Only minutes after cutting down the nets following a title game victory in the AAC tournament, and attending the required post-game media session, UAB head coach Andy Kennedy was quickly whisked away to another room where his team’s region destination was announced as he walked through the door.

With a flight to catch, the Blazers never saw the remaining brackets revealed and were as surprised as anyone to see three teams from Alabama placed at the same region location in Spokane, Washington.

“Bananas, isn’t it? I think we should invest in a map maybe and put it in that room in Indianapolis,” Kennedy said. “Those big wall maps, you can get them pretty cheap. If you just look up there and take a glance, it’s bananas. For us, I don’t care. We’re just excited to be playing.”

The Blazers are set to make their 17th tournament appearance as they face off against No. 5 seed San Diego State in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Friday, March 22, at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.

Tip-off is scheduled for 12:45 p.m. CT on TNT.

“It’s my first trip to Spokane and hope we get to stay a few days,” Kennedy said. “Excited for my team. They have certainly earned their way. I don’t like the term ‘bid stealing.’ We didn’t steal anything. We earned our way here through the play of our guys. So, really excited for them and for the opportunity that this tournament presents.”

UAB (23-11) lost three straight games between the end of November and early December and stood at 4-5 before rattling off four straight wins to close out its non-conference slate and winning 19 of its last 25 games, including a current five-game winning streak.

“Around that time, we were still getting to know each other,” junior guard Eric Gaines said. “We were new in the locker room, we were just telling each other, ‘Let’s stay together. We’re not going to be in this hole, this ditch, forever. It’s going to come to light.’ We got it rolling. We got to know each other and we started winning.”

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Joining UAB in Spokane is SEC tournament champion and No. 4 seed Auburn, who the Blazers would face in the second round if both were to advance, and No. 4 seed Alabama in the West Region.

“I had no idea Alabama and Auburn were in the same region until we got back and the dust had settled,” Kennedy said. “And then to have the opportunity as being in the same bracket as one of those, it’s just kind of crazy the way things work.”

Although some UAB fans, along with a strong contingent of Tiger and Crimson Tide fans, will certainly make the cross-country trip, not to mention Samford playing in Salt Lake City, the inclusion of three of the four Alabama teams playing in the same location is an opportunity that does not come around often.

“I wish we were closer but it’s a great experience for the whole state of Alabama,” Gaines said. “Seeing a team that made it to the tournament and maybe playing one of those teams, it’s a great experience.”

The last time UAB made the NCAA tournament, former standout Jordan “Jelly” Walker was the primary ball-handler and shot-taker but that is not the case this season. The Blazers have four players who average double-digit scoring, another averaging nine points, and have shown more in-season development than any Kennedy-coached UAB team.

“We have a lot of threats on offense,” leading scorer and rebounder Yaxel Lendeborg said. “Like AJ (Alejandro Vasquez), he really carried us to our championship win last game. Daniel (Oritz), he’s been struggling all season but he stepped up big in the playoffs. Coach AK believes in all of us guys the same way no matter how he shows it. I would just say keep the trust we have and Eric (Gaines) doing his best to find those guys in the right spots.”

Lendeborg is the obvious breakout star for UAB this season and enters the tournament averaging 13.9 points and 10.7 rebounds. He set both the UAB single-season record in double-doubles (18) and rebounds (363), the latter of which is also an AAC single-season record.

“This moment is really big and a dream come true of mine,” he said. “Playing here is really amazing. I never thought I would get as close to a coaching staff as I would. (Ryan) Cross really stepped up his recruitment with me and we got really close. But everybody else on the staff did a great job of making me feel welcome and keeping me sane.”

Along with Lendeborg, Gaines averages 12.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists, Efrem “Butta” Johnson averages 10.9 points and Alejandro Vasquez averages 11.3 points. Javian Davis has been held in check the last few games and dipped to 9.0 points and 5.7 rebounds, and Christian Coleman has come on late and has an average of 7.9 points and 4.6 rebounds.

“Our guys are approaching this, honestly, there’s a seriousness about it,” Kennedy said. “We don’t want this to be the ultimate goal. We want to try to extend this thing as much as possible. But I also want them to appreciate what they have earned. My guys are kind of approaching this with a Christmas Eve-like naiveté that you don’t see a lot in this sport. They’re excited to be here. I know they’ll play excited. I just want us to play good because we’re going to have to play good because San Diego State is really good.”

While not the most efficient team on defense, allowing opponents an average of 75.2 ppg and a 44.5 percent showing from the field, UAB has improved as of late and will need to utilize its penchant for mixing up defenses, particularly its 1-3-1 defense, against a San Diego State team that reached the national title game last season.

“We switch up defenses a lot to confuse the opponent,” Gaines said. “When we do that and we’re being aggressive in it, it’s effective. That’s just the key, being aggressive and being physical, and tougher than the other team.”

The Aztecs lost a few players to graduation and the transfer portal but have not missed a beat while being led by third-team All-American forward Jaedon LeDee, who enters the tournament averaging 21.1 points and 8.4 rebounds while shooting 58.7 percent overall and 41 percent from 3-point range.

“Jaedon LeDee is tremendous,” Kennedy said. “We’re going to do our best to try to make him work for his touches, shrink the floor as much as possible and try to match his physicality. Which again, easy to say but hard to do. He’s a tremendous player and I think San Diego State does a great job of making sure that he touches it most each and every possession down the floor.”

“He puts a lot of pressure on you at the basket,” he added. “He’s good at what we’re good at, quite frankly. He’s really good off his offensive glass, he’s good in the painted area and he gets a lot of fouls drawn. We’re going to be really strategic in our matchups and understanding where the help needs to come from.”