LONG BEACH — The Long Beach State men’s basketball team proved no match for UC San Diego as the Tritons took control early for an 80-54 win on Thursday night in a game that was played in the Goldmine.

Tyler McGhie had 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting to go with five rebounds and Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones scored 18 for UCSD (15-3 overall, 5-1 Big West Conference), which was playing its first game since its 12-game winning streak was snapped by UC Irvine last weekend. Justin Rochelin added 11 points, including seven straight during an early first-half run.

Varick Lewis tied his career high with 12 points off the bench to pace Long Beach (7-11, 3-3), which was playing in its smaller, older auxiliary arena because of a facility issue with the Walter Pyramid. Devin Askew added 11 points and five assists, and Cam Denson had 10 points and four rebounds in 18 minutes while battling foul trouble.

UCSD took control early with a 10-0 run. Kam Martin cut LBSU’s deficit to 15-10 midway through the first half, but the Tritons unleashed a 14-2 run to push the margin to 29-12 with 5:34 left in the half. UCSD hit eight consecutive shots while pushing the lead to 33-15 before taking a 38-23 halftime lead thanks to a McGhie floater as time expired.

UCSD shot 60% in the first half (15 for 25) and a season-best 57.7% for the night (including a 9-for-19 showing from 3-point range), leaving Long Beach with no real opportunity to mount a comeback. The visitors took their largest lead of the night at 74-43 with 3:44 left.

LBSU shot 43.2% overall but just 4 for 15 from behind the arc.

UCSD had a 30-24 rebounding advantage, outscored the hosts 32-18 in the paint and had a 17-4 advantage in points off turnovers.

The Tritons’ Hayden Gray, the national leader in steals, had eight points and four steals.

UP NEXT

Long Beach State hosts Cal State Fullerton on Saturday at 4 p.m.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Alex Turcotte scored twice and added an assist – all in the first 10 minutes – as the Kings thumped the struggling Vancouver Canucks, 5-1, on Thursday night.

Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala each had a goal and an assist, Warren Foegele also scored and Darcy Kuemper had 20 saves for the Kings (25-12-5), who avoided what would have been their first three-game losing streak since Oct. 12-16.

Turcotte’s first goal came 51 seconds into the game. And before the midpoint of the first period, the 23-year-old winger had helped stake his team to a 3-0 lead. The first multi-goal game of his career helped the Kings score five or more goals for the eighth time this season.

Turcotte’s first goal came when Kempe poked the puck past Vancouver defenseman Filip Hronek just inside the Canucks’ blue line, setting up a two-on-one rush with Turcotte. Kempe waited until Turcotte neared the crease before centering a pass that was redirected into the net.

Turcotte scored again at 9:18 of the first period for a 2-0 lead. Fiala took a shot from just inside the blue line that Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko saved with his left pad, but the rebound went directly to Turcotte cutting through the right circle. Turcotte lifted the puck into the net for his seventh goal of the season. The play started with Fiala walking around J.T. Miller to create room for himself.

“Miller came at me so after the move I made on Miller, I had a lot of time,” Fiala told NHL.com. “I was a little surprised but still I had a lane to shoot, so didn’t overthink it too much, and just shot it. … Sometimes you just have to simplify things and we did and [Turcotte] found the loose end there and it’s a nice goal.”

The Kings, who scored just three goals total in their previous three games, scored 24 seconds later to stretch the lead to 3-0.

“We talked about this morning we needed to get more goals on the board, and we did that tonight, and we still played great defense,” Turcotte told reporters.

Kings center Anze Kopitar made a one-hand centering pass from the right circle to Turcotte cutting to the net. Stationed below the goal line, Turcotte didn’t have an angle to shoot, so he made a beautiful behind-the-back pass back toward the slot, and Kempe pulled the puck across the crease and tucked it in past Demko’s outstretched skate.

