1984–85 UAB Blazers men's basketball team

The 1984–85 UAB Blazers men's basketball team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham as a member of the Sun Belt Conference during the 1984–85 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Gene Bartow's 7th season at UAB, and the Blazers played their home games at BJCC Coliseum. They finished the season 25–9, 11–3 in Sun Belt play and lost in the semifinals of the Sun Belt tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 7 seed in the Midwest region. The Blazers defeated Michigan State in the opening round before falling to No. 2 seed and eventual Final Four participant Memphis State in the round of 32, 67–66.

1984–85 UAB Blazers men's basketball
Great Alaska Shootout champions
NCAA tournament, Second Round
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Record	25–9 (11–3 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Gene Bartow (7th season)
Home arena	BJCC Coliseum
Seasons ← 1983–84 1985–86 →

1984–85 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 11 VCU †	12	–	2		.857			26	–	6		.813
UAB	11	–	3		.786			25	–	9		.735
Old Dominion	9	–	5		.643			19	–	12		.613
South Florida	6	–	8		.429			18	–	12		.600
Jacksonville	6	–	8		.429			15	–	14		.517
South Alabama	6	–	8		.429			15	–	13		.536
Western Kentucky	5	–	9		.357			14	–	14		.500
UNC Charlotte	1	–	13		.071			5	–	23		.179
† 1985 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

1984–85 UAB Blazers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 11 Murry Bartow 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Sr Birmingham, Alabama F 12 Marvin Ray Johnson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — Sr Birmingham, Alabama G 14 Steve Mitchell 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Memphis, Tennessee G 32 James Ponder 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Atlanta, Georgia F 40 Jerome Mincy 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Memphis, Tennessee	Head coach Gene Bartow Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

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Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 23, 1984*		vs. Tennessee Great Alaska Shootout	W 70–65	1–0	Sullivan Arena (2,863) Anchorage, Alaska
Nov 24, 1984*		vs. No. 2 Illinois Great Alaska Shootout	W 59–52^[2]	2–0	Sullivan Arena (4,762) Anchorage, Alaska
Nov 25, 1984*		vs. No. 19 Kansas Great Alaska Shootout	W 50–46^[3]	3–0	Sullivan Arena (4,286) Anchorage, Alaska
Nov 30, 1984*	No. 13	Auburn	L 59–61^[4]	3–1	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (17,025) Birmingham, Alabama
Dec 1, 1984*	No. 13	Rhodes College	W 95–72	4–1	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (3,211) Birmingham, Alabama
Dec 5, 1984*	No. 18	South Carolina State	W 73–56	5–1	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (3,556) Birmingham, Alabama
Dec 12, 1984*	No. 17	at Cincinnati	L 67–69	5–2	Riverfront Coliseum (5,080) Cincinnati, Ohio
Dec 15, 1984*	No. 17	East Tennessee State	W 72–57	6–2	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (4,889) Birmingham, Alabama
Dec 17, 1984*		Mississippi State	W 65–63	7–2	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (5,595) Birmingham, Alabama
Dec 21, 1984*		Austin Peay	W 80–68	8–2	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (3,391) Birmingham, Alabama
Dec 22, 1984*		George Mason	L 60–61	8–3	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (4,710) Birmingham, Alabama
Dec 28, 1984*		vs. No. 2 Duke Trojan-Bud Light Classic	L 62–76	8–4	L.A. Sports Arena (5,047) Los Angeles, California
Dec 29, 1984*		vs. The Citadel Trojan-Bud Light Classic	W 79–64	9–4	L.A. Sports Arena (5,776) Los Angeles, California
Jan 3, 1985*		Wisconsin-Parkside	W 89–65	10–4	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (2,896) Birmingham, Alabama
Jan 4, 1985*		No. 10 DePaul	W 66–59	11–4	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (17,222) Birmingham, Alabama
Jan 10, 1985		Jacksonville	W 67–55	12–4 (1–0)	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (5,785) Birmingham, Alabama
Jan 12, 1985		at South Florida	W 58–52	13–4 (2–0)	Sun Dome (6,367) Tampa, Florida
Jan 16, 1985		at Jacksonville	W 69–64	14–4 (3–0)	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum  Jacksonville, Florida
Jan 19, 1985		at Western Kentucky	W 68–66	15–4 (4–0)	E.A. Diddle Arena  Bowling Green, Kentucky
Jan 22, 1985		UNC Charlotte	W 65–62	16–4 (5–0)	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center  Birmingham, Alabama
Feb 21, 1985		at UNC Charlotte	W 60–55	23–7 (11–3)	Charlotte Coliseum  Charlotte, North Carolina
Sun Belt tournament
Mar 1, 1985*		vs. Western Kentucky Quarterfinals	W 64–56	24–7	Hampton Coliseum (3,010) Hampton, Virginia
Mar 2, 1985*		vs. Old Dominion Semifinals	L 67–68	24–8	Hampton Coliseum (9,558) Hampton, Virginia
NCAA tournament
Mar 15, 1985*	(7 MW)	vs. (10 MW) Michigan State First round	W 70–68	25–8	Hofheinz Pavilion (8,000) Houston, Texas
Mar 17, 1985*	(7 MW)	vs. (2 MW) No. 5 Memphis State Second round	L 66–67 ^OT	25–9	Hofheinz Pavilion (6,800) Houston, Texas
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest.

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Rankings

Main article: 1984–85 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Awards and honors

• Gene Bartow – Sun Belt Coach of the Year

References

1. "1984–85 Alabama–Birmingham Blazers Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
2. "No. 2 Illinois Falls, 59-52". The Washington Post. November 25, 1984. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
3. "UAB Upsets Kansas in Alaska". The Washington Post. November 26, 1984. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
4. "College Basketball Roundup". UPI Archives. December 1, 1984. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
5. "2019-20 UAB Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). UAB Athletics. Retrieved January 29, 2022.