HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- — Zach Cleveland had 19 points and six assists to lead top-seeded Liberty beat No. 8 seed UTEP 81-60 on Wednesday night in a Conference USA Tournament quarterfinal.

Liberty (26-6) will play the Kennesaw State-New Mexico winner in a semifinal on Friday.

Kaden Metheny scored 16 points while going 5 of 10 (4 for 8 from 3-point range) for the Flames. Taelon Peter added 14 points, five rebounds and three steals.

Devon Barnes led the Miners (18-15) with 18 points and three steals. UTEP also got 13 points from Corey Camper Jr. The loss was the Miners' seventh in a row.

Liberty took the lead with 8:10 remaining in the first half and did not relinquish it. The score was 36-26 at halftime, with Cleveland racking up 10 points. Liberty extended its lead to 61-39 during the second half, fueled by a 7-0 scoring run. Peter scored a team-high 11 points in the second half.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.