By Steve Irvine
November 3, 2026 - ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA
First half turnovers and the inability to get defensive stops in both halves, particularly the second half, were huge stumbling blocks in the UAB mens’ basketball team opening up the 2026-27 regular season with a 99-78 loss to McNeese State on Monday in the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon at the Rock Hill (S.C.) Sports and Events Center.
“Well, I hate the way that we played, really disappointing,” UAB head coach Andy Kennedy said during his postgame radio appearance on the Blazer Sports Network from Learfield. “Really disappointing and embarrassing on many, many fronts.”
Before the disappointment began, however, UAB burst out of the gates with a pair of 3-pointers by Justyn Fernandez and the Blazers eventually built a 15-6 lead. About that time the disappointment began because the Blazers wilted under the Cowboys’ defensive pressure and had no answer for McNeese State standout Larry Johnson. Mix those two things together and McNeese strung together a 19-1 run to take control.
“I thought we started the game great, came out with some good energy,” said Kennedy, whose team had 11 first half turnovers. “They make a run on us and I thought we made a little run at the end of the first half to stay in there. We had so many turnovers. They were up 21-2 in points off turnovers and second chance points in the first half and we were down by nine (44-35 at half). I told our guys we're fortunate to still be in the game, let's settle in. Our turnover issues kind of got resolved, maybe some at the end of the first half. In the second half, we came out and we let Larry Johnson do what Larry Johnson does.”
Johnson not only finished with a career best 31 points but he also got his teammates going on the offensive end.
“They started playing with great confidence, that rim got real wide,” Kennedy said. “They're not a prolific three-point shooting team but they made 12 tonight. They've got a number of guys that that really rose up and made plays. They hurt us on the backboard. We ended up with only 14 turnovers, but only because at the end, they were just trying to keep us in front of them. Really disappointed in the way that we played. Give McNeese State credit. They’re a good basketball team and I thought they played well today.”
UAB did a good job on the boards early in the game, outrebounding McNeese State 9-2 in the first few minutes, but ended up losing 33-26 in that category. The Cowboys won second chance points, 18-6, and points off turnovers, 18-7. McNeese State also led in blocked shots (8-2), steals (10-5) and assists (20-15).
UAB had five players finish in double figure scoring with Elijah Duval leading the way with 15 points, five assists and two rebounds. Deuce Jones had 12 points, four rebounds and two assists, Fernandez had 11 points and Salim London and TJ Caldwell each added 10 points. UAB made 26-of-30 free throws, which is a 86.7 success rate.
But Kennedy went away from the stat sheet to break down what bothered him most in the season opening loss.
“My biggest frustration is just our lack of awareness, man,” Kennedy said. “This group is crazy in lack of (awareness). I look back, something that we’re doing as a staff is not connecting. We look a step slow. We look confused. We don't really have much of a voice on the court. We've got to get back and get that corrected immediately.”
A big part of that, Kennedy said, needs to come from the UAB players.
“I think this group has got to take more personal ownership of possessions that happen on the floor,” Kennedy said. “I know the best teams are player-led. Right now, we just don't have much of a voice. We’ve got some bad habits that we think that we can just manufacture and play through. We got to be really open about making the steps that are necessary.”
UAB plays its first game in the restructured Bartow Arena on Friday night against Nicholls with opening tip scheduled for 6:30.