Lovan, Butler combine for 44 and UAB tops Middle Tennessee

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Tavin Lovan and Will Butler combined for 44 points, leading four into double figures as UAB defeated Middle Tennessee 79-66 on Saturday.

Lovan scored 22 with six rebounds, five assists and four steals for the Blazers (16-11, 7-7 Conference USA). He was 7-for-12 shooting and made 8-for-11 at the line. Butler scored a career-high 20, a perfect 6-for-6 at the line, where the Blazers were 23-for-31. Makhtar Gueye added 14 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting and Jalen Benjamin added 10 points with four assists.

C.J. Jones scored 14 points to lead the Blue Raiders (6-21, 2-12), whose losing streak reached four games. Donovan Sims added 14 points with five rebounds and three assists. Anthony Crump had 10 points.

Conference USA will announce a draw on Sunday for a round-robin over the final four games of the regular season. Teams will play within their groups to determine seeding to the conference tournament.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com