MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Even though UAB shot nearly 70 percent in the second half, the Blazers had to hold their breath until the final second against UTEP.
"Wow, what a game. That is what March Madness is all about," UAB coach Mike Anderson said. "To struggle like we did against UTEP and win was huge."
Squeaky Johnson scored 12 points and added six assists Friday as No. 24 UAB won 63-60 in the semifinals of the Conference USA Tournament.
The second-seeded Blazers (24-5) will face No. 5 Memphis in Saturday's championship game. The top-seeded Tigers defeated Houston 68-54 earlier Friday.
The Miners (20-9) trailed 62-59 with 4.6 seconds left when Kevin Henderson was fouled on a 3-point attempt by Lawrence Kinnard. Henderson, who made two 3-pointers down the stretch to pull UTEP within one possession, missed the first free throw.
He made the second, then deliberately missed the third shot. Will Kimble's tip bounced away, Kimble's only miss of the game, and the Blazers survived to move into the championship game.
UTEP's free-throw shooting spelled its doom as the Miners shot 12-of-24 from the line.
"The whole game was summed up at the free-throw line," UTEP coach Doc Sadler said. "It came down to the last few seconds. If you're going to go 50 percent at the free-throw line, you're not going to have a chance to win against a good team."
Marvett McDonald led UAB with 15 points, but was 4-of-10 from the floor, a surprising stat given how well the Blazers shot: 58 percent for the game, and 69 percent in the second half. Johnson made all four of his field goals, including three outside the arc.
Paul Delaney added 13 and six rebounds for the Blazers.
Jason Williams led the Miners with 20 points, while Henderson scored 12, including 3-of-7 outside the arc. Miguel Ayala added 11 points and Stefon Jackson scored 10 points.
"We kept fighting and fighting, and they kept making big shots at the shot clock buzzer," Williams said. "They kept making plays and we kept contesting with our hands down."
UAB's offensive output was much better than its earlier game against the Miners, which UTEP won 65-37. In that Feb. 8 game, the last loss for UAB, the Blazers trailed 34-18 at halftime. UAB already had surpassed that 37-point performance four minutes into the second half Friday. The memory of the previous anemic offensive show prevented the Blazers from looking past the Miners to the championship game.
"Everybody had their mind focused on UTEP," Johnson said. "(Anderson) showed us a tape of our last game with UTEP, and it helped myself and the rest of the team stay focused on UTEP."
UAB maintained the lead, but could never shake the Miners despite hitting 10 of its first 13 shots in the second half.
Still, Henderson's 3-pointer from the right wing brought the Miners within 52-51 with just under seven minutes left.
The Miners are playing without second-leading scorer and top rebounder John Tofi, who injured his knee injury late in the season. They ran most of their offense through Williams, particularly in the second half, when he scored 14 points.
In the first half, the Blazers led 17-10 on Johnson's 3-pointer. But the Miners answered with a 10-2 run that gave them their first lead of the game when Williams connected on a jumper.
UAB closed the half with five straight points and led 29-26 lead at the break.
