Sometimes you can perform at the highest of levels and still come up short.

That wasn’t the case for the UAB basketball team as it ran straight into a team determined to leave no doubt in fitting for its dancing shoes.

The Blazers were manhandled physically and could not shoot themselves out of an early hole in a 78-56 loss to FAU in the 2023 Conference USA tournament championship, Saturday, March 11, at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

UAB entered the game at 52 in the NCAA NET and falls to 25-9 overall following the title game loss to the Owls, who punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament for the first time in more than two decades.

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“They (FAU) deserved it, they played better tonight,” UAB assistant coach Phillip Pearson told David Crane on Blazers Sportsline postgame. “They’re a good team, we had two good games with them during the season, which we split, and we had a good plan coming in.”

“They’re just a good basketball team,” he added. “A lot of good players guys that can dribble, pass and shoot it. We didn’t defend it well enough to begin the game and then we got on our heels, pressed a little bit and it went from bad to worse. It is what it is.”

The Blazers had an 11-for-13 showing at the foul line but were held to 31.7 percent from the field and 19.2 percent (5-of-26) on 3-point attempts. Defensively, UAB allowed the Owls to shoot 47.5 percent overall and enjoy a plus-17 edge on the glass and plus-24 advantage on interior scoring.

“We keep a stat in the game and we were 3-for-17 on what we call clean looks,” Pearson said. “We were trying to crawl back in there, give ourselves a chance to get that thing under 10 (points) and make a legitimate run. We missed some open shots at inopportune times and didn’t defend it well enough.”

Jordan “Jelly” Walker struck first to open the game, draining his first 3-pointer on UAB’s initial possession, but was constantly stifled by double-teams — sometimes tripled — employed by the FAU defense. The senior guard finished with 18 points on 6-for-20 shooting from the field and 4-of-12 from beyond the arc.

FAU countered Walker’s opening 3-pointer with a 10-2 run but the Blazers recaptured the lead with seven straight points at the 14:43 mark of the first half. The two-point advantage lasted only seconds as the Owls surged ahead on a 15-2 run and built a 19-point lead entering the halftime break.

Eric Gaines threw down an emphatic dunk and converted a 3-point play in the second half — not enough to spur a game-changing run from the Blazers — and finished with 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and five steals. Trey Jemison got tacked with two early fouls and was forced to the bench for a manner of possessions after picking up a fourth midway through the second half.

“We wanted to trim three or four here and there and get it back under 12 or 10 (points),” Pearson said. “It seemed every time I looked up it was 17 or 18 (points) and we really weren’t shaving enough off to get ourselves in position to make a legitimate run.”

UAB came as close as 15 points, 61-46, midway through the second half but could not take advantage of the 5:45 FAU field-goal drought that followed. The Owls clinched their first-ever C-USA tournament title on an 11-2 run that saw them increase their lead to as many as 25 points.

Ty Brewer finished with 10 points and five rebounds, followed by Ledarrius Brewer with four points, and Tavin Lovan and Tony Toney had two points each. KJ Buffen was held scoreless, contributing five rebounds, and forced into foul trouble early before ultimately fouling out late in the game.

The Blazers await their postseason fate tomorrow with the most likely destination being the NIT, which announces its selections Monday.

“We didn’t talk about it much in the locker room,” Pearson said. “I’ve seen a little bit of talk about us in the NIT and that would be a potential opportunity for us if it comes. We’ll have to see what happens here in the next day or two and just take it from there.”