Crawford’s dunk with 1 second left lifts No. 24 UAB to 73-72 win over Arkansas

Crawford lifts No. 24 UAB over Arkansas 73-72

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Howard Crawford scored on a dunk off an inbound play with 1 second left to lift No. 24 Alabama-Birmingham to a 73-72 win over Arkansas on Saturday.

UAB (12-2) trailed 72-71 with 2.2 seconds left and called a timeout to set up a final play. Crawford raced down the lane unguarded and easily scored the winner for the Blazers.

Arkansas (7-7) led by five points with just over 2 minutes left after trailing for much of the second half. But UAB’s Elijah Millsap hit two free throws with 1:19 left to pull the Blazers within 72-71.

After an Arkansas turnover, Millsap missed a long jumper and Arkansas rebounded with 35 seconds left. The Razorbacks ran the clock down to under 10 seconds, but Jemal Farmer missed an open jump shot, setting up the final play for UAB.

Arkansas raced to an 11-point first-half lead and led 25-14 with 9:45 left on a mid-lane jumper by Rotnei Clarke.

The Blazers went on a 15-2 run over the next six minutes to take a 29-27 lead on a 3-pointer by Jamarr Sanders and built the lead to 39-31 at halftime after Sanders hit another 3-pointer.

Arkansas opened the second half with a 7-0 run to pull within 39-38 on a three-point play by Marshawn Powell. The score was close for the rest of the game with Arkansas finally taking a 53-52 lead on Michael Washington’s layup with 10:49 left.

Millsap led UAB with 22 points and Crawford added 13, Cameron Moore had 11 and Sanders 10.

Powell scored 22 points for Arkansas and Washington added 18 and Clarke 16.

The Blazers open Conference USA play on Wednesday against East Carolina. Arkansas hosts No. 2 Texas on Tuesday in its final nonconference game before opening Southeastern Conference play at Mississippi State on Jan. 14.