# 1985–86 UAB Blazers men's basketball team

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 before falling to No. 3 seed North Carolina in the round of 32, 77–59.

## 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. ||||||

## NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 2 | 36 | Steve Mitchell | Washington Bullets |