By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Sports Writer
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- Yakhouba Diawara matched his career highs with 30 points and 10 rebounds, leading Pepperdine over Arkansas State 91-82 on Wednesday in the first round of the Golden Bear Classic.
Diawara, a 6-foot-7 forward from France, shot 12-for-21 and scored 17 points after halftime to help the Waves hold off a late rally after leading by 25 early in the second half.
Alex Acker recorded his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and also had seven assists. Glen McGowan added 21 points and eight rebounds as Pepperdine snapped a two-game losing streak.
Pepperdine (8-3), considered a contender in the improved West Coast Conference, advanced to Thursday night's championship against the winner of Wednesday's late game between Hampton and host California.
Dewarick Spencer scored 18 points and J.J. Montgomery added 16 points and eight rebounds to lead the Indians (5-4), who staged an impressive comeback but ultimately lost their third straight.
Jerry Nichols added 14 points, Isaac Wells had 11 and Kitus Witherspoon 10.
The Indians pulled to 71-62 on Dereke Tipler's three-point play with 8:03 remaining, but Acker scored the next five points. Arkansas State cut it to 81-75 on Spencer's 3 with 2:50 left but couldn't do much more.
The Waves lost at UCLA and at Bradley following a seven-game winning streak. They head to another tournament at Albuquerque, N.M., before returning home to play Colorado State on Jan. 3.
Arkansas State played a much better second half and shot 46.4 percent _ after going 9-for-31 (29 percent) from the floor in the first half.
Pepperdine used a 15-3 run midway through the first half to take a big lead, and the Waves led 45-22 at halftime after Diawara's dunk at the buzzer.
