UAB head coach Andy Kennedy did not exactly give the green light but wasn’t bothered by the result.

About five minutes into the Blazers’ AAC opener on the road, trailing by two points, Yaxel Lendeborg rose up for his second made three-point basket of the season and added one more before the end of the half.

And then another. And another. And another.

“He (Kennedy) told me not to fall in love with the three,” Lendeborg said. “I said, ‘I got you,’ but I still did.”

Lendeborg has quickly become a dominant force in the paint for the Blazers and an expanding toolbox that includes efficient 3-point shooting, along with expert rebounding and blocking skills, is providing even more opportunities for himself and his teammates.

UAB (11-6, 3-1 AAC) is fully entwined in the grind of the conference season and Lendeborg is averaging 11.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.1 blocks, while shooting 51.6 percent from the field and posting double-doubles in four of the last five games.

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Lendeborg admittedly was measured in his transition to Division I basketball but has become a consistent performer since dropping his first double-double of the season against Furman. He was only 1-of-9 on 3-pointers in non-conference play but drained triples with the frequency of former UAB great Jordan “Jelly” Walker in the win at UTSA.

“It felt amazing and I really needed that in that game, especially because of the way they were clogging up the paint,” Lendeborg said. “They called my number for sure, I don’t think I made a field goal (in the paint). I’ve been working on that all season. That’s a big emphasis in my game that I really need.”

Lendeborg was 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range against the Roadrunners — finishing with 23 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocks — and not one attempt was rushed or taken out of desperation.

“It changes the game,” Kennedy said. “If he can do that consistently, it changes the game. What’s crazy is that all of them looked like they should go in. They were the right shots at the right time. He did it with confidence and did it consistently in tough spots throughout the course of the game. If you have big guys that can stretch that, it changes the spacing dynamic of offensive basketball.”

Lendeborg was not tasked with perimeter shooting during his junior college career at Arizona Western, finishing his three-year stint going 12-of-31 from range, but was a rebounding savant in leading the NJCAA last season with an average of 13 boards per game.

Before arriving in Birmingham, Lendeborg was a two-time NJCAA All-American and averaged 17.2 points last season while shooting 72.7 percent from the field. His best outing came against Scottsdale Community College (Ariz.) when dropped 28 points and an eye-popping 31 rebounds.

“It wasn’t really my job. I was in it to get rebounds and finish it up for them. I was never a big three-point threat, maybe when I was a little smaller and that’s all I could do. But now that I’ve gotten a little taller, I’ve really been focusing on that as much as possible because I’ve been dominating the paint, I would say. I’m going to get the most out of it and sure it’ll be really good for this team moving forward.”

Interestingly enough, Lendeborg has attempted only one 3-point attempt in three games since his performance at UTSA — a miss in the final minute of UAB’s win over Tulane. However, he did pick up his seventh double-double of the season against the Green Wave, scoring 10 points and grabbing his NCAA career-high of 18 rebounds.

Despite the lack of 3-point attempts from Lendeborg in recent games, the threat of the 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward stepping back and rising up for a shot should create the space needed for not only for his frontcourt partner but the entire team as well.

“JD (Javian Davis) gets doubled a lot and most of the time it’s my man digging in there trying to get a block or foul him,” Lendeborg said. “If I’m able to stretch the floor, it helps people like Eric (Gaines), Daniel (Ortiz), Tony (Toney) and all those people that are driving. I can be out there for a kickout, in case they need me, and it helps me get more rebounds too. I can drive in there and they’re going to forget about me. It’s really a big part of this team that we need.”

Efrem “Butta” Johnson was the first to reap the benefits of Lendeborg’s expanded abilities and scored the final 10 points for the Blazers in securing the win over the Roadrunners. Against South Florida and Tulane, Alejandro Vasquez was given room to operate and dropped 17 points and a career-high 28 points, respectively.

“We can be a really dangerous team and certain things are coming along together,” Johnson said. “Yax is a big player for us. When he’s playing with big confidence, we really need him and we need him to take those shots and be the best version of himself. When he’s on fire, everything just goes well for us.”