FORT WORTH, Texas -- Alejandro Vasquez sank five 3-pointers on his way to scoring a career-high 29, Yaxel Lendeborg finished with his 19th double-double of the season and UAB cruised to a wire-to-wire 85-69 victory over Temple on Sunday in the championship game of the American Athletic Conference tournament, earning the Blazers a spot in the NCAA tournament for the 17th time.
Vasquez opened the scoring with a 3-pointer two minutes into the game, and the fourth-seeded Blazers (23-11) never looked back, heading to the Big Dance on a five-game win streak. Vasquez had 21 points by halftime to lead UAB to a 43-27 advantage.
Vasquez accounted for nearly half of UAB's first-half output, hitting all five of his 3-point attempts on 7-for-9 shooting. The Blazers shot 52% in the first half and made 7 of 13 from beyond the arc.
Hysier Miller hit two 3-pointers and had 16 points at the break for Temple. Miller hit 4 of 8 shots, while the rest of the Owls made 5 of 22. Temple shot 30% overall and missed 10 of 12 from distance.
Vasquez made 11 of 16 shots, missing his only 3-point attempt in the second half, for UAB. Lendeborg totaled 14 points and 16 rebounds. Eric Gaines added 15 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and 5 steals. Christian Coleman scored 15 on 7-for-12 shooting.
Miller scored a career-high 32 to lead 11th-seeded Temple (16-20). He made 9 of 18 shots with four 3-pointers and 10 of 11 foul shots. Shane Dezonie added 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists off the bench.
Coach Adam Fisher's Owls had won five in a row entering play and hadn't lost since a 100-72 setback to UAB. After that loss, a gambling investigation was announced because of unusual betting.