Lawrence Kinnard led the University of Alabama-Birmingham with 22 points as the Blazers defeated SMU 78-75 on Saturday. The Mustangs (7-16, 1-9) have now dropped seven straight Conference USA games and remain in last place in conference standings. The Blazers (17-8, 7-3) have won seven of their last eight games and are currently tied with the University of Houston for second place.

The Mustangs came close to handing the Blazers their first loss at home, taking a one-point lead off of Bamba Fall’s layup with 18 seconds remaining. After UAB sank two free throws to reclaim the lead, SMU had one last chance to win the game but Kinnard stole the ball from Robert Nyakundi to seal the victory.

It looked like UAB would run away early, establishing an 11-point lead in the first half. The Mustangs battled back and the rest of the game consisted of 12 lead changes and five ties.

Head coach Matt Doherty praised his team’s efforts in a blog entry on smumustangs.com on Monday, referring to the team as “The Fightin’ Stangs.”

“I was very proud of our guys as they continue to compete,” Doherty said. “It would be easy for a team to get discouraged and quit. Not these Mustangs.”

Freshman Paul McCoy shot 4-of-8 from 3-point range on his way to 29 points, his best scoring output since scoring 32 points against Texas A&M Corpus Christi Dec. 31.

On Monday, McCoy was named the Conference USA Rookie of the Week for his play in last week’s games against UAB and Houston.

While SMU overwhelmed the Blazers on the boards by a count of 38-24, the Mustangs Achilles heel continues to be ball control. SMU committed 20 turnovers, and the Blazers were able to convert the Mustangs’ mistakes into 23 points.

Papa Dia and Bamba Fall joined McCoy in double digits, scoring 13 and 10 respectively.

UAB had two other players in double digits along with Kinnard, with Robert Vaden scoring 18 and Paul Delaney III scoring 17 points.

SMU travels to the University of Memphis for a game against the Tigers at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.