Darling with 23 points leads UAB over W. Kentucky 101-73

Mar 4, 2018, 04:23 am

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Nate Darling scored 23 points to lead six players in double-figure scoring and UAB upended Western Kentucky 101-73 on Saturday night in a regular season finale.

William Lee added 18 points, Chris Cokley and Zack Bryant had 17 apiece and Nick Norton and Lewis Sullivan had 10 each. Bryant led the team with eight rebounds.

The Blazers (19-12, 10-8 Conference USA) end up as the No. 6 seed to play eleventh-seeded Florida Atlantic in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament on March 7.

UAB took an early lead in the first half and Lee made three 3-pointers to help his team to a 45-37 advantage at intermission.

Western Kentucky got as close as 47-43 early in the second half before the Blazers opened it up again with the help of two layups by Cokley and 3-pointers by Darling and Bryant to make it 60-43 with 15:50 to go. The Blazers surged again late, going 15-5 to push it to 90-62 with 4:36 left.

Justin Johnson led the Hilltoppers (22-9, 14-4) with 18 points and 11 rebounds. They head to the C-USA Tournament quarterfinals as the No. 3 seed.