Blazers Defeat UTEP, 75-59, To Wrap Up Jacksonville Classic

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - November 25, 2025

The scoreboard at Adams-Jenkins Community Sports Complex on the Edward Waters College campus offered an indication of the control that UAB enjoyed in the 75-59 victory over UTEP in both teams’ second and final game in the Jacksonville (Fla.) Classic.

Just in case that’s not enough, UAB head coach Andy Kennedy detailed his team’s performance in the eight categories that he consider keys to success on game day. Those categories, and Tuesday’s results in them, consist of  rebounds (46-22), 2nd chance points (17-4), Turnovers (7-13), points off turnovers (19-11), free throws (25-of-34 for UAB, 11-of-15 for UTEP), three stops in a row (8-2), 50-50 balls (plus-two) and quality possessions (1.15 for UAB).

“When you win all eight of the categories, which is drawn up for your team and the way that your DNA is, typically you're going to walk out with a 15-plus point win, and that's what we did,” Kennedy said during his postgame appearance on Blazer Sports Network from Learfield.

UAB led for 33 minutes in the game and never trailed by more than four points. The Blazers led by three at halftime but ran away in the second half, largely thanks to the scoring of Jacob Meyer, who finished with a team-high 21 points without a 3-pointer. It was a 7-0 run by Meyer in the second half that turned a nine-point advantage into a 58-42 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the game.

The Blazers not only had a plus-24 advantage in overall rebounds but won the offensive rebound battle, 20-5. KyeRon Lindsay-Martin had 10 rebounds, giving him double digits in that category for the third time in four games, and the Blazers also got good efforts on the boards from Evan Chatman (9 rebounds), Daniel Rivera (7 rebounds) and Meyer (5 rebounds).

Chance Westry had 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal. Chatman and Ahmad Robinson each scored 11 points with Robinson adding three rebounds and three steals. Salim London didn’t have a big stat line – three points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals – but he played a key role in the first half when Robinson and Westry went to the bench with two fouls.

“Salim made a big 3 for us and I think he's doing some good things,” said Kennedy, whose team extended their win streak to five games while improving to 6-2. “It was a good time. We've been putting him in when we could to rest Ahmad. Ahmad gets two early, Chance gets two early. So not only was Salim in there, but he was in there without Chance. So there was a lot of pressure on him versus a team that really, really tries to heat up the ball handler. I thought it was a good opportunity for him to continue to grow in his role.”

UAB stays on the road for two games with the next test coming on Monday at Middle Tennessee. The Blazers conclude the road trip with a game at Drake on Dec. 5.