UAB Downs UTSA 83-73 in first leg of texas road trip
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - January 28, 2026
A sigh of relief was probably more appropriate than a celebration after UAB stayed unbeaten on the road with an 83-73 American Conference win over UTSA at the Convocation Center on Wednesday night.
But a win is a win, especially during conference play, so Andy Kennedy was happy after his team finally built some distance in the final few minutes to hand UTSA its 14th consecutive loss.
“It wasn't beautiful,” Kennedy said during his postgame radio appearance on Blazer Sports Network from Learfield. “We lead the game for almost 26 minutes. It didn't feel like that. It kind of felt like it was nip-and-tuck. We had it at seven with about seven to play. And then we, uncharacteristically, missed the front end of a one-and-one. They go down, we double the ball, they swung it and hit a big 3. We just did some things that you can't do against good teams. Thankfully, tonight we were able to survive it.”
The survival came because UAB (13-8 overall, 4-4 American Conference) found a way to win down the stretch and improve to 4-0 on the road in conference. With just over four minutes left, though, the Blazers were reeling after UTSA (4-17 overall, 0-9 American Conference) took a 69-68 lead by scoring five consecutive points on a 3-pointer by Jamir Simpson and two free throws by Brent Moss. UAB tied the game on a free throw by Evan Chatman and then took over.
“We closed the game well,” Kennedy said on Blazer Sports Network. “It was a tie game. We ended up closing the game on a 14-4 run. Made some big stops. I thought Salim (London) at the end, even though it was a two-possession game, made a big steal off the out-of-bounds play. We got a couple of 50-50 balls and (Dayjaun Anderson) had the big shot in the corner. Good team win, we need it.”
Anderson had his fingerprints all over a second half surge by the Blazers, who outscored UTSA, 45-37, in the final 20 minutes. Anderson got his first start in a UAB uniform but made little impact while playing nine minutes in the first half. The second half was a different story. In the second half, Anderson had nine points, all coming on 3-pointers, a rebound, two assists and two steals. His final 3-pointer capped off a 9-0 run to give the Blazers a 77-69 advantage with 1:45 left.
“We need shooting bad, so that's why I started him,” Kennedy said on his postgame radio appearance. “I stayed with him despite him missing, I think, his first three or four. He hit a huge one for us in the corner, which hopefully will get him going as we round the curve into the home stretch of the season.”
UAB held on down the stretch by hitting free throws. Earlier in the game, though, free throws were a problem. The Blazers were 5-for-12 from the free throw line in the first half, which was part of the reason the lead was just two points at halftime. They did a better job in the second half, hitting 16-of-20, including all six in the final 35 seconds. Ahmad Robinson hit a pair of free throws after UTSA sliced the lead to 77-73 and London made all four of his attempts after that.
The Blazers outrebounded UTSA, 41-35 overall, with nine of their 10 offensive rebounds and all 11 second chance points coming in the second half. UAB had 14 assists to seven turnovers and won points off turnovers, 13-6. Daniel Rivera had a team-high 17 points and added seven rebounds while Chance Westry chipped in with 14 points, six assists and three rebounds. Jacob Meyer had 13 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals and KyeRon Lindsay-Martin had 10 points and nine rebounds.
UAB remains on the road to prepare for Saturday night’s visit to North Texas. The team will take a bus to Denton on Thursday and have a couple of days to practice before playing the Mean Green.