Memphis drops UAB 100-77 to move into first place in aac

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - January 26, 2025

MEMPHIS – The story of UAB’s 100-77 loss to Memphis on Sunday at the FedExForum is easily explained. The Blazers had no success stopping – or slowing down - the Memphis offense.

You need numbers?

The scoreboard certainly tells the story but we will dive deeper. The Tigers got there by shooting 56.8 percent in the first half, 70.8 percent in the second half and 62.3 percent overall. From 3-point range, the Tigers hit 37.5 percent in the first half, 66.7 percent in the second half and 52.9 percent overall. Success happened inside, it happened outside and it happened often. It’s also happened, literally, into the final seconds when PJ Carter hit a 3-pointer with the outcome long decided.  

“They were constantly attacking us,” said UAB head coach Andy Kennedy. “We were on our heels. You're not gonna go on the road, especially against a talented team in a venue such as this, play on your heels and expect to win.”

It was so frustrating that Kennedy had trouble getting overly excited about an 8-0 run in the second that trimmed the lead to 13 points. UAB missed a chance to further slice into the lead when Tyren Moore, statistically the team’s top 3-point shooter, missed a wide-open 3-pointer from the left wing. Cut the deficit to 10 points at that time, especially in a stretch when Memphis was having turnover problems, and things could have gotten interesting. Or could they?

“But we couldn't guard them,” Kennedy said. “I don't have illusions of grandeur up here. When the other team shoots 70 plus percent in the second half, we could not guard them. We couldn't guard them inside, couldn't guard them outside, so you're not giving yourself much of a chance. I thought Memphis was completely dominating us.”

Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway said that was the plan against a team that was voted the preseason favorite to win the conference.

“I respect the voters voting them number one because it makes sense right,” Hardaway said. “They have their full team coming back with the exception of two (or) three guys. They deserved that because when you return all those starters and players and you won the AAC tournament then you get that nod. But we have something, we're goal oriented. We want to win a conference so to win a conference you got to beat teams like UAB and that drove us to today.”

A big part of the plan was getting penetration from the guards and getting the ball inside to Dain Dainja. The 6-foot-9 redshirt senior was the best player on the floor, for the most part, with 21 points and eight rebounds while hitting 10 of 12 shots from the field. UAB also had trouble with PJ Haggerty, the leading scorer in the conference, who finished with 23 points, nine assists and six rebounds.

UAB also hurt itself on the offensive end, particularly early in the game. The Blazers got off to a slow start, which helped Memphis get in front. Efrem “Butta” Johnson kept things from getting too far out of hand in the first half when he scored 17 points, hitting 6 of 9 from the field, including 5 of 7 3-pointers. The Blazers still limped into halftime with a 52-39 deficit.

Yaxel Lendeborg’s stat line didn’t look bad. He had 18 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, three steals and four turnovers in 30 minutes. But he was just 5 of 15 from the field and never got in a rhythm.

“They were sending extra bodies at him,” Kennedy said. “d I thought because of the physicalness of the game and his inability to get separation, I think he was kind of consumed with the bodies that were there as opposed to finding the open man. He's certainly a very willing passer, he still has five assists, and those would be a lot more if we would make shots at the end of it. It's just a tough night for Jax, and that's a credit to Memphis.”

UAB was bolstered by the play of Bradley Ezewiro, who had perhaps his best game in a UAB uniform. Ezewiro had 19 points and seven rebounds. He was 6-of-9 from the field and made all seven of his free throws.

“He demonstrated that he can play inside,” said Kennedy, whose team was outscored, 54-30, in the paint, outrebounded 37-33 and lost the fastbreak points 19-16. “He made some plays, got some angles. He always makes his foul shot, but I was glad to see him finish through some contact for a change.”

Memphis (16-4 overall, 6-1 AAC) remains in a first place tie with North Texas. UAB (12-8 overall, 5-2 AAC) falls into second place tie with Tulane. The Blazers look to rebound from the loss when they visit Tulsa on Wednesday night.