‘Butta’ comes up big for balanced blazers in bartow classic win
Photo courtesy of UAB Athletics
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - February 17, 2025
Efrem “Butta” Johnson was a non-factor on offense for a large portion of UAB’s 85-78 Bartow Classic win over South Florida on Sunday afternoon at Bartow Arena. Down the the stretch, when the offensive possessions are magnified, Johnson came up huge to help the Blazers hold onto the American Athletic Conference victory and move into a second-place tie with North Texas in conference play.
Ten of his 11 points came in the final 5:17, including a pair of 3-pointers and an emphatic dunk with six seconds remaining to finally put away a pesky South Florida team. His only point before that stretch came when he made the first of two free throws with 10:34 remaining. He spent long stretches on the bench, partly because Alejandro Vasquez was having a solid outing, before stepping up in the final minutes with 10 of UAB’s final 14 points.
“We talk about it all the time,” said UAB head coach Andy Kennedy, whose team improved to 16-9 overall and 9-3 in The American. “You'll hear me shouting the entire game ‘authority.’ I just want them to do things with authority. And then I can live with whatever it is. What I can't stand is counters or being tentative, getting your ball taken in half court because you're playing with it too much. Or (Yaxel Lendeborg) a couple of times is one dribble away from getting to the free throw out as opposed to pulling up in traffic for a hard two. (Johnson) just wants to play with force. He wants to do everything with authority and he really came through for us at the end. It speaks to the kid. He's one of my favorite kids I've ever coached. Love the kid. He has stayed the course. He works at it, works at it, no maintenance. It's good to see.”
Johnson’s late-game heroics came on a night when Lendeborg came up just short of his first 20-20 effort in a UAB uniform and Ja’Borri McGhee stepped up with 20 points. Lendeborg finished with 21 points and 19 rebounds, which is his 17th double-double and a UAB-record 36th of his career. He also flirted with a triple-double by adding six blocked shots and added three assists, a steal and five turnovers. McGhee was 7-of-9 from the field, made both of his 3-point attempts and was 4-of-7 from the free throw line. He also added three assists, two steals and two rebounds.
McGhee’s big offensive output came less than a week after failing to score in the Blazers’ loss at ECU. In that game, he missed all three of his shots from the field while playing just 14 minutes.
“I just had to be mature about it,” McGhee said. “I just was mad about it. I actually took it personal because that was probably the first time in my life that I had a game like that and I didn't know how to react. Coach said the biggest thing was for me was to just keep working. It's going to happen, and I did what he said, like I kept working. We had four days. I went hard as I could those four days, and kind of came into this game with a chip on my shoulder.”
McGhee had 14 points in the first half while Alejandro Vasquez had 11 of his 15 points in that same time span. They helped UAB carry a 47-37 lead into halftime. UAB never trailed in the second half but the Blazers never pulled away, partly because they couldn’t control 6-foot-11, 275-pound Jamille Reynolds (27 points, 14 rebounds) and diminutive point guard Jayden Reid (16 points, four 3-pointers). But the Blazers held on to beat the Bulls (12-14 overall, 5-8 AAC) because of Johnson’s big plays on the offensive end and some key defensive stops.
Kennedy said he knew before the game started that first place Memphis had lost at Wichita State. The Tigers lead over UAB and North Texas is just one game in the loss column and, once again, it gives UAB control of its own destiny.
“I tell them all the time, ‘Guys, don't look for another break, life only gives you so many, and in a basketball season, you're only gonna get so many,” Kennedy said. “We lost to (Memphis) and now they've gotten beaten by two other people. They have to come to us. We're in control of our own destiny. Don't ask for another one. Now you have to handle your business.”