Long Beach State hangs around, but No. 3 Kentucky prevails

at No. 3 Kentucky 86, Long Beach State 73: John Wall scored 19 points and the Wildcats (13-0) pulled away in the second half to beat the 49ers (6-6). DeMarcus Cousins shook off early foul trouble to finish with 15 points and 10 rebounds for Kentucky. For the first 30 minutes it looked as if Kentucky had partied a little too hard after celebrating the program’s 2,000th win on Monday night. The Wildcats led only 58-55 before using their size to outmuscle the 49ers down the stretch. Stephan Gilling and Larry Anderson led the 49ers with 15 points each, but Long Beach State looked tired in the final minutes barely 36 hours after dropping an overtime decision to Loyola Marymount and then flying cross-country for a game that started at 10 a.m. PST.

at Pepperdine 76, Utah 64: Mychel Thompson scored a career-best 25 points, Lorne Jackson had 18 and the Waves (4-10) ended a seven-game losing streak by defeating the Utes (5-7). Keion Bell had 17 points and nine rebounds for Pepperdine, which hadn’t won since beating Monmouth 3 1/2 weeks ago. Pepperdine never trailed in taking a 17-point lead in the first half and never letting the margin drop below five in the final minutes. Carlon Brown scored 21 points and Marshall Henderson had 20 for the Utes, who last lost to Pepperdine in the 1979 NCAA tournament.

Morehead State 69, Cal State Fullerton 62: Kenneth Faried had 13 rebounds and scored 19 points, including seven in the last four minutes, to lead the Eagles (5-6) over the Titans (4-6) in the Basketball Travelers Invitational at Logan, Utah. Devon Peltier led Fullerton with 15, including five-for-seven shooting from three-point range. The Titans led 59-55 with 5:10 to play.

at San Francisco 82, Cal State Bakersfield 73: Dior Lowhorn had 27 points and nine rebounds, Kwame Vaughn had 22 points and the Dons (4-9) beat the Roadrunners (1-9). Donald Bragg led Bakersfield with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

-- associated press