Aaron Johnson scored 28 points Saturday and UAB pulled away in the second half for a 76-65 victory over Rice in Houston.

The Blazers (19-7, 7-2) trailed 31-26 at halftime but opened the second half on a 9-0 run to take the lead for good. Another 9-0 run put UAB up 47-37 with 13:01 remaining and the Owls (7-15, 1-8) got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Johnson was 7 of 10 from the field and 11 of 13 from the free-throw line for UAB. He also had five assists and three steals. Jamarr Sanders added 18 points — all in the second half — and Elijah Millsap 13 for the Blazers.

Arsalan Kazemi led Rice with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Lawrence Ghoram added 13 points and Trey Stanton had 12.

UAB had a big advantage at the free-throw line, hitting 28 of 34 shots compared to just 10 of 18 for Rice.

Western Kentucky 87, Troy 69: Steffphon Pettigrew scored 25 points to lead Western Kentucky to an 87-69 win over Troy on Saturday night.

A.J. Slaughter added 17 points for the Hilltoppers, and Sergio Kerusch and Caden Dickerson each had 15.

Western Kentucky made 12 of 26 shots from 3-point range, while Troy (13-11, 8-5) was just 3-for-18.

Antywan Jones led the Trojans with 20 points while Brandon Hazzard had 16.

Middle Tennessee 80, South Alabama 68: In Mobile, Decatur’s Gary Redus scored 13 points in South Alabama’s loss to Middle Tennessee State. South Alabama fell to 13-12 overall and 5-8 in the Sun Belt.

College of Charleston 75, Samford 54: In Charleston, S.C., Andrew Goudelock scored 25 points for the College of Charleston (16-8, 11-2 Southern Conference).

Priceville’s Josh Bedwell blocked two shots in eight minutes of play for Samford (9-15, 3-9).

Eastern Kentucky 66, Jacksonville State 65: In Richmond, Ky., Papa Oppong scored 20 points and Justin Stommes added 16, including a go-ahead layup with 21 seconds left in the Colonels’ win.

Dominique Shellman had given the Gamecocks (10-13, 6-7) a 65-64 lead by making one of two free throws with 2:22 remaining to break the game’s 10th tie.

Jacksonville State twice led by six points in the second half, only to see Eastern Kentucky come back. The Colonels held a seven-point lead, 57-50, with 6:56 left but couldn’t hold it.

Trenton Marshall scored 19 points and Nick Murphy 15 to lead the Gamecocks.

Mississippi Valley 82, Alabama State 71: In Itta Bena, Miss., Shannon Behling scored 19 points to pace Mississippi Valley State.

Menji Mundadi scored 28 points to lead Alabama State (9-12, 6-4), while Christopher Duncan scored a career-high 18 points in the loss.

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