Booker helps Long Beach St down UC Irvine with 28 points

IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — Deishuan Booker scored 28 points and distributed six assists and Long Beach State beat UC Irvine 80-70 on Wednesday night.

Booker made a pair of free throws to tie it at 56-all and that started a 9-0 run that ended with Booker's layup with five minutes left. Booker made 15 of 16 foul shots and the 49ers finished 23 of 27 from the line.

Booker was coming off a career-high 32-point effort in Saturday's 82-77 win over defending conference champion UC Davis. He set a school record making 19 of 20 free throws.

Long Beach State (8-10, 2-0 Big West) scored 50 points in the second half after being down 32-30 at intermission. The 49ers committed just five turnovers.

Bryan Alberts scored 17 points with seven rebounds, Mason Riggins scored 14 and KJ Byers 10.

Evan Leonard scored 16 points for the Anteaters (14-5, 2-1) and John Edgar Jr. scored 11.