Long Beach State suffered their first conference loss last night, 64-55, as UC Riverside heavily outrebounded the 49ers and held them to 33.3% shooting from the field. Long Beach was unable to find offensive rhythm and only one player scored in double figures. The starting five combined to shoot 8-40 from the field and 4-24 from the three-point line. The 49ers were held sixteen points below their season average.
With the loss, Long Beach remains in first place in the conference standings at 5-1 (10-8 overall). Pacific, UC Davis and Cal State Northridge trail by 1.5 games with 4-3 records. Riverside moves into a tie with UC Irvine for third place.
Larry Anderson led the 49ers with 13 points on 4-6 shooting, followed by TJ Robinson with 9 and Donovan Morris with 7. Morris, the 49ers’ leading scorer, epitomized the team’s struggles by shooting 3-16 from the field and 1-10 from three. Morris and fellow wingman Stephen Gilling shot heavily from the outside as the 49ers continued to trail late in the game. In fact, the 49ers took 31 of their 60 field goals from three-point range.
Long Beach is now 1-5 when Morris has more field goal attempts than points.
“We’re still a team that’s trying to figure out how to play and we’re not a good grind-it-out team,” said head coach Dan Monson. “We’re too finesse.”
Riverside played tough perimeter defense, but also sagged their post defenders into the lane to prevent Long Beach from attacking the rim. Basically, they begged the 49ers to continue launching jump shots.
“They’re the best defensive team in the league – I knew that coming in and they proved it tonight,” said Monson. “The problem was the threes weren’t in rhythm.”
Defensively, the 49ers did a nice job of forcing the Highlanders into difficult shots. Long Beach used a carousel of physical defenders – primarily Stephen Gilling, but also Larry Anderson and Eugene Phelps – on Riverside’s leading scorer, shooting guard Kyle Austin. He shot just 5-14 from the field, but still managed a game-high 17 points thanks to 6-7 free-throw shooting. It was a theme for the game, as Riverside shot 18-24 to Long Beach’s 7-10 from the line – a byproduct of the Highlander’s offensive aggression and the 49ers’ reluctance to attack in the paint. Morris did not attempt a single free-throw.
“It’s difficult to be consistent when everything relies on your jump shot,” said Monson. “I’m disappointed we didn’t fight harder inside. It’s new for our guys to be the hunted and were not handling that very well.”
Larry Anderson said the loss brings to light some of the team’s weak points.
“Rebounding,” he said. “It hurt us in the Northridge game and we got by with our free throws. It hurt us tonight.”
Riverside captured 47 rebounds, 18 of them offensively – leading to 17 second-chance points. Long Beach has struggled with rebounding all season long, and Monson employed a guard-heavy rotation in the second half in an attempt to boost scoring. Donovan Morris and Stephen Gilling played the final ten minutes of the game despite combining to shoot 5-26 from the field. Larry Anderson ran the point for the first seven minutes of that stretch, giving the 49ers three scoring guards but no true point guard during a crucial point in the game. Long Beach cut the Riverside lead to two at one point, but the lack of post players hurt the 49ers on the boards.
“We don’t have that combo of a guy that can rebound and score,” said Monson. Freshman forward TJ Robinson contributed nine points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes, but true centers Brian Freeman and Andrew Fleming combined for four points and three rebounds in 22 minutes.
Long Beach next hosts Cal State Fullerton and the conference’s leading scorer – guard Josh Akognon – on Thursday night.