In spite of its heartbreaking loss against Hawai’i in the Big West Tournament final, the Long Beach State men’s basketball team’s season continues on Tuesday in the 2016 National Invitation Tournament.
The 49ers (20-14) received the invitation to participate in the NIT as a No. 6 seed. LBSU will open the tourney against the No. 3 Washington Huskies inside the Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.
LBSU will play in one of the major basketball tournaments for the first time since 2012-13. In the 49ers’ last time out, Baylor ran them out of Waco, Texas with a 112-66 thumping on March 20, 2013.
When LBSU takes on Washington (19-14), it’ll attempt to pick up its first NIT win since the 1989-90 season when it defeated Arizona State in the first round 86-71. To do so, head coach Dan Monson’s team will have to do something they’ve never done before.
The 49ers have never won a game against the Huskies; LBSU trails the all-time series against Washington 4-0.
The last time both teams met, the Huskies took an 80-70 win home from the Wooden Legacy in Fullerton on Nov. 28, 2014. The 49ers have lost all three of their games at Washington dating back to 2007; however, none was more thrilling than their 92-89 double-overtime defeat on Nov. 30, 2013.
Former 49ers Mike Caffey and Dan Jennings carried LBSU with 28 and 22 points, respectively. Huskies’ senior guard Andrew Andrews is the only player on the court that game that will be present on Tuesday’s matchup.
Andrews leads UW, and the Pac-12, with 21.2 points per game in the regular season.
Washington was the best scoring offense in the Pac-12, leading the conference with an average of 83.4 ppg; that average was also good for ninth in the nation. On the other hand, the Huskies also allowed the most points per game in their conference, giving up an average of 79.8 points each time out.
The Huskies also led the conference and the nation with an average of 6.7 blocks per game. The two main contributors to that stat are forwards Malik Dime (junior) and Matisse Thybulle (freshman), who combined for 130 blocks this season. Dime totaled 82 rejections and ranks second in the conference with 2.7 bpg.
UW also led the Pac-12 in steals (7.7) and offensive rebounds per game (13.8).
The 49ers open the NIT against the Huskies on Tuesday at 6 p.m. inside the Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, Washington. The game will air on ESPN2.