By Steve Irvine
November 10, 2026 - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
It sounds like a simple way to describe a successful night but, according to UAB men’s basketball head coach Andy Kennedy, things went well for his team because they put the ball in the basket.
“You know, it’s amazing how much better your team looks when the ball goes in the basket,” Kennedy said after his team thumped Florida A&M, 92-64, in a non-conference game at Bartow Arena.
Even problem areas in the early part of the season – turnovers and rebounding – were cured on this particular night. UAB, which committed 31 turnovers in the first two games, avoided a turnover in the first 20 minutes and ended up with just eight for the game.
“Like I said, it’s a fun game when you’re hitting the shots,” said guard Justyn Fernandez, who tied Deuce Jones for team-high honors with 20 points. “I think that us hitting shots and not giving them the ball kind of let us go up by 20.”
The Blazers also controlled the boards, outrebounding the Rattlers, 49-33, overall and 19-7 on the offensive glass. They did it by getting contributions throughout the lineup. Aleks Alston had eight rebounds, Matt Mbole and Jeremy Elyzee each had eight rebounds with Mbole’s coming in just 12 minutes on the floor and every player who played at least 10 minutes had at least three rebounds.
“Good defense helps offense and kind of vice versa,” said Kennedy, whose team outscored Florida A&M, 13-5 on fastbreak points. “I think that the more we defend and get rebounds the more transition opportunities will come about. I think that’s where we’ll be at our best but it starts with getting stops.”
The stop came on Monday night and UAB made it pay off on the opposite end of the floor by making 12 of 24 3-pointers with Fernandez, Jones, Salim London and Tim Holliday all hitting two from long range. While Fernandez and Jones led the way in points it was London filling the stat sheet with 12 points, six rebounds, six assists, two steals and two turnovers in 23 minutes.
“I love Salim,” Kennedy said. “He had a huge night. He had one of this turnovers trying to feel (Alston), who was kind of posting. We just do some foolish things. But I thought to see the ball go in the basket for him (was big). He made two big 3s. We need to see Salim be our steadying force. It’s good for his mojo to play well.”
UAB (2-1) plays its first true road game of the season on Saturday night at Jacksonville State.