The UAB basketball program picked up a huge win over the No. 20 ranked FAU Owls, 76-73, who made a miraculous run to the Final Four last season as is the AAC favorites to win it all. It was all led by Blazers star Yaxel Leneborg who not only scored a team-high 17 points, but collected a whopping 21 rebounds in the victory.
For Lendeborg, he described the euphoria he was feeling after the huge win that brings the UAB basketball program to a 15-8 record. He went into detail and talked about how he had goosebumps and how it felt like “this is the highest points of my life” according to John Zenor of The Associated Press.
“It's just a whole bunch of goosebumps,” Lendeborg said. “I feel like this is the highest point of my life so far. After the Memphis game and this game, I can't really compare this to anything else.”
Blazers head coach Andy Kennedy spoke to the media after the game and compared the performance to UAB's in their last two victories against SMU and Memphis. He would call those “gutsy,” the same word would apply to the win over the FAU basketball program who won more than 30 games last season.
“Wow. Our last two wins, the word that I would use would just be gutsy,” Kennedy said. “I thought it was gutsy again tonight. I thought we really, really competed on the defensive end against one of the best offensive teams in college basketball.”
FAU's Dusty May gives major props to the UAB basketball team
On the other side of the contest, FAU head coach Dusty May, who funny enough was an UAB assistant before, spoke after the game to complement the opponent. He would mention how they made “plays down the stretch” and how Lendeborg played to excellence.
“UAB made plays down the stretch when they needed to,” May said. “Great college basketball game. I thought Lendeborg’s ability to get them extra possessions and control the paint was key…He was determined. He played to win. He looked exhausted in overtime but kept fighting, fighting, fighting.”
At the very end, the game came down to the Owls not hitting as may shots from the field as they were 33.8 percent compared to UAB who were 44.4 percent. May said that the looks they got were good, but they could not capitalize on the opportunities given according to the FAU Owl's Nest.
“We were happy with the looks we got and typically we convert those,” May said. “Tonight we didn’t, and on nights you don’t you have to do all the other things. You have to be quicker to the basketball and physical on the glass. UAB (got) three or four shots and then Johnson banged in the big one to take the lead from three to six.”
Blazers gave trouble to the Owls
May would give major props to Kennedy and the UAB basketball program for adjusting to FAU's play style throughout the game to make it tough on them. When they “thought we had sucess,” the Blazers turned the game on their heads.
“The times we were able to get it up with good spacing and knew where to look, we thought we had success,” May said. “Then there were times they’d switch defenses in mid-possession and it’s tough. You want to call a timeout and get organized, but you know in games like this, you have to play off concepts, you have to play basketball. And usually the teams that do really share the ball and move it and have some success against it.”
“When the ball gets stuck, like it did for us tonight, they’re much, more effective because they’re constantly changing and trying to keep you on balance,” May continued.
Up next for the Owls to get back on track is on the road against Wichita State on Sunday, Feb. 11 as they have a 18-5 record. May said they “have a lot of challenges,” but that is “life on the road.”
“We have a lot of challenges,” May said. “It’s life on the road. We’ll have to figure out a way to clean up a few things and bring our best game, our A effort, to the Shockers, who we have a lot of respect for. We’re going to have to do a lot of things better if we’re going to find ways to play at a championship level consistently.”
The UAB basketball program celebrates the win as they have a 7-3 record in conference and are 15-8 overall. Their next game is against the Tulsa on Super Bowl Sunday.
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