Pepperdine Has Inside Track at Long Beach

The situation isn’t dire yet, but it could get that way quickly for Long Beach State.

With center James Williams adding his name to the list of Long Beach State big men sidelined by injuries for the season, the 49ers are suddenly a shadow of themselves.

Pepperdine took full advantage of the size and depth problem by dispatching the 49ers, 81-62, Wednesday night in front of 2,223 at the Pyramid.

Guard Brandon Armstrong had 18 points and forward Kelvin Gibbs had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Waves (4-2). Pepperdine started the second half with five consecutive points and built the lead to as many as 28 with 2:44 remaining.

Long Beach (3-4) made only 19 of 55 shots and had a season-low point total. Ramel Lloyd had a game-high 21 points but no other 49er player had more than 11.

The 49ers, who have played four teams that either made the NCAA or NIT tournament last season, still have to face Utah, Texas A&M; and USC.

“I thought we played hard in the first half,” Long Beach Coach Wayne Morgan said. “I thought we shot the ball poorly. In the second half, I don’t think we played well. We did not battle as hard as we should have.”

Along with Williams, 6-foot-8 reserve Vance Lawhorn and 6-9 Tadeu Souza are out for the season because of knee surgeries. That leaves only Travis Reed and Grant Stone to provide the 49ers’ inside presence.

The problem is such that Rory Clark, a 6-8 senior walk-on, played four minutes after not being on the roster at the start of the year.

“I don’t want to make any excuses but at the same time, when you lose your best player in the frontcourt, it’s a huge loss,” Morgan said.

Pepperdine didn’t make a secret of its game plan: Get the ball inside.

“Kelvin’s been such a good offensive inside player for us,” Wave Coach Jan van Breda Kolff said. “For us to be a good team, we have to have a good inside-outside game.”

Micah McKinney added 15 points for the Waves.