BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Western Kentucky will go into its most important week of the year on the heels of its two worst losses of the season.

Alabama-Birmingham (19-12 overall, 10-8 Conference USA) destroyed the Hilltoppers 101-73 on Saturday night, issuing WKU (22-9, 14-4) its second thumping in three days.

The Toppers’ 28-point defeat at Bartow Arena came two nights after they took an 82-64 beating Thursday at No. 24 Middle Tennessee.

The back-to-back defeats were the two most lopsided of the season for WKU and came after the Hilltoppers won six straight games Feb. 8-Feb. 24.

WKU now must regroup before the C-USA Tournament, to be played this week at The Star in Frisco, Texas. The Tops will be the No. 3 seed and will open play at 9 p.m. Thursday against either No. 6 seed UAB or No. 11 seed Florida Atlantic (12-18, 6-12).

Forward Justin Johnson said he and his teammates need “to take a long look in the mirror and check yourself” before heading to Frisco.

“If that happens again we’re done. We’re one-and-done,” the senior Johnson said. “Anyone in this conference can beat us if that happens again.”

UAB was flawless offensively Saturday. The Blazers shot 61.7 percent from the field, 62.5 percent from the 3-point line and 80 percent from the foul stripe. UAB piled on 26 assists, including eight from guard Nick Norton.

Blazers guard Nate Darling drilled all eight of his field-goal attempts, including six from beyond the arc, to post a game-high 23 points. He was joined in double figures by teammates William Lee (18 points), Zack Bryant (17), Chris Cokley (17), Norton (10) and Lewis Sullivan (10).

UAB became the first opponent to reach triple digits against WKU since No. 25 Louisville beat the Hilltoppers 114-82 on Dec. 22, 2010, in E.A. Diddle Arena.

“We got beat to 50-50 balls,” Johnson said. “We got out-toughed on the block. We got beat off the drive. We got beat in every aspect of the game.”

Saturday was Senior Night for Cokley and Lee. Those two longtime Blazers were key figures on teams that made it to the NCAA Tournament’s second round in 2015 and won the C-USA regular-season crown a year later.

UAB fed off the night’s emotions and started the game hot, hitting its first five 3-point attempts. A Cokley jumper off a Bryant assist with 6:58 left in the first half put the home team ahead 37-22.

“We knew tonight (the Blazers) were going to have the emotions of Senior Night,” WKU coach Rick Stansbury said. “… When you’re on the road, you’ve got to find ways to step up and not just match their energy, you’ve got to match the emotion they have.”

WKU trimmed the deficit to 45-37 by halftime, then got it to 47-43 on a Johnson jumper with 18:29 to play. He finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, good for the 35th double-double of his Hilltopper career.

UAB then reversed the game’s momentum and buried WKU with a 13-0 run, running its lead all the way to 60-43 with 15:10 left. That burst was capped off by 3-pointers from Darling and Bryant and effectively put the game out of reach.

The Blazers poured it on from there and outscored the Tops 56-36 over the second half. UAB led by as many as 31 points, sending Cokley and Lee off to standing ovations from the home fans.

“Like I told my team, I’ll take all the responsibility,” Stansbury said. “It’s all me. I have no issues with that.

“But I don’t play that game. You get between those lines, you’ve got to show some fight and some grit and some toughness. We didn’t have enough of that.”

Joining Johnson in double figures for WKU were Lamonte Bearden (17 points), Dwight Coleby (12) and Taveion Hollingsworth (10).

WKU has now lost its last two games by an average of 23 points after winning its six previous contests by an average of 17.7 ppg. In those two games, the Hilltoppers have allowed Middle Tennessee and UAB to shoot a combined 58.3 percent from the floor and hit 24 3-pointers.

The losses by 18 and 28 points replaced a 74-63 defeat Feb. 3 at Texas-San Antonio as WKU’s worst of the season, in terms of final margin.

“Everything gets exposed more on the road,” Stansbury said. “Thursday night and tonight, we got exposed for a lack of toughness in some areas, some grit and some freaking fight when that game’s on the line.”

Up next

Another game against UAB could be on tap for Thursday if the Blazers take care of business against FAU on Wednesday in a first-round matchup.

The Blazers beat the Owls 75-44 in the team’s only regular-season meeting Jan. 4.

WKU is 1-1 against UAB this season, beating the Blazers 77-69 on Jan. 18 in Bowling Green and then taking the 101-73 loss Saturday. The Toppers went 1-0 against Florida Atlantic, topping the Owls 75-63 at home Feb. 8.

WKU’s No. 3 seed will be its highest in the program’s Conference USA era, and highest for any league tourney since the Hilltoppers were a No. 2 seed in the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

Notes

Stansbury is 37-26 in his second year at WKU and 330-192 overall in his career. … UAB leads its all-time series against the Hilltoppers 23-14. WKU is 3-15 against the Blazers in true road games played in Birmingham. … The guard Bearden hit the Hilltoppers’ first 3-pointer of the night with 18:24 left in the first half. That stretched WKU’s streak of consecutive games with a made 3 to 969, dating to March 15, 1987. … Johnson has now played 128 career games for the Toppers, which ranks No. 7 in program history. … Announced attendance at Bartow Arena was 4,363.{&end}