In his first career Big West Conference game, Long Beach State freshman point guard Casper Ware looked like a veteran Friday night.
Ware torched the Gauchos for 21 points as LBSU (6-7, 1-0 Big West) beat UC Santa Barbara, 76-64, at the Walter Pyramid.
Ware knocked down 7-of-13 from the field including all three of his 3-point attempts. He was one of five 49ers to score at least 10 points.
“After the Oregon game, I was kind out of control and I wanted to change that,” Ware said. “I had too many turnovers. Today, I decided to just calm down and take what the defense gave me. I hit the shots that were open and there to hit.”
Donovan Morris added 16 while Stephan Gilling chipped in 11 for LBSU.
Senior Brian Freeman led an aggressive charge inside for The Beach with a double-double, scoring 11 points to go along with 10 rebounds. T.J. Robinson scored 10 and pulled down nine rebounds.
“The biggest thing about this team is our unselfishness and depth,” Freeman said. “Any day anybody is capable of breaking double figures so that’s not a surprise to any of us.”
Long Beach won the battle on the glass by out-rebounding the Gauchos, 38-29.
“They are a very physical team,” 49er head coach Dan Monson said, “and we felt that was a big key to them — was to try and match them physically.
“We haven’t been very successful against physical teams all year. I thought that was our best physical effort rebounding the basketball and getting the ball in the paint.”
Chris Devine led the way for UCSB (6-7, 0-1 Big West) with 20 points and eight rebounds.
The only other Santa Barbara player in double figures was James Powell, who scored 10.
Long Beach shot nearly 58 percent from the field, making 26 of its 45 shots compared to just under 39 percent for Santa Barbara (22-of-57).
It was the Big West opener for both teams and an important win for LBSU considering they started just 1-7 in the Big West last season en route to a 3-15 conference mark.
“It’s good to start league with a win,” Monson said, “and obviously when you are at home that’s imperative, if you are going to be competitive in it, is to hold serve at home. With a young team you just don’t know what’s going to happen from game to game.”
Santa Barbara made 6-of-11 3-point tries in the first half but just 2-of-14 in the second half. LBSU knocked down 7-of-13 from long distance.
Both teams struggled from the line, as Long Beach converted on only 17-of-30 attempts and Santa Barbara just 12-of-22.
Monson seemed bewildered by the problem since it has been such an emphasis in practice but said, “When the biggest negative is your free-throw shooting, I think we played pretty good.”
Long Beach led at the half 36-29.
UCSB controlled the first 10 minutes and took a 26-19 lead but LBSU closed the half on a 17-3 run.
The guards from UCSB were hot from long range early, knocking down six 3-pointers to put them ahead.
But while the Gauchos went cold, the ‘Niners worked their way back with a 13-0 run to take a six-point lead.
Morris led all scorers at the break with 11 points and Freeman added nine.
Robinson pulled down five first-half rebounds while LBSU went just 3-of-9 from the free-throw line.
Will Brew and Devine each scored six for Santa Barbara, which managed just four 2-point field goals in the half.
The win makes The Beach 5-1 at the Walter Pyramid this season and will return to the home court Sunday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. to take on Cal Poly.
The Mustangs (3-8, 0-1 Big West) opened conference with a loss to UC Riverside tonight, 91-57.