An impressive 2010-11 season for the Long Beach State basketball team came to a screeching halt on Wednesday evening, as the 49ers fell to host Washington State in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament (N.I.T.).

No. 7 seed Long Beach (22-12) fell into an early hole and scored just 18 first half points, while No. 2 seed Washington State (22-10) followed the lead of their All-PAC-10 senior Klay Thompson and his 25 points.

Big West Player of the Year Casper Ware led the 49ers with 27 points.

But Long Beach was obviously suffering from the severe hangover of losing the Big West Conference Tournament championship on Saturday, and watching their NCAA Tournament hopes go down the drain with it. The 49ers fell to Santa Barbara in that game after an uncharacteristically-dismal shooting performance. Against WSU on Wednesday, Long Beach again struggled offensively and shot just 37.7% from the field.

Head coach Dan Monson acknowledged as much to the Associated Press after the NIT loss:

“We started the game with five defensive stops and only had two points,” Long Beach State coach Dan Monson said. “We just couldn’t get anything going offensively. Then it became eerily familiar from our last game.

“And then panic set in.”

More to come…