Southland basketball: No. 18 Saint Mary’s beats Long Beach State; No. 11 UCLA women’s win

Tommy Kuhse had a career-high 20 points and eight assists and No. 18 Saint Mary’s bounced back three days after losing its home opener and beat Long Beach State 81-63 on Thursday night.

Matthias Tass added 22 points and five rebounds for the Gaels, who never trailed in the first matchup between the teams since 2010.

Colin Slater had 14 points for Long Beach State (1-3). The Beach have lost 25 consecutive games against ranked teams, dating to 2011.

Saint Mary’s (2-1) shook off a sluggish start and led by 22 after Kuhse’s third 3-pointer of the second half. Kuhse, who had not scored in the Gaels first two games, was 4 of 4 from beyond the arc.

The blowout comes after coach Randy Bennett’s team won their first two games by two points, including a 61-59 loss to Winthrop on Monday.

WOMEN

NO. 11 UCLA 86, LONG BEACH STATE 51

Michaela Onyenwere had 27 points and six rebounds in UCLA’s victory over Long Beach State.

Onyenwere scored 11 of the first 13 points and UCLA (3-0) opened with a 20-0 run. The Bruins led 52-26 at the break after scoring 26 points in each quarter. Onyenwere had 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting in the half.

Kiara Jefferson added 13 points for UCLA (3-0). Justina King the 49ers (1-2) with 22 points.

USC 76, UC Riverside 59

Graduate transfer guard Aliyah Jeune scored 27 points, Desiree Caldwell had a career-high 14 points and Angel Jackson added 11 points to lift the Trojans to a 3-0 record.

MEN FRIDAY

Cal State Northridge at Auburn, 4 p.m.

UC Irvine at Boise State, 6 p.m.

Cal Baptist at California, 7 p.m.

UC Riverside at Sacramento State, 7 p.m.