Porter, Riverside Put Away Pacific

Rickey Porter scored a career-high 40 points to lead UC Riverside to a stunning 83-71 victory Saturday over Pacific at Stockton, ending the Tigers’ 31-game Big West Conference winning streak.

Porter made each of his seven three-point attempts and 13 of 19 shots from the field as the Highlanders (2-11, 2-1 in the Big West) rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half.

Larry Cunningham scored 10 points and Dedrick Bates had nine points and 10 rebounds for UC Riverside, which started the season 0-10.

Johnny Gray scored 24 points and Christian Maraker had 20 points and nine rebounds for Pacific, the two-time defending Big West champion that hadn’t lost a regular-season conference game since January 2004. The Tigers (9-5, 0-1) also had their string of 19 consecutive Big West home victories ended.

Riverside shot 61% from the field in the second half and never trailed after taking its first lead at 61-58 on Porter’s sixth three-pointer with 10:36 left.

From the Associated Press

Cal State Fullerton 83, Cal State Northridge 78 -- Bobby Brown made all six of his second-half shots and scored 17 points to help the Titans (8-4, 2-1) get past the host Matadors (5-6, 0-1).

Fullerton survived a 39-point effort by Northridge junior guard Mike Efevberha, which tied the school record set by Mike Quinn in 1998.

While Efevberha, who made 12 of 18 shots including eight of 11 from three-point range, carried most of the load for Northridge, Brown had plenty of support. Frank Robinson scored 20 points off the bench, and Jamaal Brown had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

But the critical help came from Justin Burns, who scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half when Brown went scoreless. Before his second-half outburst, Brown had gone 45 minutes 23 seconds over two games without a point.

Fullerton Coach Bob Burton was grateful to get the kind of win that has recently defined the series between the teams.

“I told Bobby [Braswell] before the game, ‘Are you ready for a typical one- or two-point game going down to the end?’ ” Burton said. “Our teams really mirror each other, we have the same type of athletes, so the games are always like this.”

Braswell was upset with his team’s overall effort.

“Our defense in the second half was pathetic,” he said. “Offensively Fullerton ... made big plays. And we had no response to it besides Mike Efevberha.”

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-- Mike Terry

UC Irvine 69, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 67 -- Aaron Fitzgerald made a three-pointer with 7.6 seconds left, giving the Anteaters (5-8, 0-1) the victory over the host Mustangs (4-9, 2-1).

UC Santa Barbara 77, Long Beach State 74 -- Chris Devine scored 20 points and made a pair of free throws with 17.6 seconds left to lead Gauchos (6-7, 1-2) over the visiting 49ers (5-7, 0-1).

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From the Associated Press