Junior point guard Casper Ware has been taking over basketball games at just the right time throughout this entire season. After scoring a career-high 23 points in an 85-71 home win against Cal State Northridge on Wednesday night, he finally admitted it.

“They went to zone and it was tough to cover Greg [Plater] and me and the middle,” Ware said. “That helped me out a lot.”

The collapsing Northridge zone defense left Ware all alone on the outside, and he took advantage to make 5 three-pointers, another career-high. He also added six assists and currently leads the Big West conference in that category.

Long Beach State now leads the Big West conference in a fairly important category: Wins. The 49ers moved to 3-0 in conference play and face three consecutive home games on the schedule. After winning on the road against conference favorite UC Santa Barbara and then defeating two lesser teams in Cal Poly SLO and Northridge, the 49ers will host UC Irvine, UC Davis and Pacific during the homestand.

Head coach Dan Monson downplayed the team’s hot start.

“I don’t feel any relief – it’s three wins,” he said. “We also started off this way two years ago, 6-0, and didn’t win it. We know three wins isn’t going to win this league.”

Still, with the 49ers dominating the undersized Matadors in the post early, and then moving outside as Northridge employed the zone, Monson was pleased with the offensive effort. Junior forwards Eugene Phelps and T.J. Robinson combined for 33 points and 17 rebounds on 11-19 FG. Phelps took advantage of the size mismatch early, making his first four shots and scoring 8 of Long Beach’s first 11 points.

“We’ve had success when we get the ball inside and work it out from there,” Monson said.

Ware simply abused the zone defense, as well as a slew of less experienced guards that Northridge threw at him. His fifth and final three-pointer was a stepback dribble fadeaway over the outstretched fingers of freshman Aqeel Quinn, who is six inches taller than Ware.

The hot shooting of Ware and the bruising inside play of Phelps and Robinson opened lanes for wing Larry Anderson, playing just his third game since missing a month with a broken hand. Anderson played with heightened aggression, attacking the basket and running in transition whenever possible to the tune of 19 points on 9-12 FG. Anderson has shot 22-27 FG for a 17.3 PPG average since his return. He also had six rebounds, five steals and four assists on Wednesday night.

“It’s not a coincidence that we’re 3-0 since Larry came back,” said Monson.

With the return of Anderson, Long Beach State is back to its normal routine. But as the season has progressed, Monson has seemed to restrict his rotation to just seven players. Reserves Tristan Wilson and Edis Dervisevic played 18 and 13 minutes last night, but it wasn’t until 12:00 remained in the game that Monson inserted another sub. That was backup point guard Jerramy King, who came in for Ware for exactly one minute.

As a result, the 49er starters logged heavy court time, with each playing at least 31 minutes against Northridge. Phelps and Ware each played 35. With the 49ers just three games into a 16-game conference schedule, not including the postseason, such a tightly restricted rotation could potentially cause problems with fatigue and injury. It’s particularly problematic for Ware, who has a tendency to cramp and has battled muscle injuries in his legs during all three seasons at Long Beach. Monson denied that the heavy minutes could take a toll on the starters.

“That’s light minutes,” he said, looking at the game stat sheet. “They’re all averaging more minutes than that. They’re young, they’re in great shape. They’re athletes. I’m not concerned about [injuries]. It’s just being smart as a coach and keeping them healthy.”

But Monson would also acknowledge that Ware seemed to have suffered a possible quad strain during the game. Ware said that the injury came in the second half, and that it felt different from cramps and muscle strains that he has experienced in the past. The 49ers do not play again until Saturday, and Monson said the team will practice lightly today so the players are well rested.