The UAB Blazers Chase History in Memphis

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - February 20, 2026

The journey to the UAB men’s basketball program’s unprecedented and unblemished road record in the American Conference carries UAB to a building on Sunday where success has been nearly impossible in the past.

UAB’s task in extending the eight-game road winning streak, which includes seven conference victories, is finding a way to beat Memphis in the FedExForum. For the record, UAB rarely played well in the FedExForum but the Blazers have won a handful of games in the building. None of them came with Memphis on the other bench. UAB was 5-6 in Conference USA Tournament games played in the FedExForum, including a 57-46 loss to Memphis in the 2006 tournament championship game.

The FedExForum opened on Feb. 6, 2004. On Sunday at 11 a.m., Memphis and UAB will tip it off against each other for the 14th time. Memphis won the previous 13. A few were relatively close, most were blowouts, including a 94-56 embarrassment on Memphis’ Senior Day in 2008, and at least one – the 106-87 UAB loss in 2023-24 – was downright bizarre. Mike Anderson won three games in the FedExForum but was 0-2 against Memphis in the building, including a 57-46 loss to the Tigers in the 2006 C-USA Tournament championship game.

UAB’s troubles in Memphis are not confined to the FedExForum. The Blazers are 2-25 against the Tigers in Memphis with a 91-83 victory on Jan. 2, 1999 marking the last time UAB won in the rivalry on the road. Memphis leads the overall series, 44-12, including wins in Houston, Chicago, Cincinnati and the 84-72 triumph over the Blazers in the American Athletic Conference championship game in Fort Worth, Texas.

On paper, Sunday’s game seems like a good opportunity for UAB to break the string of losses in Memphis, even though the Tigers are generally good at home and they handled the Blazers comfortably in a 90-80 win at Bartow Arena on Feb. 5. Memphis stumbles into the rematch on a three-game losing streak that drops the Tigers overall record to 12-14. The latest loss – an 87-66 setback at South Florida – brought Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway to tears in the postgame press conference. Getting back home will help considering the Tigers are 10-3 at home with the lone home conference loss coming to Tulane.

Obviously, UAB has proven it can win on the road. Can they do it at a place where they have never beaten Memphis?

The answer won’t come until Sunday but we will take a minute to revisit how UAB is still in position to chase just the second unbeaten road conference record in the history of the American Conference. Houston did it in 2022-23 in its final season in what was then known as the American Athletic Conference. Four other American Athletic Conference teams finished with one road loss. The only other American Conference game left for UAB after Sunday comes on March 4 at Charlotte.

UAB 109, South Florida, 106 double overtime, Jan. 4: UAB found a way to rebound from a conference-opening loss to Wichita State on a night that USF’s Wes Enis made 10 3-pointers, the Blazers were outrebounded by 12 and the Bulls led by 11 with five minutes left in regulation. The hero? That list probably includes a few players but surprisingly, Quaran McPherson stepped into the spotlight with 17 points, four 3-pointers and a 17-foot jumper from the corner to send the game into a second overtime. Of course, overtime would have never happened if Daniel Rivera, a 49 percent free throw shooter at the time, hadn’t hit a pair of free throws with three seconds left. Chance Westry scored six of his 24 overall points in the second overtime.

UAB 85, East Carolina 85, overtime, Jan. 11: The Blazers appeared to be cruising toward a comfortable road win while leading by 11 points at the midway point of the second half. Instead, they had to play five extra minutes after an East Carolina team that is the worst 3-point shooting team in the conference made a 3-pointer to tie the game with 10 seconds left in regulation. Jacob Meyer took charge in overtime, scoring six points including the game-winning jumper with 16 seconds remaining. Meyer finished with 29 points.

UAB 82, Tulane 69, Jan. 14: UAB outrebounded Tulane, 45-27, and outscored the Green Wave, 44-32, in the paint. KyeRon Lindsay-Martin and Daniel Rivera combined for 36 points and 19 rebounds. The Blazers also made 17-of-18 free throws. A nine-point lead at halftime dissolved into a two-point lead with 6:50 minutes left but UAB ended the game on a 21-12 run. Chance Westry had eight assists.

UAB 83, UTSA 73, Jan. 28: The Blazers were coming off back-to-back double digit losses to Tulsa and USF at home. Getting back on track against the league’s worst team wasn’t as smooth as expected. It took a 15-4 spurt over the last three minutes of the game to finally pull away. UAB’s frontcourt combined for 34 points and 23 rebounds. Dayjaun Anderson had three 3-pointers, all in the second half, in his first start.

UAB 72, North Texas 68, Jan. 31: After staying in Texas following the win over UTSA, UAB made themselves at home in Denton. KyeRon Lindsay-Martin had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the return to his hometown. Chance Westry had 18 points, hitting 9-for-11 from the field, four assists and four rebounds. Anderson once again hit three 3-pointers and scored 13 points overall in his second start. UAB held on to win but was just 11-for-18 from the line, including 1-for-4 while trying to ice the game in the final 15 seconds. Jacob Meyer’s free throw with six seconds left finally made it a two-score game.

UAB 68, Tulsa 63, Feb. 11: This one will be best remembered by who wasn’t there – Andy Kennedy – and the response of playing without the head coach and essentially three key players. Ryan Cross took over as head coach for a game, Dayjaun Anderson scored a season-high 20 points, Evan Chatman had a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double and the Blazers clamped down on defense. Tulsa fell out of a first-place tie with the loss and fell to 10-2 at home at the time.

UAB 76, Temple 71, Feb. 18: Chance Westry had 24 points and eight assists during his return to his home state and Jacob Meyer had 18 points and six rebounds in his return from injury. Quaran McPherson also made an important contribution with 10 points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal.