UAB Men’s Basketball Erases 17-Point Deficit to Down North Texas

Wednesday, January 31

Denton, Texas

8 p.m.

UAB

14-7,6-2AAC

North Texas

12-8,5-3AAC

OT 1

UAB

North Texas

Photo by: Mario Terrana

UAB Men’s Basketball Erases 17-Point Deficit to Down North Texas

2/1/2024 1:01:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

DENTON, Texas – UAB men's basketball came back from a 17-point deficit in the first half to snap North Texas' 17-game home winning streak in overtime, 82-79. Efrem "Butta" Johnson scored a career high 18 points and dished out three assists in the win while Yaxel Lendeborg scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the year.

UAB got off to a slow start, falling behind 15-6 after five minutes. The Mean Green built up its lead to double figures and at the 3:38 mark, led by a score of 33-16. Johnson stepped up for the Blazers to close the gap before the break. The sophomore guard scored eight of the Blazers' final 10 points of the half to spark a 10-2 run. UAB trailed 35-26 going into the break.

In the second half, the Blazers clawed the lead down the five at the 14:41 mark after a pair of Javian Davis free throws, but UNT pushed the lead right back to double digits with five straight points. The Mean Green increased the margin to 13 at the 11-minute mark.

The Blazers did not back down, wrestling the deficit back to single digits over the next few minutes. Alejandro Vasquez hit a pair of free throws at the 7:37 mark to cut the lead to just four.

At the 4:19 mark, Vasquez drilled a three to cut the lead to just one at 63-62. UAB was still working to overtake North Texas in the final minutes.

UAB trailed 70-66 in the final minute. After Lendeborg knocked down a pair of free throws, the Blazers called a timeout to set up their defense. The press came through for UAB as Eric Gaines came up with a steal to regain possession with 26 seconds left.

Johnson came through once again, tying the game up with a floater in the middle of the paint with 16 seconds to go. The Mean Green retook the lead with five seconds left on a layup by CJ Noland before Eric Gaines found Yaxel Lendeborg for a game-tying dunk with one second left. UNT's attempt at the buzzer missed to send the game to overtime at 72-72.

Gaines opened overtime with a three on the first possession to give UAB its first lead of the night. The Mean Green scored the next four points, however, to regain the lead before Johnson drilled a three in the corner to make it 78-76 for the Blazers.

Johnson then found Yaxel Lendeborg for a layup to push the lead back to three points. The Blazers were able to get a stop as UNT's potential go-ahead layup rolled off the rim with 10 seconds remaining and Johnson grabbed the rebound.

The 6'4" guard hit both of his free throws and North Texas was unable to tie it at the buzzer, giving UAB the 82-79 win.

NOTES

The Blazers snapped North Texas' 17-game home winning streak.
The road team is 10-5 in the all-time series between UNT and UAB. The Blazers are 6-3 in Denton.
Four different players scored at lead 15 points for the Blazers for the first time since February 4, 2023 vs. FIU.
Efrem "Butta" Johnson scored a career high 18 points to go with three rebounds and three assists.
Yaxel Lendeborg posted his ninth double-double of the year with 16 points and 10 rebounds. He shot 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
Javian Davis added 16 points, scoring 14 in the second half while shooting 4-for-4 at the line.
Alejandro Vasquez scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half with three steals.
Eric Gaines added 10 points, dished out five assists and had three steals in his first game off the bench this season.

UP NEXT
The Blazers will head back to the Metroplex to face off with SMU on Sunday, February 4 at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

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