Long Beach State handles Xavier

Casper Ware had help. Tu Holloway didn’t.

Long Beach State displayed its depth and fearless mentality in dismantling shorthanded No. 14 Xavier 68-58 in the quarterfinals of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Thursday night.

The 49ers (6-5) of the Big West Conference play in a 6 p.m. semifinal today on ESPN2.

A highly touted duel of point guards Ware and Holloway was a wash for much of the game. But whereas Ware brought backup — four teammates scored in double figures — Holloway was forced to go it alone (17 points) much of the night as two top teammates were unavailable due to suspension.

The two talented guards went head-to-head guarding each other for most of the game.

"It was a great experience for me. He’s a great point guard — one of the best in the country," Ware said after scoring 12 points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing five assists. "It was just an amazing experience for me to match up my game with his."

Xavier was clearly hurting without its second- and third-leading scorers, guards Mark Lyons and Dezmine Wells. That’s nearly 27 points of production out of the lineup because of a brawl during a game against Cincinnati on Dec. 10.

Long Beach State had played four ranked teams this season, all on the road, and won at No. 9 Pitt. The 49ers, at full strength, were unafraid of the depleted Musketeers. Ware struggled early (a 2-for-11 start) deferred for a while, then slipped in the dagger: a left-side 3-pointer for a 63-45 lead with 3:10 to play.

"You measure point guards in wins and losses, and I’d say he did a pretty good job tonight," LBSU coach Dan Monson said.

The athletic, lengthy 49ers got backup from reserve guard Mike Caffey (14 points on 5-for-8 shooting), forward Larry Anderson (12 points, three assists, three steals), forward Eugene Phelps (12 points, 5-for-7), and forward T. J. Robinson (11 points, 4-for-6).

The return of Holloway from a one-game suspension — assessed for his postgame words after the brawl — lifted the Musketeers to an extent, but every one of his points was earned. He repeatedly drove into the teeth of the 49ers defense to mixed results, and Xavier (8-2) never got its deficit under double digits for the last 18 minutes of the game.

UTEP 61, Clemson 48

The Miners (5-5) won their third straight game behind a stifling defense that denied the Tigers (6-5) a field goal for a 10-minute span in the second half.

In the Miners’ first trip to Hawaii since leaving the WAC for Conference USA in 2005, they got to the semifinals by holding Clemson to 30.4 percent shooting from the field, compared to 51.2 percent for UTEP.

"We’re not normally a junk (zone) team, but we did it to protect our big guys from foul trouble," UTEP coach Tim Floyd said of the triangle-and-two scheme that kept Clemson down during the key stretch. "This really gives our guys some confidence."

Sophomore guard Michael Perez put in a career-high 25 points in the victory.

Kansas State 83, Southern Illinois 58

The Wildcats (8-1) ran past the Salukis (3-6) with 9-for-14 3-point shooting and advanced to face UTEP in the semifinals.

Strong efforts off the bench anchored the win. Reserve guard Angel Rodriguez hit five of six 3-point attempts and backup forward Jamar Samuels went 10-for-12 at the free-throw line to combine for 31 of K-State’s 48 bench points. Fifteen players played for Frank Martin.

"That’s kind of who we are; we play a lot of guys," Martin said. "We believe in depth. That creates competition and competition makes yourself better."

The up-tempo Wildcats set the DHC record for points in a half in taking a 48-29 halftime lead.

SIU struggled in running with K-State, shooting a horrid 29.5 percent.