Western Kentucky improved to 5-3 on the season and 3-1 in Conference USA play after a 20-17 win over UAB on Friday night.

The Hilltoppers defense held UAB scoreless in the second half and forced four turnovers on the night and converted those into 14 points of their own.

Jacques Evans led Western Kentucky with nine tackles while corner back Kahlef Hailassie tallied five tackles, forced a fumble, and had a clutch, goal-line interception of UAB quarterback Jacob Zeno with 5:06 remaining that helped preserve the win for the Hilltoppers.

Hailassie also came up clutch late in the third quarter, forcing a fumble of UAB running back DeWayne McBride, which JacQues Evans picked up and returned 29-yards to set the Hilltoppers up at the UAB six-yard line with 3:36 remaining in the quarter.

Western Kentucky would score two-plays later on an Austin Reed one-yard run to go up 20-17 and keep them in the lead for good.

Western Kentucky finished with 352 yards of total offense, however, it was their ground game that produced a bulk of the production with 224 yards.

Quarterback Austin Reed got the glory, scoring two rushing touchdowns on the night. However, freshman running back LT Sanders and Indiana transfer Davion Ervin-Poindexter combined for 202 rushing yards on 31 carries.

Reed finished 14-of-23 for a season-low 128 yards, but did score two rushing touchdowns. Malachi Corley led all receivers with five catches for 77 yards.

Even though it wasn't pretty, WKU did just enough to edge out the Blazers and that's all that matters. They now control their own destiny for the conference championship game as long as they win their last four games.

The Hilltoppers will be back in action next at home next Saturday against North Texas at 2:30 CT.

1. SLUGGISH START. WKU started this game poorly, which has been a problem at times this season. The offense opened up with a quick three-and-out, which was then followed by a quick 59-yard strike from Dylan Hopkins to Samario Randolph for a UAB touchdown. The Hilltoppers then preceded to drive down the field only to miss a 49-yard field goal. An Austin Reed 20-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter evened things up at 7 a piece, but UAB countered with ten quick points and Western Kentucky would have to dig themselves out of a 17-7 deficit late in the second quarter.

2. TURNOVERS R'US. You couldn't ask for a better defensive performance from the Hilltoppers on Friday night, holding UAB to just 324 total yards of offense and only 96 yards passing. UAB's starting quarterback, Dylan Hopkins, was knocked out of the game in the first quarter and replaced by Jacob Zeno - that situation should be noted in the lack of UAB production in the passing game.

The Hilltoppers were able to force three fumbles and convert them into 14 points on the scoreboard, allowing a little momentum to swing back in their favor when they needed it most. Cornerback Khalef Hailassie was the MVP for Western Kentucky's defense on Friday night with his forced fumble late in the third quarter that led to the Hilltoppers go-ahead score and then sealing the game with his goal-line interception with just over five minutes to play.

3. RUN GAME WAS EFFECTIVE. WKU's passing game was rather pedestrian against UAB's defense, but the running game provided some much-needed offensive production for the Hilltoppers. Freshman LT Sanders led the way for the Hilltoppers with 120 yards on 18 carries while Indiana transfer Davion Ervin-Poindexter chipped in with 82 yards on 15 carries. WKU's rushing attack averaged 5.1 yards per carry on the night and both Sanders and Ervin-Poindexter had big runs on WKU's final possession that helped them milk the clock and preserve the victory.

4. TOO MANY PENALTIES. Although they're usually fine in this area, WKU had 11 penalties on Friday that accounted for 86 yards. That's too many to sustain a high level of football. WKU will have to clean up these mistakes if they want to make a run at the conference championship.

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