UAB 65, Tulsa 55

Tuesday night in Birmingham, Ala., a novel occasion greeted the world of Conference USA basketball. In a nerve-inducing encounter with extremely high stakes, it was the combination of home court advantage and free throws which gave the Alabama-Birmingham Blazers a taste of how nice first place can be.

In 2010, the Memphis Tigers do not rule the roost in this conference, which possesses a number of schools with considerable basketball traditions but not a steady stream of NCAA Tournament appearances. Tulsa and UAB - along with Memphis (formerly known as Memphis State) - form part of C-USA's rich basketball heritage, but the Golden Hurricane and the Blazers needed to rediscover what it was like to punch a premium postseason ticket.

Tulsa - once coached by Nolan Richardson in the early 1980s - was a formidable member of the Missouri Valley Conference for many years. The Oklahoma-based program waged epic battles with Wichita State's best teams in the first half of the 80s, and in the 1990s, the Hurricane hoopsters - under the guidance of a man named Tubby Smith - reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAAs. After Smith left, a fella named Bill Self - ever heard of him? - guided Tulsa to an Elite Eight appearance in the 2000 edition of "The Tournament" before falling to North Carolina in the regional final round. The reality is clear: National championship coaches have honed their skills at Tulsa over the past three decades, as an outfit situated outside the power conferences had been able to achieve big.

In recent years, though, the wells of basketball success ran dry in an oil-drilling state.

Oklahomans who expected more tourney triumphs from Tulsa were disappointed in recent seasons. With the unquestioned ascendancy of Memphis in the John Calipari years, the Golden Hurricane - like everyone else in C-USA - were relegated to second-rate status. The last time Tulsa reached the Big Dance was in 2003, under then-coach John Phillips. A six-season Tournament drought isn't what the locals are used to in oil country. But with the comedown of Memphis - made possible by the departure of John Calipari - a conference crown became a realistic possibility once again. Fresh life was breathed into this recognized hoops hotbed.

But if Tulsa had big aspirations heading into this season and especially this game, UAB owned those considerably high hungers as well.

The Blazers - under former coach Gene Bartow - were a regular NCAA Tournament entrant in the 1980s, reaching America's most celebrated multi-round event from 1981 through 1987.  The NCAA appearances didn't arrive quite as regularly as the years went by, but every three or four seasons, a UAB bunch was good enough to reach the happy precincts of Bracketville. Mike Anderson, a Nolan Richardson protégé, led the Blazers to the Big Dance from 2004 through 2006, but ever since Anderson left for Missouri and current coach Mike Davis took over in the fall of 2006, UAB hasn't yet been able to return to the center of March Madness. The absence of Memphis from the NCAA chase in 2010 gave the Blazers an opportunity they had to seize.

It was with this background in mind that Tulsa and UAB played at the Bartow Center on Tuesday.

In the end, a 23-16 free throw edge and a raucous home court proved to be extremely valuable for UAB. A Tulsa team that beat Oklahoma State but lost to Missouri State and Nebraska is still working its way upward in the college basketball pecking order, and in this contest, the Golden Hurricane received a lesson about the need for composure. The UAB fanatics who flocked to a lively arena helped fluster their opponent from Oklahoma. Tulsa committed 17 turnovers and gave away too many possessions in a game dominated by defense. UAB shot only 42 percent from the field and hit only 2 of 14 3-pointers, but because the rattled visitors from the Sooner State couldn't value the ball, they were blitzed by the Blazers in this occasion of opportunity.

With this 10-point win safely tucked away, UAB doesn't just possess first place in C-USA at 6-0, one game ahead of 5-1 Tulsa and a game and a half ahead of multiple schools. The Blazers - who beat Butler, a premium nonconference scalp - just might be able to position themselves for an at-large NCAA berth if they can win the league and not accumulate any appreciably bad losses along the way. If UAB can complete its journey, the Bartow family - and the other people who originally built Blazer basketball into something special - will certainly be smiling.

Yes, life in the era of post-Memphis dominance is a refreshing prospect for the rest of Conference USA... especially the UAB Blazers, now masters of their fate after this defining win over a foremost challenger for league supremacy.