Cal State Fullerton guard Josh Akognon has the attention of the Long Beach State men’s basketball team.
The senior NBA hopeful torched the 49ers for 31 points, including the game-winning jumper, in a 61-60 victory at the Walter Pyramid on Jan. 29.
The ‘Niners plan to key in on the 5-foot-11 Akognon and deny him the ball more when the two teams meet tonight at Titan Gym in Fullerton. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
“The main thing is just to try and shut down Akognon,” LBSU senior point guard Maurice Clady said after practice Tuesday. “We’re going to be more attentive to him than the last game. Coach [Dan Monson] put in a new defense basically to not allow him to touch the ball.”
Akognon, the Big West Conference’s leading scorer at 20.9 points per game, will be coming off a 29-point performance in a 106-95 win at UC Davis last Saturday.
Clady added that the 49er offense, which averages 71.1 PPG in Big West play, was also a problem in the first meeting.
“[The coaches] put in a couple plays that are going to spread out the court,” he said. “Last game we only scored 60 points against them, so [Monson] put in a couple plays that spreads us out and opens up the lanes.”
CSUF (13-12, 7-6 Big West) ranks eighth in the nine-team conference in scoring defense, allowing 74.9 PPG to Big West opponents.
LBSU (12-11, 7-4 Big West) will be without senior guard Donovan Morris, who will miss his third straight game while rehabbing a nagging right foot injury. Morris was a game-time decision in the first meeting and tried to play through the injury, but he shot just 5-of-13 from the field for 10 points.
“We’re trying to get him healthy for the [Big West Tournament in March], but also so he can just practice with us so he can get in the flow, get his rhythm back,” Clady said. “We’re just taking it day-to-day with him … He wants to be out there bad.”
The 49ers are 2-1 this season without Morris.
In his absence, freshmen Larry Anderson and T.J. Robinson have picked up the scoring load.
In three consecutive games, Anderson has set a career high in points including 25 in a 73-70 double-overtime loss in Riverside last Wednesday. The 6-foot-6 guard is averaging 21 points, six rebounds and three assists during that stretch.
Robinson earned a spot in the staring lineup and established himself in the paint, posting a double-double in three of the last four games. In the first meeting with the Titans, Robinson collected nine points and 15 rebounds as a spark off the bench.
LBSU enters the contest a game behind first-place Cal State Northridge (12-10, 8-3 Big West), which plays at UC Irvine tonight at 8 p.m.