WKU Men’s Basketball: Hilltoppers Get Revenge Against UAB With 98 to 70 Win in Quarterfinals

WKU Hilltopper Basketball started the Conference USA Basketball Championship with a little revenge Thursday.

Five days after losing at UAB by 28 in the regular-season finale, the third-seeded Hilltoppers (23-9) stormed past the sixth-seeded Blazers 98-70 in the C-USA Championship quarterfinals at the Ford Center at The Star.

WKU advances to face No. 2 seed Old Dominion at 3 p.m. CT Friday in the semifinals. The Hilltoppers have advanced to the conference tournament semifinals in 12 of the last 14 seasons.

The Hilltoppers led most of the first half, but trailed by three when they took control with a 16-2 run to end the frame, building a 46-35 advantage.

WKU shot 62.1 percent in the second half, 59.7 percent overall and netted 19 of 22 free throws with just six turnovers.

Freshman guard Taveion Hollingsworth led all scorers with 22 points, while senior guard Darius Thompson finished with 20 points, seven assists, four rebounds and four steals.

Senior forward Justin Johnson and redshirt junior guard Lamonte Bearden each scored 19 points, while Johnson added 10 boards. Freshman guard Josh Anderson scored 10 points off the bench.

Zack Bryant led UAB (20-13) with 16 points.