Freshman guard Jared Harper highlighted his career-high 21-point performance with five first-half 3-pointers as Auburn beat Alabama-Birmingham, 74-70, on Saturday at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Ala.

Freshman forward Danjel Purifoy added 16 points, and freshman forward Mustapha Heron finished with 11 for the Tigers, who improved to 7-1. But it wasn't easy.

UAB, picked as one of the favorites in Conference USA, led at halftime and refused to go away quietly in the second half. Sophomore guard Deion Lavender made a pair of free throws that trimmed Auburn's lead to 71-68 with 21 seconds to play.

But Purifoy and Harper each made clutch free throws in the final seconds to help Auburn prevail.

Junior forward William Lee scored 13 points to pace a balanced Blazers' attack. Senior guard Hakeem Baxter added 12 points, and senior guard Dirk Williams finished with 10 points for UAB.

Harper hit five 3-pointers in the first half, but UAB still took a 37-33 lead into intermission.

Auburn opened the second half with an 18-10 run and took a 51-47 lead on 3-pointer by Purifoy with 13 minutes to play. The Tigers never relinquished the lead, but never could pull away from the Blazers, either.

Williams hit a 3-pointer that cut Auburn's lead to six with 3:27 to play.

Auburn now has a week off before returning home to host Boston College on Dec. 12. In addition to the battle with Eagles of the ACC, the Tigers have tricky tests against Oklahoma and Connecticut, before opening SEC play against Georgia on Dec. 29.

UAB (4-4) travels to Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 7. The Blazers also face Memphis and Texas, before beginning Conference USA play.