“[Kopitar] made a great play just to get it to me, and I stick lifted the defenseman that was in my way, and I knew there was support behind me and it was great for him to be there for me and definitely it was a nice play,” Turcotte told reporters.

Kings coach Jim Hiller is pleased to see Turcotte producing after a variety of injuries limited him to just 103 games with the Kings and the AHL’s Ontario Reign over his first three pro seasons (55 combined last season). He’s played in 37 of the Kings’ 42 games so far this season.

“He’s been really good for us. I guess you’d call it a bit of a surprise, I think even for us,” Hiller told NHL.com. “We didn’t expect to see him playing as much as he is and playing as well as he is. The thing I like about him is he’s very responsible, plays both ways, good through the neutral zone, D-zone blocks shots, so it’s really a credit to him. He’s taken a little bit longer than some of his peers, but he’s got it going now.”

It was the second straight poor start for the Canucks (19-15-10), who gave up three goals in the first 13:37 of a 6-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.

Quinn Hughes scored with a wrist shot from the high slot during four-on-four play to cut Vancouver’s deficit to 3-1 at 14:52 of the second period.

The Kings re-established a three-goal lead when Fiala scored off of a two-on-one rush with Trevor Moore on a power play, keeping the puck and shooting past Demko’s glove from outside the top left hash mark at 15:58.

“They scored so they got a little momentum, the crowd went back at it so it was a good goal to shut them down,” Fiala told NHL.com.

Foegele pushed the puck across the goal line from the side of the net to stretch the lead to 5-1 at 11:36 of the third period.

The Canucks have dropped six of their past seven games to fall out of a Western Conference wild-card spot, and the team’s once-potent power play has dried up. Vancouver was 0 for 5 with the man advantage and is 0 for 10 over its last four games.

Vancouver has allowed five or more goals in 12 of its 44 games this season.

UP NEXT

The Kings play at the Seattle Kraken on Saturday at 7 p.m.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — If one only focused on the top scoring averages and college recruiting interest, Mater Dei’s girls basketball team could appear to be heavily-powered by Addison Deal and Kaeli Wynn.

And while that duo has been outstanding in averaging about 19 points per game, the Monarchs rely on more than just arguably Orange County’s top two players.

Mater Dei presented a compelling case in a 79-37 victory at JSerra on Thursday.

In improving to 2-0 in the Trinity League and running their winning streak to a season-high eight games, the top-ranked Monarchs (19-2) used their depth off the bench to overcome foul trouble in the first half.

The contributions from post Nohe’alani Stores and rising sophomore Harmony Golightly off the bench helped set the stage for a strong finish by Mater Dei. The Monarchs invoked a running clock late in the fourth period and outscored the No. 7 Lions 27-0 in points off the bench.

“We’re all about team,” first-year Mater Dei coach Jody Wynn said. “Honestly, we see it every day in practice. We have a very competitive practice every day. There’s not a lot of drop off (between starters and reserves). We’ve got four seniors who all signed Division 1 and one is coming in off the bench.

“Our bench has been solid all year along,” the coach added.

Golightly made five 3-pointers to finish with 15 points and share the team scoring lead with Iowa signee Deal (seven rebounds).

Stores, a UC Irvine signee, scored eight of her 10 points in the first half in joining starters Amaya Williams (14 points) and Wynn (12) as double-digit scorers.

Deal, Wynn and Stella Hoss all experienced foul trouble in the first half for Mater Dei.

Golightly not only softened the blow but gave Mater Dei the lead for good with her first 3-pointer in the opening quarter. She later beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer from the corner for a 36-24 lead. Williams, bound for Grand Canyon, recorded the assist.

“Harmony played a great game,” Wynn said of Golightly, who had 18 points, including three 3-pointers, against Santa Margarita on Tuesday.

Mater Dei guard Devyn Kiernan, a Southern Utah signee, set the tone for the second half by opening with a 3-pointer off an assist by Wynn.

