By GREG MENGELT

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Middle Tennessee senior Josh Jefferson had arguably the best game of his college career Saturday and helped the Blue Raiders win 93-85 at Western Kentucky on Saturday.

Jefferson, a former New Albany standout, was 8 for 11 from the field, 7 for 9 from behind the 3-points line and 8 of 9 at the free throw line to tie a career high with 31 points. Jefferson also had three rebounds, an assist and a steal as the Blue Raiders improved to 14-6 overall and 5-2 in Conference USA. Middle Tenneessee has won five games in a row and now sits atop the East Division, a half-game ahead of Florida Atlantic.

After trailing 16-14 early, Middle Tennessee took a 17-16 lead on lead after a 3-points by sophomore guard Camryn Weston. Thanks to Jefferson, the Raiders (14-6, 5-2 Conference USA) never trailed again.

HIs 3 with 4:49 left in the first half put Middle Tennessee ahead 32-23. With 25 seconds left, Jefferson gave the Raiders a 42-34 lead on another 3-pointer.

Western Kentucky (10-11, 2-6), which lost its fifth straight game Saturday, cut the deficit to 42-37 by halftime, but Jefferson knocked down another 3 to give the Raiders their largest lead at 48-37. Jefferson then hit back-to-back 3s to give Middle Tennessee a 14-point edge.

Western Kentucky got within seven before Jefferson hit another 3-points with 7:33 that pushed the lead back to 10 at 70-60. The closest the Hilltoppers got the rest of the way with 79-74.

Senior guard Donovan Sims added 22 points for the Blue Raiders, who go to UAB (17-4, 7-1) for a big Conference USA showdown next Saturday at 4 p.m.The Blazers suffered their first conference loss Saturday, 84-81 at Marshall. The Middle Tennessee-UAB clash can be seen on ESPN Plus.

Sophomore guard Dayton McKnight (Shelbyville, Ky./Collins) had 24 points to pace the Hilltoppers.