UC Irvine holds off Pepperdine

Darren Fells had 15 points and 15 rebounds, and Patrick Sanders scored 14 points as UC Irvine defeated Pepperdine, 68-66, Saturday night at the Bren Center.

Coming off big losses to Oregon and No. 21 Nevada, the Anteaters (3-4) never trailed in the first half but had to fight off a strong challenge in the second.

With Irvine behind, 66-65, with 56 seconds to play, Fells missed two free throws after making five of six earlier in the game.

But Adam Templeton made a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left and Marcus McIntosh made one of two with two seconds to play as the Anteaters held on.

Templeton had 12 points and seven rebounds, and McIntosh scored 10 points.

Marvin Lea scored 18 points and Chase Griffin had 16 for the Waves (1-5), who have lost three in a row.

San Diego State 76, UC Santa Barbara 72 -- Brandon Heath scored 23 of his 29 points in the second half to rally the unbeaten Aztecs at Santa Barbara.

Heath, the Mountain West Conference most valuable player last season, made five of eight shots from beyond the three-point arc and also had four steals for the Aztecs (7-0).

Alex Harris led the Gauchos (4-1) with 21 points and six assists. His hook shot with 11:53 to go gave them their biggest lead of the game, at 48-40.

Tulsa 91, Cal State Northridge 70 -- Rod Earls scored a career-high 26 points and Ben Uzoh had 19 as the Golden Hurricane (3-1) won at Tulsa, Okla.

Earls, a junior college transfer who sat out the 2005-06 season because of a broken foot, and freshman Uzoh helped Tulsa exceed 90 points for the first time since the 2004-05 season.

The Matadors (4-3) hung within striking range for most of the game, but Tulsa made 14 of 15 free throws in the final 4:30 and steadily pulled away.