL |
| November 16* 8:00 pm, ASN | | Alabama State Emerald Coast Classic | W 72–70 | 1–1 | Bartow Arena (4,833) Birmingham, AL |
| November 19* 7:00 pm | | at Troy | W 79–63 | 2–1 | Trojan Arena (2,887) Troy, AL |
| November 22* 4:00 pm, ASN | | Jacksonville State Emerald Coast Classic | W 61–55 | 3–1 | Bartow Arena (3,939) Birmingham, AL |
| November 27* 8:30 pm, CBSSN | | vs. Illinois Emerald Coast Classic semifinals | L 58–72 | 3–2 | The Arena at NWFSC (2,222) Niceville, FL |
| November 28* 2:30 pm, CBSSN | | vs. Virginia Tech Emerald Coast Classic 3rd place game | L 77–82 $^{OT}$ | 3–3 | The Arena at NWFSC (2,222) Niceville, FL |
| December 1* 8:00 pm, ASN | | Georgia State | W 64–57 | 4–3 | Bartow Arena (3,709) Birmingham, AL |
| December 5* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Illinois State | W 74–61 | 5–3 | Redbird Arena (5,093) Normal, IL |
| December 13* 7:00 pm | | Seattle | W 79–73 | 6–3 | Bartow Arena (3,587) Birmingham, AL |
| December 16* 7:00 pm | | USC Upstate | W 96–54 | 7–3 | Bartow Arena (3,395) Birmingham, AL |
| December 19* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at South Florida | W 79–68 | 8–3 | USF Sun Dome (2,671) Tampa, FL |
| December 22* 7:00 pm | | Hiwassee | W 116–43 | 9–3 | Bartow Arena (3,455) Birmingham, AL |
| December 29* 2:30 pm, ASN | | Stephen F. Austin | W 76–66 | 10–3 | Bartow Arena (3,956) Birmingham, AL |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| January 3 2:00 pm, ASN | | Middle Tennessee | W 78–67 | 11–3 (1–0) | Bartow Arena (4,279) Birmingham, AL |
| January 7 7:00 pm | | UTSA | W 104–82 | 12–3 (2–0) | Bartow Arena (3,747) Birmingham, AL |
| January 9 1:00 pm, CBSSN | | UTEP | W 87–80 | 13–3 (3–0) | Bartow Arena (4,287) Birmingham, AL |
| January 14 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Old Dominion | W 72–71 $^{OT}$ | 14–3 (4–0) | Ted Constant Convocation Center (7,162) Norfolk, VA |
| January 16 6:00 pm | | at Charlotte | W 74–72 | 15–3 (5–0) | Dale F. Halton Arena (4,477) Charlotte, NC |
| January 21 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | Rice | W 82–70 | 16–3 (6–0) | Bartow Arena (5,535) Birmingham, AL |
| January 23 7:00 pm | | North Texas | W 78–57 | 17–3 (7–0) | Bartow Arena (6,835) Birmingham, AL |
| January 28 6:30 pm, FS1 | | at WKU | L 62–69 | 17–4 (7–1) | E.A. Diddle Arena (3,892) Bowling Green, KY |
| January 30 11:00 am, CBSSN | | at Marshall | W 81–78 | 18–4 (8–1) | Cam Henderson Center (7,085) Huntington, WV |
| February 4 7:00 pm, ASN | | FIU | W 74–69 | 19–4 (9–1) | Bartow Arena (6,664) Birmingham, AL |
| February 6 7:00 pm | | Florida Atlantic | W 104–67 | 20–4 (10–1) | Bartow Arena (6,211) Birmingham, AL |
| February 11 7:00 pm | | at Southern Miss | W 80–77 $^{2OT}$ | 21–4 (11–1) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,895) Hattiesburg, MS |
| February 13 1:00 pm, FSN | | at Louisiana Tech | L 76–85 | 21–5 (11–2) | Thomas Assembly Center (5,213) Ruston, LA |
| February 21 5:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Middle Tennessee | W 77–67 | 22–5 (12–2) | Murphy Center (7,822) Murfreesboro, TN |
| February 25 7:00 pm | | Marshall | W 95–91 | 23–5 (13–2) | Bartow Arena (7,190) Birmingham, AL |
| February 27 11:00 am, FSN | | WKU | W 71–67 | 24–5 (14–2) | Bartow Arena (7,510) Birmingham, AL |
| March 3 6:00 pm | | at FIU | W 77–60 | 25–5 (15–2) | FIU Arena (1,166) Miami, FL |
| March 5 11:00 am, ASN | | at Florida Atlantic | W 73–70 | 26–5 (16–2) | FAU Arena (729) Boca Raton, FL |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| March 10 12:00 pm, ASN | (1) | vs. (8) WKU Quarterfinals | L 77–88 | 26–6 | Legacy Arena (9,797) Birmingham, AL |
| NIT ||||||
| March 19* 10:00 pm, ESPNU | (7) | at (2) BYU First round – St. Bonaventure Bracket | L 79–97 | 26–7 | Marriott Center (8,420) Provo, UT |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||