The Long Beach State men’s basketball team’s early defensive road struggles continued Sunday night in a 77-63 loss at UCLA. The 49ers failed to build on a convincing Friday night win over Kansas State.
The end result was not indicative of LBSU’s performance as the 49ers (2-3) played UCLA (3-0) tough and close throughout. They were down double-digits at the half, but were within single digits through most of the second half, until the final minutes, when UCLA pulled away.
The 49ers were once again plagued by an erratic three-point defense, something they seemed to improve upon in their win against Kansas State when they forced the Wildcats to a 14.3 three-point field-goal percentage. UCLA shot 50 percent (6-12) from beyond the arc in the first half, several of which were wide-open.
“[Defense is] an attitude,” head coach Dan Monson said. “I’d much rather have a team that’s trying to get better defensively than offensively because you can draw up all the plays you want. If you’re struggling shooting, as a coach, it’s very frustrating. We just were not disruptive at all.”
With the defense scrambling, it was up to LBSU’s explosive offense to carry the load. After being held scoreless in the first half and only taking three shots, senior point guard Mike Caffey exploded for nine points in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the second half.
Caffey led the team in scoring with 19 points.
Senior guard McKay LaSalle got off to a great start, hitting three straight three-pointers in the first five minutes to give LBSU its first nine points.
UCLA head coach Steve Alford was impressed with Caffey and the rest of the 49ers, saying they were very well coached, and that Monson prepared his team well.
“They’re the best team we’ve played to date,” Alford said. “They’ve already gone on the road and played BYU. They weren’t going to come in and be intimidated.”
The 49ers outrebounded UCLA 39-38 but couldn’t contain the Bruins on the offensive glass. UCLA had 15 offensive rebounds, seven by freshman forward Kevon Looney.
Turnovers didn’t help LBSU’s cause either. Every time it got close, the 49ers would either turn the ball over or give up an easy basket at the rim or on the outside. LBSU had 19 turnovers to UCLA’s five, something Alford thought was the main difference in the game.
“They really slowed us down,” Alford said. “The tempo was slowed. Every area was a poor shooting night [for us].”
Monson thought his team’s defensive ball pressure was better in the Kansas State game, noting that his players’ aggresion was in two places in terms of defending both the rim and outside shooters, something they didn’t accomplish against the Bruins.
“You can keep the ball out of the paint in Division 1, but you’re going to get lit up outside,” Monson said. “You got to be able to constantly readjust on every pass and do both.”
This was the first game at Pauley Pavilion for LBSU senior guard Tyler Lamb since transferring from UCLA last year. He had a quiet game, scoring only three points on 1-8 shooting. Lamb grabbed five boards, but turned the ball over four times while failing to get to the free-throw line.
The 49ers will now get set for the Wooden Legacy in Fullerton over Thanksgiving weekend, starting on Thursday against Western Michigan.