The Monarchs sank seven of their 10 3-pointers in the second half, including two from Williams and three from Golightly in the fourth.

“We have a lot of pieces so we try to move the ball well and I think we have a great group of girls who are unselfish kids,” Jody Wynn said. “They really just want to get better for the ultimate goal of winning when it counts.”

Kayla Rice and Vivian Grenald scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, to lead JSerra (11-9, 1-1), which started all sophomores.

The Lions’ depth was hurt without Eden Hoff (concussion protocol).

“We were completely in the game through halftime and then we just let it get away from us in second half,” JSerra interim coach Phil Talleur said. “Our girls were working big minutes but … we made some in-roads. We got them in a little bit of foul trouble.”

“We did some good things,” the coach added.

Both teams are participating in upcoming showcases. JSerra plays St. Anthony at the Mira Costa showcase on Saturday at 3 p.m. while the Monarchs face Windward on Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Rosary showcase.

By ERIK GARCÍA GUNDERSEN The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. — As back-to-back sets go, this one didn’t present much of a challenge on paper, but the Clippers left no doubt anyway.

Norman Powell scored 23 points, James Harden had 19 points and six assists and the Clippers routed the Portland Trail Blazers, 118-89, on Thursday night to complete an impressive two-night showing. They crushed a depleted Brooklyn squad by a franchise-record 59 points the previous night in Inglewood.

The Clippers (23-17) were never threatened in this one either. They shot 56.4% from the field (10 for 23 from 3-point range), won the rebounding battle 50-37 and held the Blazers to 37.4% shooting.

Kawhi Leonard, just a few games into his delayed start to the season, was given the night off as part of the ongoing management of his surgically repaired right knee.

Dalano Banton had 23 points in 25 minutes off the bench for the Blazers (13-27), while Scoot Henderson contributed 16 points and six assists. Portland’s Anfernee Simons shot 0 for 9 from the field and failed to score.

The Clippers’ only real concern came midway through the fourth quarter when Kevin Porter Jr. walked gingerly off the court after hurting his lower back in a collision with Banton.

Harden, who was able to sit out the entire fourth quarter off for the second night in a row, scored 12 first-quarter points as the Clippers knocked down 12 of 18 shots in the period for a 32-22 lead. They extended the margin to 47-26 as part of a 24-6 run.

Clippers center Ivica Zubac (10 points, eight rebounds) even blocked two shots on the same possession at one point. The first came on a dunk attempt by Henderson and the second came only seconds later when Blazers center Deandre Ayton picked up the loose ball and tried a dunk of his own.

Henderson, coming off a career-high 39 points against the Nets (14-27) on Tuesday, momentarily ended the struggle for the Blazers, who sharpened up defensively to get within 52-38 by halftime.

The Clippers roared out of the blocks to begin the third quarter, using a 13-2 surge to open a 65-40 lead.

Banton and Kris Murray sparked a 13-2 Portland run over the last 2:37 of the quarter to reduce the Clippers’ cushion to 86-66 going into the fourth.

Powell was active early in the fourth as the Clippers dominated again, blowing the margin out to a game-high 34 points on a Kobe Brown dunk before it was over.

Powell formed a special relationship with Blazers coach Chauncey Billups during Billups’ first season as Portland’s coach, and Billups is impressed with Powell, who is averaging a career-high 23.7 points.

“(I’m) really proud,” Billups said. “I didn’t get to coach him for that long, but we got very, very close in that short time. And he always shared with me that this is the player he could be.”

UP NEXT

The Clippers host the Lakers on Sunday at 6 p.m.

IRVINE — The UC Irvine men’s basketball team seemed like a prime candidate for a letdown performance against visiting Cal State Fullerton on Thursday night.

After knocking off three straight top-flight opponents to remain the final unbeaten team in the Big West Conference for the third straight season, the Anteaters took the court shorthanded against a desperate Fullerton team that was still seeking its first conference win.

