LONG BEACH — Despite being riddled with injuries and down to eight players, the Long Beach State men’s basketball team could do little wrong offensively in a 103-87 victory over UC San Diego on Thursday night at the Walter Pyramid.

Long Beach shot 63% from the field, made 16 3-pointers and topped 100 points for the second time this season.

LBSU (16-10 overall, 10-2 Big West Conference) pulled away with a 12-0 spurt to open the second half after a close first half. Five players scored in double figures for Long Beach, with Joel Murray (27 points) leading the way as the hosts showed why they lead the Big West in points per game.

“To be a good team you’ve got to win in different ways,” head coach Dan Monson said. “We tried outscoring people earlier in the year and it didn’t work. Fortunately, it worked today. We didn’t really have a choice.”

The win was dampened by another injury, when freshman forward Aboubacar Traore went down midway through the second half. Traore, who had 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting, appeared to roll his right ankle and had to be helped off the court, barely putting any weight on his right foot.

Traore was getting X-rays after the game, according to a Long Beach State spokesperson, though Monson said Traore told him he felt fine. LBSU entered the game without RJ Rhoden, Jordan Roberts, Drew Cobb, Romelle Mansel, Joe Hampton, Trever Irish and Raymond Hawkins III.

Rhoden, Roberts, Cobb and Mansel are expected back by the end of the season, but Hampton (wrist fracture), Irish and Hawkins are done for the season.

The win didn’t count in the Big West standings as UCSD (11-15 overall) is not yet eligible for postseason play after beginning the reclassification process to Division I two years ago. But Long Beach, which leads the Big West with three games left in the regular season, responded to its 11-game win streak ending with an offensive outburst.

“This was an odd game in that you’re in the hunt for a league championship and you basically have a game that’s a (nonconference) game in late February,” Monsoon said. “It was odd that way. But as a competitor, I told them, ‘If you’re going to put a uniform on, you need to go win.’”

LBSU blitzed UCSD to start the second half, with 12 quick points in less than three minutes. Traore had two baskets in the paint, and Murray had a 3-pointer to push the lead to double-digits for the first time.

Long Beach extended the lead to as much as 21 points midway through the second half, as the 3-point shots continued to fall.

LBSU’s 16 3-pointers (on 28 attempts) were one short of the program’s single-game record, and it was a Murray 3-pointer that put Long Beach at 100 points with 4:17 left.

“It’s a good feeling when shots are going in,” Monson said. “It masks a lot of problems. But we came out and we started with five straight stops.”

LBSU shot 70% in the first half but trailed 57-55 at halftime as UCSD knocked down 11 3-pointers while shooting 57% overall. It was the most first-half points the Tritons have ever scored against a Big West opponent.

“Defensively, we just got riddled,” Monson said.

Jake Kosakowski was 8 for 14 from behind the arc and scored a career-high 26 points for the Tritons, who finished 17 for 43 from 3-point range. Bryce Pope added 15 points. Francis Nwaokorie had 11 points.

The first half was free-flowing, with neither team playing much defense and both teams allowing wide-open looks from distance. And both teams capitalized, combing for 18 3-pointers in the first half alone. Neither team led by more than five points in the first half.

Freshman Tobias Rotegaard, making his first career start for Long Beach, had 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting from behind the arc.

“It feels good,” Rotegaard said. “Definitely boosts my confidence. At the start of the year, it was kind of bad shooting-wise. A lot of games where I get two shots, miss both. Feels good to get in a rhythm from the start.”

The 11-game win streak, snapped by UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, was LBSU’s longest in a decade.

LBSU next plays at UC Irvine (13-8, 7-4) on Saturday (9 p.m., ESPNU) before wrapping up the regular season next week with home games against UC Davis (11-8, 4-4) and UC Riverside (15-9, 8-4).

“We know the next three (games), the ante goes up and we welcome the challenge,” Monson said.

Cal State Fullerton (17-8, 10-3) is right behind LBSU in the standings, though Long Beach holds the tiebreaker because one of their two scheduled meetings was canceled.