Jordan “Jelly” Walker had a restless night following his team’s lackluster performance on Thursday night.

Even with a win in an exciting double overtime marathon, the senior point guard spent the morning hours dissecting his mistakes and decision-making.

“It was hard to sleep that night,” Walker said. “I kept watching the game over and over again. I texted AK — he didn’t go to sleep either, probably watching film as he always does — and told him all the things I did wrong and how he was right about some of the shots I took.”

A vow was made.

“I wanted to come in today and keep it simple,” he said.

Walker remained true to his word and guided the Blazers to a spirited but efficient 90-67 victory over UTSA, Saturday, Dec. 31, at Bartow Arena in Birmingham.

RELATED: Rewinding UAB’s 90-67 win over UTSA

UAB entered the game at 61 in the NCAA NET, 48 in KenPom, and improves to 12-2 overall and 3-0 in C-USA.

“Good win,” UAB head coach Andy Kennedy said. “We started out a little slow but then we really caught a rhythm. What sticks out most to me the most, I told the team, is that we shared that ball. Sharing is caring. We had 19 assists off 30 made field goals and, as a result, we shot the ball at a very efficient rate.”

The Blazers shot 49.2 percent overall, 52.4 percent from 3-point range (11-for-21) and were 19-for-25 at the charity stripe. Defensively, UAB held the Roadrunners to 33.3 percent overall, 34.6 percent from beyond the arc, and owned the interior with a plus-10 edge in rebounding and inside scoring.

Jordan “Jelly” Walker responded to an inefficient outing on Thursday by finishing with a game-high 31 points on 12-for-21 shooting, 7-of-12 from 3-point range, and adding 3 rebounds and 3 assists. He has scored at least 25 points in four straight games and maintains his status as the nation’s leading scorer with an average of 25.1 points per game.

“AK makes us have a “next play” mentality,” Walker said. “I use that in my life. Good days, bad days — move on to the next day. It wasn’t pretty but we got the win and that’s all that matters. In this game, I didn’t want to do the same thing so I dusted it off and kept playing.”

Eric Gaines also responded well to a poor shooting performance in UAB’s last game and finished with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. KJ Buffen was, once again, everywhere for the Blazers and had 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

“He (Gaines) had a good floor game as well,” Kennedy said. “KJ has been our most consistent contributor to this point.”

Both teams battled to an early 7-all tie before the Blazers hit a 10-2 run, sparked by a pair of Tavin Lovan free throws, to power ahead for a 17-11 lead almost midway through the opening frame. UAB hit another lead-stretching run while holding the Roadrunners without a field goal for 5:49, and increased the advantage to double-digits on back-to-hack buckets by Efrem “Butta” Johnson and KJ Buffen.

The Roadrunners managed to trim the deficit back down to 12 points but UAB closed out the first half with an 11-0 run to take a 52-29 lead into the halftime break.

KJ Buffen got UAB on the board to open the second half, but the Roadrunners hit a 14-4 run to trim the deficit down to 15 points at the 13:44 mark of the frame. The Blazer got snagged in a 6:36 field goal drought, allowing UTSA to cut the lead down to 14 points midway through the second half.

The Blazers closed out the final stretch with a 14-8 run, powered by a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer from Gaines and two 3-pointers from Walker.

“Pleased in the way in which we closed the game,” Kennedy said. “Pleased in the way in which we closed out this five-game home streak. You got to take care of home floor and that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

Efrem “Butta” Johnson finished with 6 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, and Trey “The Mayor” Jemison had 4 points, 6 rebounds and 5 blocks. Javian Davis had 8 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists, and Tavin Lovan had 5 points. Tony Toney and Ty Brewer each contributed 2 points while combining for 7 rebounds.

The Blazers hit the road for a two-game conference split, beginning against FAU, Thursday, Jan. 5, at FAU Arena in Boca Raton, Florida. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN+.

“To quote Bart Scott (former NFL linebacker), “I can’t wait,” Kennedy said. “It’s really the next phase for this team. We’re going to see if we have learned any lessons.”