The Long Beach State men’s basketball team is looking to extend its Big West Conference winning streak to three when it faces Cal State Northridge on Saturday night.
The 49ers (9-11, 3-1) are off to a strong start in league play after going just 6-10 in the preseason. Senior Guard Tyler Lamb said the team has recovered well, but the team is starting to feel the physical toll in practices.
“It’s tough,” Lamb said. “Everybody’s body is a little bit tired coming off all these hard fought games. Everybody still has to be focused and ready to go to war.”
One of the main focuses in practice for head coach Dan Monson was challenging his players about their rebounding. The 49ers rank seventh in the Big West Conference at 33.5 rebounds per game.
“We hadn’t outrebounded anybody in the first three games of league,” Monson said.
Monson said his scout team, comprised of ineligible transfer players Roschon Prince, Gabe Levin and Nick Faust, did a really good job of making the team understand that they need to work on their rebounding.
“Coach would show us clips where we would box out,” Senior Forward David Samuels dais. “But once the shot is up, we wouldn’t really react to the ball. We’ve worked on, once the shot is up, just to be more aware of the ball. We can use our length to clean up the rebounds.”
Samuels, whom Monson believes is the team’s only true rebounder, said his head coach called them the worst rebounding team in the country. He said it’s something that motivates the team to be better.
“The way he says it, it makes you have to respond positively,” Samuels said. “He forces you to step up.”
Rebounding will be one of the keys for the 49ers against Cal State Northridge (6-13, 2-2). The Matadors are the second best defensive rebounding team in the conference, and Monson knows every team playing at home can be dangerous.
This will the first meeting between the schools since Northridge eliminated LBSU in last year’s Big West Conference tournament. The Matadors defeated the 49ers 72-67 to end LBSU’s season and prevent it from going to its second NCAA Tournament appearance under Monson.
Northridge is led by Senior Guard Stephan Hicks, the league’s third leading scorer at 17.2 points per game. The Matadors have the luxury of having two players averaging 15-plus points per game with Hicks and Senior Forward Stephen Maxwell, who averages 15.8 points per game.
Monson reiterated the importance of making every game the most of important game, regardless of how strong or weak the opponent. He said the key was to build on last Saturday’s 69-53 win against UC Santa Barbara and just keep getting better.
“Since I’ve been here we never won both of those games,” Monson said. “Even the year we went 15-1 we lost at Fullerton. This is a big couple of weeks.”
The 49ers will head to Cal State Northridge for a Saturday night game that will start at 7 p.m.