Illinois State holds off UAB 78-74

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) MiKyle McIntosh scored 18 points to lead Illinois State over UAB 78-74 on Sunday.

McIntosh was 7 of 10 from the floor. Daishon Knight had 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting and DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell added 13 points. Reggie Lynch had six blocked shots for Illinois State (4-3).

UAB (3-6) was paced by Robert Brown with a career-high 27 points. He made a career-high seven 3-pointers on nine attempts.

Following Akoon-Purcell's dunk at 11:15 of the first half Illinois State led 22-9. But Brown hit a trio of 3s to lead UAB on a 10-0 run and the Blazers trailed by six at intermission.

They cut the deficit to one with 1:11 left on another Brown 3-pointer but Denzel Watts missed a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left and Tony Wills made four straight free throws to seal the win.