COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : LSU Preps for UCLA by Routing McNeese St.

Every one of Louisiana State’s players scored, and the 25th-ranked Tigers won easily. That was enough for Coach Dale Brown.

“It was a poor game, yet we got a 20-point win, so we’re happy about that,” Brown said after Thursday night’s 93-72 victory over McNeese State at Baton Rouge, La. “We just have to work out some of the pieces.”

Jamie Brandon and Ronnie Henderson each scored 21 points as LSU tuned up for Saturday night’s game against ninth-ranked UCLA at Pauley Pavilion.

“We feel like this is the best UCLA team since John Wooden left,” Brown said.

LSU (4-0) led by 11 points at halftime and was never seriously threatened after opening the second half with an 11-4 run. Brandon Titus, who scored 14 points, made two three-point shots and added a layup to spark the rally.

Lenear Burns added 16 for LSU.

“I would have liked to rested some players for the UCLA game,” Brown said. “We knew McNeese was very athletic and they liked to shoot the three-point shot. We didn’t do a good job at all of getting back on defense.”

Keithon Hawkins led McNeese State (2-3) with 25 points, and Damon Wordlaw scored 18.

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No. 4 Temple 88, No. 17 Cincinnati 72--The Owls made 11 of 20 three-point attempts and frustrated Cincinnati with their 2-3 zone defense at Philadelphia.

“Teams just don’t want to play against the zone,” Temple Coach John Chaney said. “It’s like when you’re driving and you see a stop sign or a hospital zone sign. They don’t like that.”

Temple (4-0) took control early as Rich Brunson made four three-point baskets in the opening 10 minutes. The Owls took a 35-25 lead with five minutes to play before halftime on the junior guard’s fifth three-point basket. Eddie Jones, who scored a career-high 30 points, then took over from the outside, making two three-point shots in the final 3:27 as the Owls increased their lead to 42-30.

LaZelle Durden made eight three-point shots and led Cincinnati (6-2) with 26 points.

OTHER GAMES

Wesley Person scored 44 points for Auburn (3-2) in a 69-65 loss to Alabama Birmingham (6-1) at Auburn, Ala. Robert Shannon led Alabama Birmingham with 22 points. . . . Jimmy Carroll scored 18 points to lead Utah (4-2) to an 83-45 victory over Cardinal Stritch (7-4) at Salt Lake City. . . . Brent Barry scored 13 points to help Oregon State (1-3) to a 54-42 victory over Bradley (3-2) at Corvallis, Ore.