BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Wen Mukubu didn't have to hide it anymore: The UAB Blazers had No. 3 Memphis on their minds for a month.

The Blazers used a smothering zone defense and clutch free-throw shooting to end the Tigers' 15-game winning streak with an 80-74 victory on Thursday night, proving Conference USA isn't just a one-team league.

"We've heard so much about Memphis," said Mukubu, who had 12 points and was one of five UAB players in double figures. "A lot of times when we're playing other teams in the conference, we had Memphis in the back of our minds."

The Blazers (21-5, 11-2 CUSA) gave their NCAA tournament hopes a big boost and avenged a 73-66 loss at Memphis on Jan. 26, prompting the fans to storm the court and Mukubu to hop up on the scorer's table.

Marvett McDonald had 17 points, including four free throws in the final 19 seconds and a basket that gave UAB a five-point lead with 2:47 left. UAB held the Tigers scoreless for more than eight minutes down the stretch, then hit six consecutive free throws during the last 33 seconds to send another top-five team tumbling.

It had been exactly two months since the Tigers (26-3, 12-1) had lost a game, but coach John Calipari wasn't all that surprised after relatively close calls against UTEP and Tulsa.

"We've been slipping for about 10 days," said Calipari, whose team has already clinched the league tournament's No. 1 seed. "When it gets rough, we're not as coachable as we need to be. They beat us to every loose ball down the stretch."

"Everything is magnified in March," UAB coach Mike Anderson said. "You want to get momentum and I think we played some of our best defensive basketball, especially against a very talented Memphis team."

With that late offensive funk, Memphis missed a chance to wrap up the league title outright and strengthen its hopes for a No. 1 NCAA tournament seed. The chance was there, with No. 1 Duke falling to unranked Florida State on Wednesday night and No. 4 Villanova losing to second-ranked Connecticut on Saturday.

At Tempe, Ariz., Mike Jensen made four of his five 3-point attempts and scored 14 points to lead Washington (23-5, 12-5 Pac-10) to its seventh straight win.Brandon Roy was one of four Washington players with 13 points, ending his string of nine consecutive games of at least 20 points. The streak was the longest in Huskies' record books dating to 1960.Kevin Kruger scored 23 points for host Arizona State (10-16, 4-13).

Arron Afflalo scored 21 of his 25 points after halftime, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer midway through overtime, to help UCLA clinch at least a share of its first Pac-10 title in nine years.The Bruins (23-6, 13-4) can win the conference outright by beating Stanford on Saturday or with a Washington loss at Arizona.Leon Powe scored 20 points to lead host Cal (17-9, 11-6), which has lost four of five and missed out on a chance at its first conference title since Pete Newell's final season as coach in 1960.

Nick Fazekas had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Nevada clinched the Western Athletic Conference title.Marcelus Kemp scored 14 points for visiting Nevada (23-5, 12-4).Demetrius Brown had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Spartans (6-23, 2-13), who lost their seventh straight.

Paul Davis scored 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Michigan State (20-9, 8-7) in his next-to-last home game.Maurice Ager had 19 points, including 12 in the final 5:07, and Shannon Brown added 18 for the Spartans , who reached 20 wins for the seventh time in nine years.Alando Tucker scored 23 points for the Badgers (19-9, 9-6), who had won four of their last five games, but lost any shot at a share of the league's regular-season title.