Long Beach State stuns ninth-ranked Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon knew it would take time for his young team to grow up.

He just didn't expect the growing pains to be so, well, painful.

Long Beach State became the second non-Big East team to win at Petersen Events Center, stunning the ninth-ranked Panthers 86-76 on Wednesday night.

"We got beat every which way," Dixon said.

Casper Ware scored a career-high 28 points, James Ennis added 19, and Larry Anderson had 12 points and seven assists for the 49ers (2-0), who emphatically ended Pitt's 58-game nonconference home winning streak.

"All teams, they try to do a lot to stop us from running, but we were just too fast today," Ware said.

Ashton Gibbs scored 20 points and Nasir Robinson 19 for the Panthers (2-1).

"They wanted it more than us," Robinson said. "They ran harder. They got to loose balls. They executed better than us. They outsmarted us."

Long Beach State took a nine-point halftime lead and never let up.

Pitt drew within six points on a few occasions, but each time the 49ers answered to become the first non-Big East team to beat the Panthers at home since Bucknell in 2005.

The win was Long Beach State's first over a top-10 team since beating then-No. 1 Kansas on Jan. 25, 1993, when most of the current 49ers were in diapers.

Long Beach State never trailed after taking the lead less than eight minutes in. The 49ers shot 59 percent from the floor, collected 24 assists on 32 baskets and had just 10 turnovers. They had scoring edges of 25-5 on the break and 48-31 in the paint.

AROUND THE NATION

• BADGERS ROLL -- At Madison, Wis., reserve guard Ben Brust scored 13 of his career-high 17 points in the first half to lead No. 14 Wisconsin past Colgate, 68-41. No other player scored in double figures for the Badgers (2-0). The Raiders (1-1) shot 34.8 percent.

• SEMINOLES SINK STETSON -- At Tallahassee, Fla., Okaro White scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half for No. 25 Florida State (3-0) in its 79-66 victory over Stetson (2-1).

MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE

• BRONCOS CRUISE -- At Boise, Idaho, Anthony Drmic scored 23 points to lead Boise State (2-0) to its most decisive win over a Pac-12 program, 80-59 over Utah (1-1), easily topping the Broncos' 76-65 victory over Oregon State on Dec. 21, 1977.

• LOBOS FALL AT HOME -- At Albuquerque, N.M., Wendell McKines scored 14 points to help New Mexico State (2-0) end a seven-game skid against New Mexico, 62-53. Drew Gordon and Kendall Williams, the top players for the Lobos (1-1), combined to shoot 0-for-13 from the field.