The UAB basketball team is as perplexing as it is frustrating.

A trio of victories over ranked opponents Florida Atlantic and Memphis and a stout North Texas team have all but been rendered moot following a second straight home loss to a sub-.500 conference foe.

The Blazers shot out to a solid first-half lead but dug themselves a second-half hole that even a fiery rally could not overcome in a 74-66 loss to Wichita State, Wednesday, Feb. 28, at Bartow Arena in Birmingham.

UAB (18-10, 10-5 AAC) entered the game at 117 in the NCAA NET rankings and drops a second straight Quad-4 game in the friendly confines of Bartow.

“Disappointed, obviously, you can tell by my voice,” UAB head coach Andy Kennedy said. “We did a good job of getting back some magic back in Bartow and protecting our home court. Now, we can’t seem to re-find that and it starts on the defensive end.”

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The Blazers were 40.4 percent overall and 15-of-22 at the free-throw line, but allowed Wichita State to shoot 50 percent from the field, 66.7 percent on 3-pointers, and earn a plus-7 edge on the glass.

Wichita State’s Colby Rogers finished with a season-high 29 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including a 5-of-6 showing from 3-point range, and was unguardable for the majority of the game.

“We couldn’t stop Rogers, we couldn’t stop Wichita State, we can’t stop anybody,” Kennedy said. “We dig into the tape and we told them, our crew, that he’s a three-level scorer. If you let him get going, he’s capable of giving you 30 and that’s what he did. We tried everybody we could on him and couldn’t slow him down.”

UAB got off to a 16-9 lead in the first four minutes of action but quickly saw the advantage evaporate as the Shockers went on a 7-0 run, powered by a 3-pointer from Rogers, to knot up the score at 16-all with 13:04 left in the opening half. The Blazers responded with a 6-0 run but Wichita State powered ahead to its first lead on a 12-2 run that included three 3-pointers.

Although UAB trimmed the deficit to a single possession in the final minute of the first half, Rogers knocked down a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give the Shockers a 39-33 lead at the break.

“Our perimeter defense has been an issue all year,” Kennedy said. “We got a little bit better at it but tonight somebody (Rogers) has a quick burst and can create an angle and we couldn’t stay in front of them.”

The Blazers managed to keep the deficit at seven points after answering a Wichita State run with one of their own, but Rogers ignited a 14-2 run on another 3-pointer and the Shockers surged to a 60-61 lead with 11:52 remaining in the game.

Trailing by 19 points midway through the second half, Efrem “Butta” Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer, followed by a layup and a 3-pointer from Daniel Ortiz, and the Blazers took off on an 18-1 run on a rim-shattering dunk from Yaxel Lendeborg, who converted the and-1 opportunity on the play.

Lendeborg scored 10 points during the run and logged his 14th double-double of the season with 20 points and 15 rebounds.

“He’s our best player and that’s not a secret anymore,” Kennedy said. “We need our best player playing good. Colby Rogers is their best player. He played good and they won.”

Despite cutting the lead down to a single point, 65-64, with 3:17 remaining in the game, UAB allowed the Shockers to reassert control and close out the game on a 9-2 run.

“The change in defenses, the 1-3-1, helped us get back in it with a sense of urgency,” Kennedy said. “We could have seized it, we had all the momentum, and it comes down to making plays. We’re in a play-making business and we couldn’t finish.”

Vasquez finished with a team-high 22 points, along with seven rebounds, and Ortiz had 10 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Javian Davis had seven points, followed by Johnson with five points, and Eric Gaines, who left the game late with a minor injury, failed to score while dishing five assists with only one turnover.

“He’s averaging, what, 10 or 11 (points) a game,” Kennedy said. “He goes for zero and we lose by nine. This is his fourth year of college basketball. He’s played a lot of college basketball. At the end he had a bumped knee and I asked him if he could go and he said he couldn’t. We rolled with what we had.”

The Blazers hit the road to face rival Memphis, Sunday, March 3, at FedEx Forum in Memphis. Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2.