The “work in progress” for the UAB basketball team is still very much in the process.

The Blazers rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second half but could not overcome an early hole in an 86-73 loss to No. 24 Florida Atlantic, Sunday, Jan. 14, at Baldwin Arena in Boca Raton.

“Yeah, FAU is a good team,” UAB head coach Andy Kennedy told David Crane on Blazers Sportsline postgame. “When you let them shoot it at the propensity that we did, talk about efficient, you can’t get stops. It’s the same old song and dance for us — we can’t get stops. Give our guys credit, never really hung their heads and just kept playing. Our guys kept fighting, kept fighting and kept fighting.”

UAB (10-6, 2-1 AAC) entered the game at 188 in the NCAA NET rankings and snapped its six-game winning streak with the Quad 1 loss to the Owls.

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The Blazers shot 39.4 percent overall and were 5-of-26 on 3-pointers and 12-of-15 at the charity stripe. UAB gave up eight turnovers, resulting in eight points, and allowed the Owls to shoot 48.5 percent from the field while earning a plus-6 advantage on interior scoring and a plus-8 edge in rebounding.

“We gave up 13 offensive rebounds, which is way too many,” Kennedy said. “We were able to win second-chance points but a lot of those were late when we were coming back and hunting down balls off the glass. There were some positives. We didn’t give up, we fought and I’m hoping more than anything the guys, especially the new guys and even the returners who have expanded roles, will understand that this is a team last year that was one shot away from playing in the national championship game.”

The Blazers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first two minutes but Florida Atlantic’s Johnell Davis, who finished with a game-high 30 points and eight rebounds, scored 10 straight points to power the Owls ahead for good only five minutes into the game.

A pair of free throws from Johnson trimmed the deficit to six points midway through the first half but Florida Atlantic charged ahead to a 19-point advantage on a 15-2 run powered by Davis and Tre Carroll. Both teams matched points in the last two minutes of the opening frame and the Owls carried a 43-24 lead into the halftime break.

“We were really attentive and on it and we came out in the first half, the first few possessions of the game, really locked in offensively,” Kennedy said. “But none of that matters if you can’t make the shot. Our inability on made shots to transition back into some of this defense that we do, to try to throw up some smoke and mirrors. When you’re not making shots, you can’t do that.”

Florida Atlantic sustained its momentum into the second half, building as much as a 22-point advantage and a 66-46 lead with 11:39 remaining.

Alejandro Vasquez and Daniel Ortiz jumpstarted a UAB rally midway through the half with a 5-0 spurt that grew into a 22-10 overall run over the next six minutes. Vasquez capped a 6-0 surge to cut the lead down to 76-68 and had an opportunity to trim the deficit to five points but missed on a 3-point attempt with 4:44 left in the game.

“I’d take it again,” Kennedy said. “Sit right here, let’s draw it up right now, I take it again. Clean look to get that thing to five (points).”

The Owls responded with a 10-0 run to seal the win while UAB was only 2-of-9 from the field following the miss from Vasquez.

“With our inability to get stops, especially off Johnell Davis and Vlad Goldin, it was going to be hard to get over that hump,” Kennedy said. “But at five (points) with about four (minutes) to play, the atmosphere in this building would have changed. But again, didn’t get it done.”

Eric Gaines had 13 points, four rebounds and two assists, followed by Efrem “Butta” Johnson with 13 points. Ortiz nailed a triple on the final shot of the game to finish with 10 points.

Yaxel Lendeborg had eight points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Vasquez finished with nine points and five rebounds before fouling out with 4:16 remaining. Javian Davis and Tony Toney had seven points each and combined for nine rebounds.

The Blazers return home to face Tulane, Wednesday, Jan. 17, at Bartow Arena in Birmingham. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CT on ESPN+.