Gauchos roll past Titans, 87-72

James Powell scored 20 points and Chris Devine had 18 Saturday night to lead UC Santa Barbara to an 87-72 victory over Cal State Fullerton in a Big West Conference game at Fullerton.

The Gauchos (13-4, 2-2), who ended a two-game losing streak, shot a season-best 64.8% in beating the Titans (10-5, 3-1), who were 3-0 in conference play for the first time since 1980.

Josh Akognon led Fullerton with 17 points but shot just three for 16 from the floor and made only one of his 11 three-point attempts.

UC Santa Barbara led for the final 36 minutes. The Gauchos led by as many as 12 in the first half, and 15 in the second.

Cal State Northridge 78, Pacific 61 -- After missing all 12 of their three-point attempts in the first half, the Matadors (12-3, 4-0 Big West) made eight in a row to erase a nine-point deficit at Northridge.

Deon Tresvant and Josh Jenkins made three apiece and Rob Haynes made two as the Matadors went on a 35-14 run that gave them a 46-43 lead.

Pacific (11-5, 2-1) would get no closer than 10 after that as Northridge won its fifth in a row and beat the Tigers for only the fourth time in 18 meetings.

UC Irvine 73, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 69 -- Patrick Sanders made a fall-away jumper with 12.2 seconds to play as the Anteaters (7-9, 2-1 Big West) held on to beat the visiting Mustangs (6-10, 1-3).

UC Irvine went on a 17-3 run midway through the second half to take an 11-point lead at 52-41 with 10:43 left. But Cal Poly rallied to move to within 64-61 with 2:35 left, and the Anteaters needed Sanders’ late shot to put the game away.

Brett Lauer scored a career-high 20 points to lead the Anteaters. Sanders finished with 18 and Darren Fells had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Long Beach State 71, UC Davis 53 -- Donovan Morris scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half to help the 49ers (4-11, 1-3 Big West) end a five-game losing streak.

Early in the second half the 49ers used a 21-5 run that gave them a 57-35 lead with 9:01 to play. Morris scored 13 points during the nine-minute stretch.

The 49ers shot 54% from the field and went eight for 18 from behind the three-point line. The Aggies (7-9, 1-2), on the other hand, shot 36%, including three for 19 from three-point range.

Gonzaga 91, Loyola Marymount 68 -- The Bulldogs (12-4) shot 65.4% from the field and pulled away from the Lions (3-14) with an 18-4 run over the game’s final 4:40 to win the West Coast Conference opener for both teams.

Josh Heytvelt, who scored 17 points, and the Bulldogs used their superior size and strength to score 52 points in the paint to just 18 for Loyola.

Portland 82, Pepperdine 78 -- Sherrard Watson scored 22 points and Nik Raivio had 17 to lead the visiting Pilots (6-10) past the Waves (6-11) in the West Coast Conference opener for both teams.

Tyrone Shelley had 23 points, Jason Walberg and Rico Tucker scored 14 apiece and Malcolm Thomas grabbed 12 rebounds for Pepperdine, which has lost five of six.

WOMEN

UCLA 76, Washington State 56 -- Nina Earl scored a game-high 18 points and was one of four Bruins in double figures at Pullman, Wash.

UCLA (9-8, 4-2 Pac-10) led by as many as 41 points early in the second half in winning for the fifth time in seven games.

The Cougars (3-13, 0-5) are one of only two Pac-10 teams without a conference win.