MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Western Kentucky took an 82-64 humbling Thursday night at No. 24 Middle Tennessee.

Now the Hilltoppers will try to get pointed back in the right direction before next week’s Conference USA Tournament.

WKU (22-8 overall, 14-3 C-USA) will close its regular season Saturday at Alabama-Birmingham (18-12, 9-8). Tipoff between the Toppers and Blazers is set for 7 p.m. at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Ala.

WKU guard Taveion Hollingsworth was asked about the effects of Thursday’s loss heading into the UAB matchup and the C-USA tourney.

“It won’t affect us,” the freshman said. “We’re going to put this loss behind us and hopefully we see (Middle Tennessee) again.”

WKU goes to Birmingham looking for a return to form from the previous three weeks. The Hilltoppers won six straight games from Feb. 8 to Feb. 24, with those victories coming by an average of 17.7 points.

WKU had its eyes on extending that streak against MTSU and keeping alive its hopes for a C-USA regular-season title. The Blue Raiders had other ideas.

Middle Tennessee (24-5, 16-1) took control with a 9-2 run in the final two minutes of the first half, going into halftime up 43-34. The Blue Raiders stayed in charge, outscoring the Tops 39-30 in the second half.

WKU took its 13th loss in its last 15 games against MTSU, which celebrated a second straight C-USA regular-season title.

Hollingsworth pointed to WKU’s defense as an area that let the Hilltoppers down in Murfreesboro. Middle Tennessee shot 55 percent from the field, made nine 3-pointers and tallied 18 assists against 10 turnovers.

“They had a lot of easy layups, lot of easy buckets,” Hollingsworth said. “We’ve got to get better on defense and get stops.”

That outcome means the Blue Raiders will possess the No. 1 seed at the C-USA Tournament next week in Frisco, Texas. Middle Tennessee has won the event each of the last two seasons.

WKU will hold the tournament’s No. 2 seed next week either with a win against UAB or a loss by fellow second-place squad Old Dominion (23-6, 14-3) on Saturday at home against Florida International. The Toppers enjoy a tiebreaker over the Monarchs thanks to their two wins this season against ODU.

A WKU loss Saturday combined with a Monarchs win would drop the Hilltoppers to the No. 3 seed.

Avoiding a two-game losing streak to end the regular season won’t be easy. The Blazers have been mediocre throughout C-USA play but put on an impressive showing Thursday with a 91-77 home win against Marshall.

C-USA Player of the Year candidate Chris Cokley powered UAB with 23 points and six offensive rebounds over just 18 minutes. He was joined in double figures by William Lee (15 points), Nick Norton (15), Lewis Sullivan (12), Zack Bryant (11) and Jalen Perry (10).

“It was a fun team to coach tonight,” Blazers coach Robert Ehsan said. “They played hard, they shared the basketball, they played offensively with a lot of confidence.

“It’s a great momentum game, I hope, going into Saturday’s game against Western Kentucky.”

UAB visited Bowling Green on Jan. 18 and led by seven points with 14:01 to play. The Hilltoppers rallied for a 77-69 victory, led by forward Dwight Coleby’s 17 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.

“We’ve got to get back up and get ready for another tough one Saturday night,” WKU coach Rick Stansbury said. “We’ll go into senior night at UAB. Nothing’s easy when you’re on the road.”

Notes

WKU has made at least one 3-pointer in 968 consecutive games, dating back to March 15, 1987. The Hilltoppers’ streak is the sixth-longest in the nation behind Kentucky, UNLV, Vanderbilt, Duke and Arkansas. … Forward Justin Johnson (1,562 points) ranks No. 15 on WKU’s all-time scoring list. Next on the list is No. 14 A.J. Slaughter (1,581) … Johnson (977 rebounds) is 23 rebounds away from becoming the fifth member of the Toppers’ 1,000-point, 1,000-rebound club. … Hollingsworth (401 points) ranks No. 4 at WKU for points by a freshman in a varsity season. Next on the list is No. 3 Derrick Gordon (412). … A win would give the Hilltoppers 23 regular-season wins for the first time since the 2007-08 WKU squad finished the regular season 24-6.

Western Kentucky (22-8, 14-3) at Alabama-Birmingham (18-12, 9-8)

7 p.m., Saturday, Bartow Arena, Birmingham, Ala.

Probable starters

Western Kentucky

Lamonte Bearden, g, 6-3, r-jr. (11.3 ppg, 3.4 apg); Dwight Coleby, f, 6-9, g-sr. (11.7 ppg, 7.9 rpg); Taveion Hollingsworth, g, 6-2, fr. (13.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg); Justin Johnson, f, 6-7, sr. (14.7 ppg, 9.3 rpg); Darius Thompson, g, 6-4, g-sr. (14.5 ppg, 4.8 apg)

UAB

Chris Cokley, f, 6-8, sr. (17.2 ppg, 8.9 rpg); William Lee, f, 6-9, sr. (9.8 ppg, 6.9 rpg); Nick Norton, g, 5-10, jr. (7.7 ppg, 4.7 apg); Zack Bryant, g, 6-2, fr. (13.0 ppg, 3.0 apg); Nate Darling, g, 6-5, so. (9.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg)

Broadcast

Fox College Sports/WKU PBS

Radio

WKLX 100.7-FM

Coaches

Rick Stansbury (37-25, second year; 330-191 overall), Western Kentucky; Robert Ehsan (34-28, second year; 34-28 overall), UAB

Series record

UAB leads 22-14 (Western Kentucky won last meeting 77-69 on Jan. 18 in Bowling Green)

Last time out

Western Kentucky lost 82-64 on Thursday at Middle Tennessee; UAB beat Marshall 91-77 at home Thursday.{&end}