UAB Solid In All Phases In Big Road Win at Tulane
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - January 14, 2026
UAB continued to find a home on the road with an 82-69 American Conference victory over Tulane at Fogelman Arena on Wednesday.
The Blazers move to 3-0 during conference play on the road with the latest coming against Tulane, which entered the game as one of two teams with an unblemished record in American Conference play. UAB’s recipe for the latest win away from Bartow Arena included KyeRon Lindsay-Martin and Daniel Rivera dominating the paint, the Blazers decisively winning the battle of the boards for the first time in five conference games, a near perfect night from the free throw line, a strong second half by Jacob Meyer and some gutsy second-half play after Tulane opened the second half with a 17-5 run in the first five minutes.
It also included Chance Westry flirting with a triple double and a bit of luck when Salim London beat the shot clock buzzer for a key 3-point toss that banked off the backboard.
“You know, we've got eight categories that we chart daily - game in, game out,” UAB head coach Andy Kennedy said on his postgame appearance on Blazer Sports Network from Learfield. “And we need to try to win five of those to have a chance. Tonight, we won seven of the eight categories. In the other one, which was the turnovers, we were even at 10. So we did not lose any of our keys to victory. That's how you go win on the road.”
It also helped that Rivera sparked the offense in the first half and Lindsay-Martin had a second consecutive all-conference type performance on the road. Rivera scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half. He hit 6-of-8 shots from the field in the first half and added five rebounds and a steal by halftime. He started a 7-1 run over the final 2:25 that lifted the Blazers to a 38-29 lead at half.
“(Rivera) was the key to the game, I thought, as we were trying to find our way against that zone, find some comfort,” said Kennedy, whose team improved to 12-6 overall and 3-2 in conference. “I thought Daniel was the one finishing in that mid-post, which is where the sweet spot was. Great job. And I think he did a good job of anchoring us on the defensive end at the basket as well.”
Lindsay-Martin was steady in the first half and the best player on the floor in the second half. Put the two halves together and the 6-foot-8 forward had 19 points, on 7-for-13 shooting from the field and 5-for-5 from the line, and added 12 rebounds, two assists, one steal and no turnovers in 29 minutes.
“Kye’s really starting to find it,” Kennedy said. “This is the first time he's put together really monster games back-to-back on the road. Against ECU, a completely different built team, because they got real size, physicality at the basket, he goes 20 (points) and 7 (rebounds) there. And we were able to find a way to win. Tonight, he was able to back it up against a group that we felt like we had the advantage from block to block.”
For the first five minutes of the second half, though, UAB didn’t have an answer to stop Tulane. The Green Wave were able to build a lead that twice reached four points with the second time coming at 48-44 with 14:15 remaining. UAB’s Dayjaun Anderson hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to pull the Blazers back to within a point and settle things down for UAB.
“It was great to see Dayjaun Anderson,” Kennedy said. “You know, I put him in because I just had a feeling, man, that maybe he could help us against the zone. He kind of broke the seal and knocked one down.”
Tulane still led by a point just at the midway point of the second half but London changed that when he threw the ball toward the basket and it went in to give UAB a 56-54 lead. Meyer hit a traditional 3-pointer on the next possession to give UAB the five-point advantage. The Blazers never trailed again and put things on ice by outscoring Tulane, 23-12, over the final 6:30.
UAB outrebounded the Green Wave, 45-27, and won the battle for offensive rebounds (15-8), second chance points (18-12), points in the paint (44-32) and fastbreak points (12-10). The Blazers made 17-of-18 free throws and hit all 10 from the line in the second half. Tulane, which was coming off a game which the Green Wave hit 19 3-pointers, was 7-for-27 from outside the arc. Westry finished with nine points, eight assists and seven rebounds and Meyer had 14 points and six rebounds.
The Blazers return home for a conference game against Tulsa (14-3 overall, 2-2 American Conference) on Sunday at 2 p.m.