Tampa, FL -- (Sports Network) - Courtney Lee scored 29 points and pulled down seven rebounds as Western Kentucky recovered from blowing a 15-point second- half lead to down San Diego, 72-63, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Tyrone Brazelton added 15 points and five assists for the 12th-seeded Hilltoppers (29-6), who dispatched of the Drake Bulldogs in the first round and will now travel to Phoenix to take on top-seeded UCLA in a West Regional semifinal on Thursday.

"Coming in, one of our goals was to win the conference championship so we can position ourselves to come here and play games," Lee said. "We accomplished that, and we didn't want to stop with that. We wanted to come and make noise and win games."

Jeremy Evans chipped in with nine points and seven boards for Western Kentucky, which tied a school record for wins in a single season.

Gyno Pomare finished with 20 points and nine rebounds for the 13th-seeded Toreros (22-14), who were coming off their first-ever NCAA tourney win, a thrilling 70-69 victory over UConn in overtime. Brandon Johnson had 13 points but was just 4-of-15 from the floor and had six turnovers. Rob Jones had 11 points in defeat.

"They got us out of our comfort zone and kind of sped us up a little bit," Pomare said. "Just sped it up too much. In the second half we slowed it down some, and we were right there, but (we) just got to make plays in the end."

Western Kentucky took a 12-point lead into the final frame and continued to play frontrunner early in the second half. Ty Rogers extended the Hilltoppers cushion to 15, 52-37, by nailing a jumper with just under 16 minutes to go.

Sensing their season slipping away, the Toreros managed an 18-2 burst to take the lead. Devin Ginty capped the push with a big three to put San Diego on top, 55-54, with 6:35 left.

Lee finally stemmed the tide with a three of his own for the Hilltoppers, and Rogers followed by sinking three free throws after being fouled attempting a three to give WKU a 60-55 lead with 5:31 remaining.

Things remained tight as the game headed toward the stretch. Brazleton stroked a huge three with just over three minutes on the clock to extend the Hilltoppers advantage to six, 64-58.

Less than a minute later De'Jon Jackson went hard to the glass to make it 64-60.

Both offenses went cold from there and San Diego was forced to foul A.J. Slaughter with 45.3 ticks left. The guard calmly hit both to make it a two- possession game, 66-60.

It became a foul shooting contest from there and the Hilltoppers were solid from the line in the waning seconds to secure things.

"I just think it's good for our program in general," Rogers said of the victory. "To be in the Sweet 16 and get to play a No. 1 seed. It's good for our school, good for our program. It will help with recruiting, I think."

The Hilltoppers took control of a close game with a 14-5 push midway through the first half. Lee capped the burst with a three to give Western Kentucky a 23-13 edge with 9:44 remaining.

WKU then expanded its lead to 14, 37-23, after Boris Siakam got loose for a layup with less than three minutes to go until intermission.

The Hilltoppers kept San Diego at arm's length for the rest of the frame and took a rather comfortable 39-27 advantage into the locker room.

Game Notes

The Toreros, who collected their second-ever West Coast Conference tournament title earlier this month, ended their season two victories shy of tying a school record for wins in a single season...WKU now owns an 18-19 all- time ledger in the tourney...The 1953-54 and the 1986-87 Western Kentucky teams also won 29 games...This was just the third-ever meeting between the two schools on the hardwood. The two previous meetings both took place in 1989, as WKU won the first matchup, 64-59, while San Diego returned the favor with a 72-66 victory.