Draine, Watson lead Southern Miss past UAB 84-77

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) LaDavius Draine matched his career-high with 28 points, Gabe Watson set a career best with 27 and Southern Miss broke its seven-game road losing streak, defeating UAB 84-77 on Thursday night.

Watson had a 3-pointer and a 3-point play and Draine a 3-pointer and five points in a 13-0 run late in the first half that put the Golden Eagles up for good. They led by as many as 16 points midway through the second half when the Blazers put together an 11-2 run to get within five with 1:31 to play.

Watson answered with a jumper and in the final minute Draine made four free throws as the Golden Eagles went 7 of 8 from the line.

Tyler Stevenson had 12 points and nine rebounds for Southern Miss (6-14, 2-5 Conference USA).

Jalen Benjamin scored a season-high 29 points for the Blazers (12-8, 3-4) and Tavin Lovan added 14 points.

Southern Miss shot 68% in the second half (17 of 25) and 56% for the game.

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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