UAB forward Yaxel Lendeborg is making a habit of besting his best and he doesn’t take the opportunity lightly.

“I would have never thought I’d be playing Division I, ever,” Lendeborg said. “I never think I’m better than anyone else. I know where I was and how hard it was to get here. I take advantage of what I have in front of me and stay grateful.”

The Blazers got another career-high scoring performance from Lendeborg in a 71-62 victory over North Texas, Sunday, Feb. 18, at Bartow Arena in Birmingham.

UAB (17-8, 9-3 AAC) entered the game at 116 in the NCAA NET rankings and has won 13 of its last 16 games, including victories over ranked opponents Memphis and Florida Atlantic and a regular-season sweep of the Mean Green.

The win also snaps a 10-game winning streak in the regular-season series by the visiting team.

“It’s very seldom you play a North Texas team and feel like a majority of the game that you’re the more physical team,” UAB head coach Andy Kennedy said. “They have had an incredible amount of success over the years being physical and stingy on defense. We did a good job of pressing the paint and that’s what we do.”

Read more on UAB sports:

Eric Gaines and Yaxel Lendeborg lift UAB to 70-63 win at Tulsa

Memphis Grizzlies sign Trey Jemison to two-way contract

The Blazers shot 42.9 percent overall, only 3-of-12 from three-point range, and were 26-of-31 at the free-throw line. UAB allowed the Mean Green to shoot 41.7 percent from the field but won the rebounding battle with a plus-7 edge on the glass.

“I liked our game plan and we had a productive week,” Kennedy said. “Sometimes you can overthink things but we had a pretty good mix of competition, adding wrinkles and getting better. I’ve got a peculiar group. We came out and were more physical than maybe the most physical team in our league.”

Yaxel Lendeborg continued to flash his potential at an AAC Player of the Year nod in racking up a career-high 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 1-of-1 from three-point range, and added eight rebounds and four blocks. He had 16 first-half points, scoring three straight times during an early 6-2 run, and was 8-of-10 from the stripe in the second half.

“He was tremendous in the first half,” Kennedy said. “He was really aggressive. Catching, ripping, getting to the rim and finishing. Second half, not so much. He gets in trouble in traffic and trying to navigate his way through. He had some huge blocks and did a good job of protecting our basket.”

Javian Davis and Efrem “Butta” Johnson had 10 points each with Davis adding four rebounds and three blocks. Davis opened the scoring in each half and did not pick up his first foul until three minutes into the second half.

“Early on it was Yax but JD gave us great minutes in the second half with his ability to score inside,” Kennedy said.

The Blazers shot out to an early 8-4 advantage before North Texas hit a 6-0 run to take its only lead of the game almost midway through the opening half. A step-back three-pointer from Eric Gaines turned momentum as UAB went on a 19-5 run before taking a 34-24 lead into the halftime break.

UAB never trailed in the second half and opened up the period with 7-3 and 13-4 runs, sandwiching a quick 5-0 spurt from the Mean Green, in building as much as an 18-point lead with 7:51 left in the game. Christian Coleman and Tony Toney were the only two to score from the field for the Blazers in the final five minutes but the team as a whole went 11-of-12 from the line to seal the win.

“We knew that the game was going to be slow-paced and they were going to be getting after us,” Lendeborg said. “We focused more on defense and tried to keep it off of (Jason) Edwards as much as we could. We did a good job in the beginning but he started taking off (in the second half).”

Gaines was a steady hand for the Blazers, finishing with six points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Alejandro Vasquez had six points and four boards. Tony Toney had five points and eight rebounds and hit a crucial three-pointer during a 13-4 run that UAB used to build its biggest lead, 54-36, with 7:51 remaining in the game.

The Blazers remain home to face Rice, Tuesday, Feb. 21, at Bartow Arena in Birmingham. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CT on ESPN+.