The UAB basketball team has been on the wrong end of a few second-half comebacks this season but not nearly one as tragic as the one it experienced after producing as immaculate of a first half as it did on the road against its most bitter rival.

The Blazers scored a season-high 61 points in the first half but collapsed epically in the opening minutes of the second in a 106-87 loss to Memphis, Sunday, March 3, at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

“I’ve coached a bunch and there are wild swings throughout the course of the game, but I don’t know if I’ve ever been where there was such a wild swing,” UAB coach Andy Kennedy said. “We came out in the first half, were super aggressive, but I told our team I didn’t think we closed that very well.”

UAB (18-11, 10-6 AAC) entered the game at 123 in the NCAA NET rankings and is now in fifth place in the American standings after splitting the regular-season series with the Tigers (74) and losing consecutive games for the first time this season.

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The Blazers were 68 percent from the field in the first half, including an 8-of-14 showing on 3-pointers, and had a plus-14 advantage in the paint. Memphis shot 38 percent but was 16-of-18 on free throws.

UAB shot 36 percent in the second half and only 1-of-12 from 3-point range, finishing 54.2 percent overall and 9-of-26 on 3-pointers, and gave up 11 turnovers that resulted in 22 points. For the game, Memphis finished shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 28-of-36 at the charity stripe while owing the paint with a plus-12 edge on the glass and a plus-10 advantage on interior scoring.

“If you picked up our analytic sheet, and you didn’t know our record, you’d say this team is sub-500 just based on our analytics,” Kennedy said. “We are average to below average in everything except two areas. We’re good off our offensive glass, we can usually win second-chance points, and we have to win the free-throw line. We’re not going to beat Memphis in Memphis if we’re minus-26 in the two areas that we have consistently been good. Tonight, we lose both of those and I can probably tell you what’s about to transpire.”

Memphis shot out of the gates to a 4-0 lead in the first minute of action but the Blazers responded with a 10-0 run powered by back-to-back 3-pointers from Eric Gaines and Efrem “Butta” Johnson. The Tigers clawed back to tie the game at 20-all, midway through the opening half, and UAB took control with an 18-5 run that was ignited on consecutive layups from Chris Coleman and Javian Davis.

Alejandro Vasquez squeezed a 3-pointer between a pair of free throws from Nae’Qwa Tomlin, pushing the lead to 41-29, and the Blazers held Memphis without a field goal for 6:49 while building as much as a 22-point lead on another Vasquez 3-pointer with 1:25 remaining in the first half. During the Memphis drought, the Tigers went 14-of-16 at the foul line.

“Our decision making, they were switching everything and we were really making the right read,” Kennedy said. “We did a good job of establishing the paint, finding where the help was coming from, and then every time that we caught them in a switch, we were able to make the right read. I thought it was just fantastic really on all ends.”

Former Alabama basketball player and Memphis transfer Jahvon Quinerly closed out the final minute of the first half on a personal 7-0 run, punctuated with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, and cut the UAB advantage down from 22 points to a 61-46 lead entering the halftime break.

“Just straight downhill, basically dicing through our pressure and getting fouled,” Kennedy said. “They were kind of hanging in and obviously got a really tough shot at the end of the half.”

Memphis opened the second half on a 13-0 run, extending it to 20-0 when including the 7-0 run from Quinerly to end the first, and held the Blazers to one made field goal in the first four minutes. Following a driving layup from David Jones and a turnover from Coleman, cutting the UAB lead to a single bucket, Kennedy was called for consecutive technical fouls and ejected from the game at the 16:20 mark of the second half.

It is the first technical fouls assessed to Kennedy during his UAB tenure and the first ejection of his career.

“I’ve never been ejected and that really was not my intent,” Kennedy said. “I’ve got nothing but respect for officials. I’m not that guy arguing nonsensical, but again, I do believe what I believe what statistics have told us and want the game to be called consistently. First half, Quinerly, downhill downhill, hands on a dribble, called a foul. Chris Coleman, second half, hands on a dribble. We had an advantage, call the foul. He didn’t call it so I was trying to get his attention. Maybe I got a little aggressive and then once it started, you know, it is what it is.”

The foul discrepancy was 13-6 after the first half and ended with UAB being assessed 26 total fouls, including three technical fouls, to only 16 committed by Memphis, the majority of which occurred in the second half after Kennedy’s ejection.

“Incredible foul trouble,” Kennedy said. “It was almost like I shouldn’t have said anything and just said play the game because we gave them no resistance whatsoever in the paint.”

The Tigers retook the lead on four technical free throws, 65-63, but Vasquez and Lendeborg combined for a 5-2 run to give UAB its final lead, 68-67, with 14:38 remaining in the game.

Despite the splash of momentum for the Blazers, Memphis responded with a game-sealing 18-2 run to power ahead to an 85-70 lead. UAB came as close as 13 points, 92-79, with a little more than five minutes left but allowed a 9-2 run in the final three minutes to squash any possible comeback.

Memphis had three players score in double-digits with David Jones producing a game-high 32 points, including nine rebounds and three steals. Nae’Qwa Tomlin added 28 points, seven boards and two steals, and Quinerly had 25 points, three rebounds, four assists and two steals.

“Ultimately, at the end, you got to make the shot,” Kennedy said. “In the second half, again, we had JD established at the rim. I do remember those first four minutes we had some looks but we didn’t make any and it just cascaded.”

Vasquez led the Blazers with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-4 from range, and Gaines finished with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 50 percent (3-of-6) on 3-pointers and added four rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Johnson had 14 points and three rebounds, followed by Davis with 12 points and four rebounds.

Coleman produced 12 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting from the field and Daniel Ortiz had seven points, two assists and two steals. Lendeborg contributed six points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

The Blazers remain on the road as they visit Temple, Thursday, March 7, at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.