If UAB basketball coach Andy Kennedy had his way, junior guard Eric Gaines would be late to practice and team meetings for the remainder of the season.

Gaines missed the starting lineup for the second time in four games due to tardiness but came off the bench each time to stuff the box score and help lead his team to a crucial win on the road.

“It wasn’t anything serious, he just wasn’t where he was supposed to be at the right time,” Kennedy said. “But it’s kind of worked out for us. If Coach (Gene) Bartow was the head coach still, I guarantee you this trend would continue until something changed. EG has kind of forced my hand a couple of times and he still responded.”

The Blazers had three players in double figures, led by Gaines, and were clutch at the line in the final minute to secure a 70-63 victory over Tulsa, Sunday, Feb. 11, at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

UAB (16-8, 8-3 AAC) entered the game at 120 in the NCAA NET rankings and has won 12 of its last 15 games, including victories over ranked opponents Memphis and Florida Atlantic.

“This is the type of game you get in mid-February on Super Bowl Sunday,” Kennedy said. “Outside looks like the world is about to come to an end, it’s dreary and I don’t know if it was rain or sleet, but not a lot of energy in the building based on a number of circumstances. You got to make your own energy and we were kind of playing just good enough to hang in there.”

“Neither team was playing outstanding,” he added. “We could get no separation, us nor them, and neither team was very good offensively. A team effort, we’ll take it and we’re going to try to get out of here and get home for the game (Super Bowl).”

Read more on UAB sports:

Memphis Grizzlies keeping former UAB center Trey Jemison

Yaxel Lendeborg’s career rebounding night powers UAB over No. 20 Florida Atlantic

UAB football adds three on National Signing Day to complete 2024 recruiting class

The Blazers shot 37.5 percent overall and were 7-of-25 from three-point range and 15-of-22 at the free-throw line, while giving up a season-low seven turnovers. UAB outrebounded Tulsa in the second half, securing a plus-6 edge in the second frame, and forced 14 total turnovers that resulted in nine points.

Tulsa was 4-of-16 from the field in the final 9:09 and did not make a three-pointer (0-of-7) in the second half after going 3-of-8 to open the game.

“They’re number one in this league in tempo, in league play,” Kennedy said. “We held them to very few fastbreak points. We only had seven turnovers but those fastbreak points were off point-blank layups when we had two or three guys in the paint.”

Lendeborg recorded his 11th double-double of the season, finishing with 17 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals, and brought an end to a second-half Tulsa run on an old-fashioned three-point play. He also had two three-pointers in the second half and is 88 rebounds away from breaking Trey Jemison’s single-season record (329) set last season.

“We had to string together some positive possessions and it started with Yax,” Kennedy said. “It’s amazing, the kid is amazing, but I thought he was sleep-walking for about 26 minutes. It’s incredible.”

Gaines came off the bench for the second time in four games and finished with 17 points, including two rebounds and seven assists, on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 on three-pointers. He had two triples in the first half, scoring another early in the second following a Lendeborg three-pointer, and was 3-of-4 on free throws in the final minute of the game.

Javian Davis got into late foul trouble, picking up his fourth foul with 5:48 left in the game, but produced his third double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds. He got UAB started with consecutive layups to ignite a 6-0 run, following the opening score from Tulsa’s Cobe Williams, and jumpstarted an 8-2 opening second-half run.

“What a huge bounce-back game for him,” Kennedy said. “Still got in foul trouble, was limited to 24 minutes, but we were trying to establish an advantage at the basket.”

Neither team held a significant advantage in the first half, UAB building the largest lead, 11-7, only a little more than six minutes into the game, but Tulsa closed out the frame on a 4-0 spurt to take a 32-30 lead into the break.

The Blazers quickly reclaimed a four-point lead to open the second half but Tulsa took advantage of two 6-0 runs to attain a 50-47 lead midway through the period. Gaines, Johnson and Lendeborg combined for a 9-2 run and UAB retook the lead for good with less than five minutes remaining.

Efrem “Butta” Johnson had nine points and two rebounds, including a second-half three-pointer to snap a 6-0 run by Tulsa, and, along with Lendeborg, secured the victory with a pair of free throws in the final 13 seconds.

Tony Toney finished with seven points, three rebounds and two steals and Will Shaver contributed four points and three rebounds in only six minutes of work.

“Will was terrific,” Kennedy said. “If you go out there and you play good, I promise you I’m going to play you again. He gave us good minutes against FAU, got another opportunity and he really responded.”

Alejandro Vasquez and Daniel Ortiz failed to score but the former added four rebounds.

“Tulsa plays a lot like Louisiana Tech played when Eric (Konkol) was the coach there,” Kennedy said. “Meaning they really help from the far corner and we knew that. AJ (Vasquez) and DT (Ortiz) were in that far corner and we just couldn’t knock one down. Neither could Butta.”

The Blazers return home to face North Texas, Sunday, Feb. 18, at Bartow Arena in Birmingham. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. CT on ESPN+.