Well, this is what everyone said they wanted.
Coaches, fans, students and everyone else involved with Long Beach State basketball have always aspired to move up the college basketball hierarchy and ascend to the highest levels of competition in the nation.
Consistently winning conference titles. Earning a national ranking. Becoming a fixture in the NCAA Tournament. Those are the pots of gold at the end of the rainbow. This year was the year that Long Beach State would chase down that rainbow.
On Thursday, they found #8 West Virginia waiting for them.
The Mountaineers outsized the 49ers at every position, and started off hot to race to an early 9-2 lead that they would not relinquish, beating Long Beach State by a score of 85-62 in the opening round of the 76 Classic at the Anaheim Convention Center.
West Virginia guard Casey Mitchell led his squad with 18 points on 5-9 shooting as five Mountaineers scored in double figures, and shot 51.8% from the field compared to Long Beach State’s 41.9%. West Virginia also out-rebounded Long Beach State 33-25 and forced 22 turnovers.
“We cannot play like that,” Long Beach head coach Dan Monson said, following the game. “We did not handle adversity well enough today and it is unacceptable.”
Guards Stephan Gilling and Greg Plater led the way for the 49ers, each scoring 14 points on 4-9 shooting from behind the three-point arc – though most of those points were scored during lopsided garbage time. When it counted, Long Beach was unable to establish offensive rhythm against the physical pressure defense of West Virginia. Leading scorer Larry Anderson managed just 5 points on 0-3 shooting, and committed eight turnovers.
“Me and John [Flowers] just did a really good job guarding Larry,” said West Virginia senior Da’sean Butler, who focused on stopping the Long Beach shooting guard, and scored 13 points of his own. “There was no specific thing to do other than sit down and play defense.”
That they did.
The Mountaineers forced Long Beach players out to the perimeter and did not allow penetration. The 49ers rely on their agility to create offense, but ran into a team that is just as athletic and boasts an extra 20-30 lbs. on each player. Sophomore forward T.J. Robinson found opportunities to score 10 points and was active on the boards for 9 rebounds, while fellow sophomore forward Eugene Phelps added 7 and 4. Robinson remains a consistent performer for the 49ers and figures to put up large numbers this season, while Phelps has progressed nicely and is rebounding well.
But guard Casper Ware, usually the catalyst for the 49er offense, had a tough go of it. With the sophomore in the game, the Long Beach offense was flustered by an inability to penetrate and create open shots. Without Ware running the show, the 49ers were simply stagnant. He finished with 8 points (all on free throws), two assists and three turnovers.
Monson also revealed that Ware did not practice at all last week due to a calf strain that still bothered him during Thursday’s game.
West Virginia was not at full strength, either. All-American forward Devin Ebanks has not played this season due to “personal reasons” which have not been further explained. Mountaineer head coach Bob Huggins said he is not sure when Ebanks will make his debut, but when asked if he would have played Ebanks if Thursday’s game had been closer, Huggins said, “I never had to think about that.”
West Virginia moves on to the second round of the 76 Classic, and will face Texas A&M at 11:30am on Friday. Long Beach will face #19 Clemson at 2:00pm on Friday. Texas A&M upset Clemson in another Thursday game.
It seems the 49ers have several issues to work out before they can tangle with the nation’s elite. There is, of course, no shame in losing to the best teams in the country. But with at least six nationally-ranked teams on their preseason schedule, Long Beach State will have to grow up quickly. It’s a different level of basketball than the competition that most Big West Conference teams face, and the same tricks don’t work on the West Virginias and Notre Dames of the world (Long Beach lost to the Fighting Irish last week).
One strategic move that may be out of place against such competition is the fullcourt press that Long Beach has been employing this season. Head coach Monson has explained that the purpose is not to cause turnovers but to throw the opposition out of their offensive rhythm.
However, against a team like West Virginia, fans may as well be given scorecards when the 49ers begin to press, because good teams break it easily and the game quickly turns into a dunk contest. The press is a backcourt double-team on the ball handler, which is troublesome because it is often the team’s best passer. One pass out of the double-team creates an instant advantage with fast break potential, and Long Beach does not have enough size in the post to stop an athletic team from attacking the rim. This is especially true because 6-foot-8 forward T.J. Robinson is often one of the defenders to press the ball handler, and with the news that senior forward Arturas Lazdauskas has suffered a broken hand and will miss the entire season.
Still, the 49ers needed a spark.
“Our only chance was to get them out of rhythm,” coach Monson said of the press. “It couldn’t have looked worse.”
West Virginia is a team that will make opponents pay for their mistakes, and that’s exactly what happened on Thursday. The Mountaineers scored 28 points off 22 Long Beach turnovers.
But there is a lot that can be taken away from this game. The 49ers face another large, physical team in Clemson on Friday, and will have a chance to show what they have learned in defeat.
Long Beach has the talent to compete nationally, and has the stage to draw attention with a nationally-televised preseason tournament. From here on out, it is a matter of improving and continuing to learn. With a few good wins, people will start to take notice. But you need to play the good teams first, and sometimes those good teams get you.
Just keep reminding yourself that this is what Long Beach fans have been waiting for all these years.