Auburn–UAB men's basketball rivalry

Auburn Tigers

UAB Blazers

Sport

Men's college basketball

First meeting

November 26, 1982
Auburn 63, UAB 61

Latest meeting

December 3, 2016
Auburn 74, UAB 70

Statistics

Meetings total

All-time series

UAB leads, 10–9

Largest victory

UAB, 105–76 (Feb. 25, 1989)

Longest win streak

UAB, 4 (1989–1991)
Auburn, 4 (1998–present)

Current win streak

Auburn, 4 (1998–present)

The Auburn–UAB men's basketball rivalry is a men's college basketball rivalry between the Auburn Tigers and the UAB Blazers. Despite its relative youth and a 15-year hiatus from 2000–2014, the rivalry remains one of the fiercest and most competitive in the state of Alabama.

History

Formation and early games

Auburn and UAB first played in 1982, just four seasons after the creation of the UAB men's basketball program. The matchup originated as a supplementary event at the Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center (BJCC) for Auburn fans in Birmingham on the night before the Iron Bowl football game was played at Legion Field.^[1] However, UAB's quick rise to national prominence led to the Auburn–UAB game gaining significance in its own right. Three of those first five games in the BJCC saw one of the two teams come in ranked in the top 25, and the 1984 game remains the third-largest home crowd in UAB basketball history.^[2]

Following a one-year break, Auburn and UAB played each other for 12 consecutive seasons. UAB was dominant during this period, winning eight out of ten games from 1989–1997. The 1997 and 1998 editions of the rivalry were played in the Holiday Hardwood Classic at the BJCC as part of a doubleheader with Alabama.

Hiatus

Following their 1999 matchup, Auburn head coach Cliff Ellis wanted the series to be played at Auburn until the number of games played in Auburn was equal to those played in Birmingham.^[3] UAB athletic director Gene Bartow and UAB head coach Murry Bartow refused to play the game exclusively in Auburn, so the series came to a halt.^[4] Despite pleas from both the media and the fans to continue the rivalry, no games were scheduled between the two programs for 15 seasons.

Rivalry renewal

In May 2015, following UAB's NCAA Tournament upset over 3-seed Iowa State and Bruce Pearl's first season at Auburn, UAB announced that they had reached an agreement to play Auburn in a four-game series. The first game would be played at Auburn, the second at UAB, then back at Auburn, then finally at Legacy Arena. (formerly the BJCC)^[5] Auburn won the first game of the series renewal in front of a sold out Auburn Arena, 75–74, on a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the game.^[6] In 2016, Auburn defeated UAB in the first game played at Bartow Arena in the series since 1996, 74–70.^[7]

Game results

Game	Date	Auburn		UAB		Location	Series
1	Nov. 26, 1982	Auburn	63	UAB	61	Birmingham*	AUB	1–0
2	Dec. 2, 1983	Auburn	62	UAB^OT	69	Birmingham*	–	1–1
3	Nov. 30, 1984	Auburn	61	#13 UAB	59	Birmingham*	AUB	2–1
4	Dec. 10, 1985	Auburn	56	#16 UAB	62	Birmingham*	–	2–2
5	Nov. 28, 1986	#12 Auburn	68	UAB	58	Birmingham*	AUB	3–2
6	Feb. 25, 1989	Auburn	76	UAB	105	Birmingham*	–	3–3
7	Dec. 1, 1989	Auburn	65	UAB	75	Auburn	UAB	4–3
8	Nov. 30, 1990	Auburn	65	UAB	71	Birmingham	UAB	5–3
9	Nov. 29, 1991	Auburn	74	UAB	88	Birmingham*	UAB	6–3
10	Feb. 9, 1993	Auburn	86	UAB	74	Birmingham	UAB	6–4
11	Dec. 16, 1993	Auburn	65	UAB	69	Auburn	UAB	7–4
12	Nov. 30, 1994	Auburn	60	UAB	54	Birmingham	UAB	7–5
13	Dec. 3, 1995	Auburn	54	UAB	66	Auburn	UAB	8–5
14	Nov. 22, 1996	Auburn	57	UAB	64	Birmingham	UAB	9–5
15	Dec. 20, 1997	Auburn	65	UAB	71	Birmingham**	UAB	10–5
16	Dec. 12, 1998	#24 Auburn	77	UAB	64	Birmingham**	UAB	10–6
17	Nov. 19, 1999	#3 Auburn	65	UAB	59	Auburn	UAB	10–7
18	Nov. 13, 2015	Auburn	75	UAB	74	Auburn	UAB	10–8
19	Dec. 3, 2016	Auburn	74	UAB	70	Birmingham	UAB	10–9

(*) – Played at the BJCC

(**) – Holiday Hardwood Classic at the BJCC

References

↑ "Tuco gives a short history of Auburn's Least Appreciated Rivalry: UAB Basketball #FreeUAB". College and Magnolia. 2015-11-12. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
↑ "UAB Athletics Official Athletic Site - University of Alabama at Birmingham". www.uabsports.com. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
↑ "Gene Bartow remembers his `great friend' Cliff Ellis". AL.com. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
↑ "Andy Kennedy thinks UAB and Auburn should play each other in basketball again". AL.com. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
↑ "UAB, Auburn Set For Four-Game Men's Basketball Series". Retrieved 2017-03-22.
↑ "Rewinding Auburn's 75-74 win over UAB in season opener". AL.com. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
↑ "Young Auburn squad defeats UAB 74-70 in first road test". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-04-05.

Auburn Tigers men's basketball
Venues	The Gymnasium (1906–1916) Alumni Gymnasium (1916–1946) Auburn Sports Arena (1946–1969) Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum (1969–2010) Auburn Arena (2010–present)
Rivalries	Alabama UAB
Culture & lore	Aubie The Jungle
People	Head coaches All-Americans NBA Draft picks
Seasons	1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18

UAB Blazers men's basketball
Venues	BJCC Arena (1978–1988) Bartow Arena (1988–present)
Rivalries	Auburn
Culture & lore	History Blaze
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

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