The Titans hung with UCI for much of the first half before the Anteaters found their footing and eased away for a 82-62 victory at the Bren Events Center.

“We’ve got to come through some of the mental challenges of this type of week against teams that are perceived to be weaker,” said UCI coach Russell Turner, whose team improved to 16-2 overall and 6-0 in Big West play. “In this league, anybody can beat us and we know that. There is added pressure, I think, with some of the things people are talking about because we’ve got 16 wins at this stage. We’ve got to figure out how to manage that better, grow into that.”

It was also the 19th consecutive home win for UCI, equaling the longest home winning streak in program history. The Anteaters also won 19 straight home games from Dec. 2, 2000 to Jan. 17, 2002.

“I don’t want to focus on the number of games we’ve won in a row,” Turner said. “I’d like to be focused on the opportunity we’ve created with the success that we’ve generated at this point because I know that we can continue to get better.”

Bent Leuchten scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half for the Anteaters and grabbed 10 rebounds for his third straight double-double.

Jurian Dixon scored 16 points, Myles Che had 13 before rolling his ankle with just under five minutes left, and Justin Hohn scored 11 for UCI, which came into the game with the fifth-best winning percentage in the nation (.882).

Kyle Evans paced the UCI reserves with seven points and 10 rebounds.

Zion Richardson had 14 points and 11 rebounds off the bench and Donovan Oday added 10 points for Fullerton (5-14, 0-7), which has dropped nine consecutive conference games dating to last season.

UCI was coming off wins against UC Riverside, Cal State Northridge and UC San Diego, beating them by an average of 10.7 points. Riverside was picked to finish fourth in the preseason coaches’ poll, Northridge sixth and UCSD third.

Elijah Chol, a 6-foot-11 sophomore forward, made his first start of the season in place of Devin Tillis, the team’s second-leading scorer (13.2) and rebounder (7.8), who sat out with an undisclosed injury.

The Titans opened the game in a zone defense, but the Anteaters softened it up by sinking three of their first four attempts from 3-point range, including two in a row by Leuchten, the 7-1 senior from Germany.

Fullerton called a timeout after Leuchten scored inside for an 11-2 lead less than four minutes into the game and that seemed to settle the Titans, as they scored six of the next seven points.

Richardson entered the game and sank one of his three first-half 3-pointers to cut the lead to 21-20 with 10:01 left, but the Titans could never wrestle the lead from UCI.

Fullerton seemed willing to give up the 3-point shot, while taking as many as possible on the other end. The teams combined for 19 3-point attempts through the first 10 minutes.

“We got too jump-shot happy early in the first half,” Turner said.

Fullerton remained within single digits until Leuchten scored off an inbounds pass to make it 38-27 with 2:03 left in the opening half.

The Anteaters eventually took a 45-31 lead into the intermission.

Dixon collected the first points of the second half to stretch the lead to 48-31, and his fast-break layup made it 54-33 with 15:21 left.

“I thought Jurian Dixon was really excellent tonight with his ball handling, with his decision-making, with some of the passes he threw,” Turner said. “He’s been embracing a defensive role and it’s hard to find offensive comfort and rhythm when you’re embracing the challenge on defense that he’s done.”

UCI stretched the lead to as much as 26 points before the Titans chipped away in the closing minutes.

BIG WEST STANDINGS

(Through Thursday, Jan. 16)

UC Irvine – 16-2, 6-0

UC San Diego – 15-3, 5-1

UC Santa Barbara – 12-5, 4-2

CS Northridge – 12-6, 4-3

UC Davis – 10-8, 4-3

Hawaii – 11-6, 3-3

UC Riverside – 10-8, 3-3

CS Bakersfield – 9-9, 3-3

Long Beach State – 7-11, 3-3

Cal Poly (SLO) – 6-13, 0-7

CS Fullerton – 5-14, 0-7