UAB Picks Up Its Eighth Straight Road Win on Wednesday Night

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - February 19, 2026

Finding a way to win on the road has become a way of life for the UAB men’s basketball team.

On Wednesday, the Blazers extended their American Conference road winning streak to seven games by gutting out a 76-71 victory over Temple at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.

Each of the school record-setting seven-game conference road win streak has come with a different script. This one began with a dominating performance in his return home by Chance Westry, a co-starring role off the bench by Quaran McPherson and timely buckets by Jacob Meyer in his return from an injury that kept him out for three games.

And the mind-boggling streak of road wins, which is nearly matched by conference home losses, continues for the Blazers.

“It's certainly unusual, is it not?” UAB Andy Kennedy said during his postgame appearance with David Crane on Blazer Sports Network from Learfield.

UAB can still become the first American Conference team to go through an entire conference slate without a road loss. The Blazers have road games remaining against Memphis on Sunday morning and Charlotte on March 4. Pulling that off will be difficult, particularly against Memphis, which has never lost to UAB in the FedExForum. But it was more important on Wednesday to find a recipe to win in Philadelphia with a lineup that was still without KyeRon Lindsay-Martin and Ahmad Robinson.

Kennedy said after Sunday’s home loss to Tulane that Westry left his Superman cape at home and joked that it was in the laundry. Apparently, Westry got the cape out of the laundry for his trip back near his hometown of Harrisburg, Pa.

Westry not only had a game-high 24 points but he also added eight assists, three rebounds, one block and one steal while committing just two turnovers in 35 minutes. Perhaps his best work began with 6:17 left in the game when he hit a 3-pointer from the left wing that erased a Temple lead and gave the Blazers a 63-61 advantage. That was just the start of a game-ending stretch where he scored 11 of the team’s 16 points and dished to Evan Chatman for a short jumper on another bucket. His performance helped UAB answer every Temple challenge down the stretch.

“He had a good crew here supporting him,” Kennedy said of Westry. “And man, I thought he was a monster down the stretch. I told him, I think you're the best player, go be the best player. And he certainly was down the stretch.”

It was McPherson who came off the bench to get the Blazers going in the first half and garnering praise from Kennedy afterward.

“If you had asked me who the game ball would go to, I would give it to Quaran McPherson,” said Kennedy, whose team led by as many as 10 points in the first half and took a 39-33 advantage into halftime. “You know, we had to play small ball. We went to him early. It was good that he made his first couple shots and really settled in. He was a very efficient 4-for-4 from the floor, 10 points, three big rebounds.”

While it wasn’t a homecoming for McPherson, he did get to play in front of family and friends.

“He's from New York City, so he's a couple hours away,” Kennedy said. “He had his people here, man. I was glad to see him have the opportunity to play and play well. Without him, we don't get this W.”

McPherson was part of the equation in helping the Blazers battle a bigger Temple front court. Foul difficulty was a factor for the UAB frontcourt of Chatman and Daniel Rivera. They combined for just 20 points and six rebounds, which is the lowest output in the four games that Lindsay-Martin has been sidelined with a shoulder issue. But UAB still found a way to win the game.

Meyer had a big hand in the Blazers win. The 6-foot-2 guard had 18 points with three of the team’s five 3-pointers while adding six rebounds and two steals.

“It was good to have Jacob back,” Kennedy said. “I thought his presence was certainly felt. We were plus-10 with him on the court.”

On a night when the Blazers lost many of the key stats, every contribution was needed. Temple won total rebounds (37-31), offensive rebounds (13-5), second chance points (12-2) and points in the paint (52-36).

“They were scoring everything in the paint,” Kennedy said. “Think about this, man. They scored 71 points in the game and made 12 free throws. They scored 52 of their 59 other points in the paint. We just could not keep them in front of us in man or in zone. They were playing through us. We continue to try to mix and match and I thought the changes really helped us again.”

UAB (17-10 overall, 8-6 American Conference) helped itself with a assist-to-turnover total at 15-6 and Temple (15-11, 7-6) made just 1-for-15 on 3-pointers. Most importantly, UAB won the scoreboard.

“It's the only time we play them,” Kennedy said. “If you ever get into a tiebreaker situation, these games are worth two. Huge for us to come out with this dub.”