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No. 25 Memphis cruises past UAB

Mar 10, 2013 - 12:42 AM Memphis, TN (Sports Network) - Chris Crawford scored 20 points and led No. 25 Memphis to an 86-71 win over UAB on Saturday.

Geron Johnson added 19 points and Joe Jackson had 17 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for the Tigers (27-4, 16-0 C-USA), who finished the regular season on a three-game winning streak. Memphis will be the top overall seed with a first-round bye in the upcoming Conference USA Tournament.

"It was a tremendous win. To go 16-0 is special," Memphis coach Josh Pastner said. "You don't take that for granted. It's a special team to do what we just did."

Jordan Swing scored 19 points and grabbed seven boards and Rod Rucker had 16 points for the Blazers (15-16, 7-9), who ended the regular season with two straight losses.

Memphis had a 43-28 lead entering the second half, but a dunk by Rucker started a 16-2 rally for the Blazers and they cut the deficit to 45-44 with 14:41 left in regulation.

However, the Blazers struggled for the rest of the contest.

D.J. Stephens converted a three-point play and Jackson sank a 3-pointer as Memphis began to pull away.

With less than three minutes remaining, Memphis had an 86-62 advantage. The Blazers scored nine straight points in the final minutes to make it respectable.

Up 31-24 with 3:54 left in the first half, Memphis finished out the half with a 12-4 run.

"The turnovers in the first half, we were back on our heels," UAB coach Jerod Haase said. "They do a good job of trying to play off and make it look like the guy is open, and then our guys, we talked about it later, telegraphing their passes. And once you telegraph your passes, that led to those steals which led to baskets in the first half."

UAB struggled with the ball in the period as the Tigers picked up 12 steals, with a team-high five from Jackson.

Game Notes

Johnson scored 14 points in the first half ... Memphis made 10-of-19 from 3-point range ... The Tigers have won 15 straight games against UAB.