A brand new year has not been kind to the UAB basketball team and it’s become increasingly apparent that some skin is needed in the game.

The Blazers dropped their second straight decision — fifth in the past six games — in a 63-52 loss to North Texas, Saturday, Jan. 21, at Bartow Arena in Birmingham.

Jordan “Jelly” Walker, the nation’s second-leading scorer at 23.8 ppg, was not available for a third straight game due to a foot injury and the offense continued to struggle in his absence.

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“I’ll state the obvious, disappointed,” UAB head coach Andy Kennedy said. “It’s become clear, at least I hope it’s become clear, I’ve been challenging our team, that we are either one of two things. We’re either overrated or underperforming. I was in that camp as well (underperforming) but we’re not playing.”

“At the end of the day, our fight is pretty good but we don’t guard,” he added. “We can’t sit down and stay in front of the ball. And it’s obvious we struggle to score without Jelly. Can’t make a shot and have nowhere to go on offense.”

UAB entered the game at 78 in the NCAA NET, 71 in KenPom, and drops to 13-7 overall and 4-5 in C-USA with its Quad-2 loss to the Mean Green.

The Blazers shot 36.2 percent overall, 10 percent from 3-point range (1-of-10) and 17-for-24 at the charity stripe, and gave up 13 turnovers that resulted in 16 points for North Texas. Defensively, UAB allowed the Mean Green to shoot 48 percent overall and 47.1 percent from beyond range, but owned a plus-6 advantage on the glass.

“North Texas doesn’t give you a lot of clean looks,” Kennedy said. “We got 11 of them and we made 3. Worst shooting team I’ve been a part of and I see it every day. Whose responsibility is it? It’s mine.”

Eric Gaines finished with a team-high 15 points, including 4 assists and 2 steals, but turned the ball over 5 times in the game. Trey “The Mayor” Jemison continued his impressive play as of late, securing his second straight double-double and fourth in the past five games with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

“We’re just bad,” Kennedy said. “Trey has been our most consistent performer throughout. We had guys that were really playing well early that are just complete no-shows. And some other guys who have not played to what I believe their potential is.”

Tavin Lovan contributed 11 points and 3 rebounds in his third straight start for the Blazers.

“Everybody is saying something and making the point, but it comes down to being better,” Lovan said. “We’ve had nothing. No poise, no pride, or no passion right now. It’s shown in the past six games. We have more than enough time to get back into a rhythm. Anything for us right now is going to help.”

Both teams battled to a 16-all tie almost midway through the first half as UAB controlled the glass and the Mean Green did not miss from 3-point range. Following a 2:30 field goal drought, the Blazers managed to take a 25-23 lead on a 5-0 personal run by Jemison but allowed North Texas to close out the half on a 17-4 run to claim a 40-29 lead at the halftime break.

Trailing by 11 points to open the second half, UAB managed to trim the deficit below double-digits only twice in the frame and never threatened despite a late 15-8 run that saw both teams endure multiple scoring droughts.

“It is what it is, I seek no pity,” Kennedy said. “We have got to fight our way out. Or not. My hope is that we fight. I’ve come to learn that talk is cheap. Faith without action is dead. Got to put some action behind it.”

Javian Davis had 5 points and 6 rebounds, followed by Efrem “Butta” Johnson with 5 points and 2 steals, and Tony Toney had 2 points and 2 rebounds. KJ Buffen brought down 3 rebounds but did not score with a 0-for-3 showing from the field.

The Blazers return to action against Louisiana Tech, Thursday, Jan. 26, at Bartow Arena in Birmingham. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network.