Trailing by just one game in the Big West Conference standings, the Long Beach State men’s basketball team will try to stay in the regular season title race by beating Hawaii and Cal State Fullerton this weekend.
The 49ers (12-14, 8-4 Big West) are one game behind UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara, both of which are 9-3 in conference play. They were swept by both teams this season, though, so even if the ‘Niners win the rest of their games, they will need the Anteaters and Gauchos to lose twice to climb back on top.
The immediate challenge for The Beach, though, will come on Thursday in the form of Hawaii. The Warriors (19-8, 8-5 Big West) sit just half a game behind the 49ers in the Big West standings, but LBSU won the previous meeting in Hawaii.
The 49ers went into that game planning to slow down Hawaii’s high-scoring offense. That plan didn’t come to fruition, as the teams combined for 175 points. But LBSU shot 60 percent and took down the Warriors, 92-83.
Leading the charge in that game were Mike Caffey and A.J. Spencer, who had career-high point totals of 29 and 24 points, respectively.
“The thing about Hawaii was, we were able to get into the paint and finish,” head coach Dan Monson said. “A.J. [Spencer] got the ball into the open court because they pressed us a lot, and A.J. [Spencer] was able to get into some space and finish in that space … but every game is different, and I’m sure they’ll make some adjustments.”
Even though the 49ers came out on top of a high-scoring game last time, Monson said the team’s defense-centric game plan would remain the same.
“I told our guys that if we don’t defend better than we did last time, we can’t plan on winning,” he said. “It’s nice that we were able to shoot 60 percent, but that’s not who we are; that’s just a bonus.”
Monson emphasized that how the 49ers play defense could determine how well they do for the remainder of the season.
“We’re fooling ourselves if we think we can win this game, let alone three games in the Honda Center [at the Big West Tournament] without being consistent defensively,” he said.
Following Thursday’s game, LBSU will travel across county lines and go to Fullerton, where it will face the Titans on Saturday. It will be another rematch for the 49ers, who beat CSUF 75-56 on Feb. 1.
The Titans (9-17, 4-8 Big West) have dealt with inconsistency this season and rely heavily on guards Alex Harris and Michael Williams, the only players on the team averaging double digits in points.
Thursday’s game against Hawaii will start a 7:30 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid and will be televised on Fox Prime Ticket. Saturday’s game will be broadcast by ESPN and will start at 6 p.m. at Titan Gym.