UCLA basketball: Bruins lose to Long Beach State

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T.J. Robinson tied his career high with 25 points and added 13 rebounds to lead Long Beach State to a 79-68 victory over UCLA in the seventh-place game of the 76 Classic at Anaheim today.

Stephan Gilling had 13 points and Casper Ware added 11 points and six assists for the 49ers (4-3), who defeated UCLA for the first time in school history after 11 losses dating back to 1970.

Michael Roll scored a season-high 23 points for the Bruins (2-4). Reeves Nelson came off the bench to add 11 points and eight rebounds.

UCLA is off to its worst start since the Bruins began the 2002-2003 season 2-5 under Coach Steve Lavin.

UCLA led 24-17 in the first half, but Long Beach rallied to move ahead 32-31 on Robinson’s tip-in at the halftime buzzer.

The 49ers then used an 18-3 spree to build a 59-42 advantage with 9:27 to play. Ware led the surge with nine points and an assist.

Long Beach shot 53.6% for the game, 64.3% in the second half, scored 15 points off turnovers and outrebounded the Bruins 39-30.

Long Beach State 32, UCLA 31 (halftime)

For much of the first 20 minutes at the Anaheim Convention Center, UCLA appeared in control against Long Beach State.

But all that changed when the 49ers’ T.J. Robinson drove to the basket and Stephan Gilling followed with a three-pointer, igniting a 9-1 run around the 7:00 mark. And when Robinson tipped in a missed shot at the buzzer, Long Beach State held a 32-31 edge at halftime.

Robinson led all scorers with 11 points and Greg Plater added eight. For UCLA, Michael Roll scored nine and Nikola Dragovic had eight, the Bruins making only 39% of their shots.

The teams are playing for seventh place in the 76 Classic.

-- David Wharton