San Diego Brushes Aside Pepperdine

Another difficult game for Pepperdine, only this time the story wasn’t about health problems and injuries.

It was about missing jerseys.

Pepperdine suited up only nine players Saturday night because of ailments and injuries, old news in a season that got a little older after an 88-73 loss to San Diego in a West Coast Conference game before 2,071 at Firestone Fieldhouse.

The latest news was the benching of leading scorer Jimmy Miggins for the second time in three weeks because of disciplinary reasons. Miggins did not start for “jersey-related disciplinary reasons,” Coach Paul Westphal said, declining to elaborate.

Miggins did not wear his No. 32 jersey during the game, instead wearing a No. 15 jersey that did not have a name on the back of it.

Miggins forgot his jersey before Friday’s game against Santa Clara. Miggins brought his jersey with him before Saturday’s game, but was not allowed to wear it.

When asked what happened, Miggins said, “Ask coach about it.”

Miggins, averaging 15.8 points, checked into the game with 15:49 left and finished with 11 points on five of 14 shooting for Pepperdine (10-7, 2-2 in WCC play).

Miggins was benched for the first few minutes of a Dec. 22 game against Lipscomb because he missed a pregame meal.

As for the game, San Diego (8-8, 2-1) wore down the Waves with post players Jason Keep and Jason Blair, who combined for 40 points on 14 of 19 shooting. Blair made 10 of 12 shots and scored 25 points, and Keep added 15.

Pepperdine fell to 3-4 at home.

-- Mike Bresnahan

Loyola Marymount 75, Santa Clara 69 -- Keith Kincade scored 19 points as the Lions snapped a five-game losing streak before 1,863 at Gersten Pavilion.

Kincade was one of four players scoring in double figures for the Lions (7-12, 1-3 WCC), who had lost nine of 10 games.

The Broncos (10-6, 1-2) outrebounded the Lions, 44-30, but were unable to slow Loyola Marymount offensively. The Lions shot 47.2% from the field and had only six turnovers.

“Certainly this is a shot in the arm for us,” Lion Coach Steve Aggers said. “We’ve been struggling for the past month-and-half. We took a very physical team and matched them blow for blow. It’s a huge win for us.”

-- Lauren Peterson

UC Riverside 47, Cal State Fullerton 41 -- Freshman guard Nate Carter shook off a poor first half and finished with 16 points and eight rebounds to lead the Highlanders over the Titans at Fullerton.

Guard Fedi Holm-Hadulla, making only his second start, led Fullerton (5-10, 3-2 Big West) with 12 points. Guard Anthony Bolton added 11 points for the Titans, who had only eight players available because of injuries and the continuing suspension of center Pape Sow.

Fullerton, utilizing a different line-up for the 11th time, resorted to slowdown tactics to keep the score close.

Riverside (3-8, 2-3) took a 24-19 lead at halftime, despite getting only four points out of Carter.

-- Paul McLeod

Utah State 63, Long Beach State 55 -- The Aggies shook off a buzzer-beating overtime loss to UC Irvine Wednesday night by pulling away in the second half to defeat the 49ers before 1,871 at the Pyramid in Long Beach.

Long Beach (2-12, 1-4), which defeated Idaho Thursday night to end a 10-game losing streak, had a 9-0 run midway through the second half to put a scare into Utah State. Jibril Hodges’ three-point basket with 9:47 remaining capped the run to give the 49ers a 42-41 lead.

The Aggies (13-4, 4-2) responded with six consecutive points and never trailed afterward.

-- Eric Stephens

UC Irvine 58, Idaho 45 -- The Anteaters got key contributions from reserves Matt Okoro and Greg Ethington to defeat the Vandals at the Bren Center in Irvine.

It was the seventh win in eight games for Irvine (10-4, 4-1 Big West).

Okoro and Ethington stepped forward after 7-foot center Adam Parada, who finished with only two points and three rebounds, played only nine minutes because of foul trouble. Okoro scored a career-high 14 points and Ethington had six points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Ronnie Smith had 18 points for Idaho (6-9, 2-4).

-- Dan Arritt

UC Santa Barbara 67, Pacific 52 -- Branduinn Fullove had 17 points and eight rebounds as the Gauchos won easily at Goleta, Calif.

The Gauchos (7-9, 4-2 Big West) forced the Tigers (8-6, 3-2) into six turnovers and nine misses out of 10 shots to take a 15-2 lead in the first 10 minutes.

Nick Jones got 10 of his 14 points in the second half as the Gauchos led by as many as 22 points. UCSB outrebounded the Tigers, 37-21.

Tom Cockle led Pacific with 15 points.

Cal State Northridge 73, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 54 -- The Matadors snapped a six-game losing streak with their first victory at San Luis Obispo since Jan. 21, 1995.

Northridge (7-8, 1-4 Big West) forced Cal Poly (7-8, 3-3) into 26 turnovers.

Curtis Slaughter and Ian Boylan each had 17 points for the Matadors.