DAVIS — Freshman Gavin Sykes had 18 points, but Long Beach State didn’t have an answer for a superb first half from UC Davis in a 71-54 loss on Saturday afternoon.
Isaiah Lewis added 10 points and three steals for Long Beach (8-18 overall, 4-10 Big West), which shot just 36% from the field and was outscored 24-9 from 3-point range. Petar Majstorovic added eight points before fouling out for LBSU, which has lost seven games in a row and is in serious danger of being left out of the eight-team conference tournament next month.
Marcus Wilson had 18 points and six assists to pace the Aggies (16-10, 9-6), who outrebounded Long Beach 34-26 and never trailed on the scoreboard. Connor Sevilla scored 10 points and Niko Rocak added nine points and 10 rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals.
Long Beach fell behind early but got a pair of 3-pointers from Sykes and eventually tied the score at 16-all with just over 12 minutes to play in the first half. The Aggies responded with an 11-0 run to regain control and opened a 41-27 advantage by halftime.
UC Davis extended its lead to 20 points in the opening minutes of the second half and held Long Beach to 0-for-7 shooting from 3-point range after the break.
LBSU held the Aggies to just 42.3% shooting in the second half, including a scoreless stretch of nearly 5 minutes, but the visitors couldn’t make up enough ground to truly threaten.
Sykes became the second LBSU player after Lucious Harris to score 400 points in his freshman season.
UP NEXT
Long Beach State hosts UC Irvine on Thursday at 7 p.m.
BIG WEST STANDINGS
Through Thursday, Feb. 14
Team – Overall, Big West
Hawaii – 18-6, 10-4
UC Irvine – 17-9, 10-4
UC Santa Barbara – 17-9, 10-5
Cal State Northridge – 16-10, 9-5
UC Davis – 16-10, 9-6
UC San Diego – 18-9, 8-7
Cal State Fullerton – 13-14, 8-7
Cal Poly (SLO) – 11-16, 7-8
Long Beach State – 8-18, 4-10
UC Riverside – 8-19, 3-12
Cal State Bakersfield – 8-18, 2-12