UAB Blazers head coach Andy Kennedy admitted pre-game that an eight-day break was a good chance for his team to recover physically, but worried there would be some rust to shake off upon their return to play.

The latter proved more accurate for UAB, who dropped an in-conference road game at East Carolina 82-75 in a second half implosion. The Blazers are now 15-9 on the season. The loss at ECU snapped the Blazers three-game winning streak, but the Blazers are 8-2 in their last 10 outings.

It was evident early in the game UAB was going to need some runway to get back into form, with sloppy passing and an uncharacteristic inability to grab rebounds on the defensive end. The Blazers appeared to have fixed things, leading by as many as 12 points behind a big second half from Yaxel Lendeborg who finished the game with 22 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, all of which led UAB.

Guards Tyren Moore (16 points) and Alejandro Vasquez (10 points), along with forward Christian Coleman (12 points) all scored in double-digits, but where UAB faltered late in the game was their defense, getting slashed inside the arc by Pirates’ forward CJ Walker who finished the game with 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Complementing his performance was a 23-point game from guard RJ Felton, who hit five of his 11 three-point attempts.

The Blazers, down 75-77 with 30 seconds left, had a chance to take the lead, but a turnover by Alejandro Vasquez followed by a Flagrant 1 foul where he grabbed and held onto the shorts of guard Jordan Riley resulted in the Pirates putting the game out of reach.

UAB’s next game is Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m., when they take on USF at Bartow Arena in their second matchup of the season.