49ers Travel To Big 10 Country
Beach Tangles With Minnesota On Tuesday
December 7, 2003
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| UPCOMING GAMES | Tue., Dec. 9 at Minnesota, 5 pm, Minneapolis, MN
(Internet: Live on www.longbeachstate.com) (TV: Live on ESPN+PLUS |
| PROBABLE STARTERS | | F-10-Cody Pearson (6-4, 193, Jr., 5.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg) | | F-30-Kevin Roberts (6-5, 255, Sr., 12.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg) | | C-24-Antoine Jackson (6-7, 242, Sr., 6.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg) | | G-20-Kevin Houston (5-10,170, Fr., 4.3 ppg, 3.8 apg) | | G-52-Chris Jenkins (6-8, 184, Jr., 8.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg) |
The Records: The Long Beach State men's basketball team will travel to the state of Minnesota to take on the University of Minnesota Tuesday evening in Minneapolis. The 49ers are 1-3 on the season after falling at Pepperdine on Saturday evening, 87-73. Minnesota is 3-2 on the season after defeating Western Illinois on Saturday, 86-64.
The Coach: Larry Reynolds (UC Riverside, 1976) is 6-25 (.194) entering his second year at Long Beach State and 116-60 (.659) overall as a collegiate head coach. Reynolds was 110-35 (.759) in five years as the head coach at Cal State San Bernardino.
The Series: The 49ers are 0-1 against Minnesota. The lone meeting came on January 2, 1982 in Minneapolis as the Gophers won the game, 75-67. Randy Breuer led Minnesota with 25 points and four blocks and Trent Tucker added 22. The 49ers were led by Craig Hodges who had 16 points and eight rebounds, while Dino Gregory had 14 and Kevin Tye 13. Minnesota was 19-30 at the free throw line while the 49ers were just 5-8.
49ers Vs. The Big 10: Long Beach State is 4-12 lifetime against teams from the Big 10 Conference. The last meeting between LBSU and a Big 10 school was December 27, 1998 when the 49ers lost at Northwestern, 67-47. The last 49er win over a Big 10 opponent was December 2, 1989 when the 49ers beat Purdue, 70-69, in Long Beach.
Busy Schedule: Tuesday's game with Minnesota will be the fourth game in11 days for The Beach. After the Minnesota game the 49ers will have off until december 20 when they host Southern Utah at The Pyramid.
Beach Falls To The Waves: Glen McGowan scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to lead Pepperdine to an 87-73 win over the 49ers on Saturday night. The Waves led 35-31 at the half, but shot .559 (19-34) from the field in the second half, en route to 52 second half points. Jibril Hodges led the 49ers with 17 points and Kevin Houston had a career-high 10. LBSU committed 20 turnovers and were out-rebounded for the first time this season, 38-32. Pepperdine scored 34 points off the 20 49er turnovers. The 49ers hung in the contest by hitting 22-25 (.880) of its free throw attempts, while shooting .411 (23-56) overall from the field.
Beach Beats The Warriors: Kevin Roberts had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Jibril Hodges added 16 points and Chris Jenkins 15 as the 49ers used a big first half to defeat Cal State Stanislaus 71-62 on Wednesday evening at The Pyramid. The 49ers shot .522 (24-46) from the field and out-rebounded the Warriors 39-33, but committed 20 turnovers and let a big second half lead dwindle down to six points. After building a 39-23 halftime lead, the 49ers increased it to 24 points, 54-30, with 14:00 left to play. The Warriors then turned things around and were able to cut the deficit to six points, 63-57, with just 2:08 left in the game. The 49ers responded by hitting five of six free throws in the final 1:07 of the game to seal the win. Roberts also added four assists and center Antoine Jackson had seven rebounds and three blocks to go with his four points.
Minnesota Facts: Minnesota is 3-2 on the year after falling at Virginia (86-78) in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and then defeating Western Illinois (86-64) at home on Saturday. Freshman sensation Kris Humphries had 32 points and 13 rebounds at UVA, while Michael Bauer added 20 points. Guard Maurice Hargrow had 11 points, 15 rebounds and six assists. In the win over WIU, Ben Johnson had 23 points, Hargrow 16 and Humphries 14 points and 14 boards. On the year Humphries is averaging 23.6 points and 11.8 rebounds per game while shooting .540 from the field. Johnson is averaging 13.6 points per game and Hargrow checks in at 11.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Point guard Adam Boone had 30 assists and just four turnovers in five games this season.
Reynolds Announces Two Signees: Head Coach Larry Reynolds announced two signees for the 49ers. Inking with the Beach were Damiao Rodrigues (C, 7-3, 275, Laurinburg, NC/Laurinburg Institute) and Gazmine "Jazz" Henderson (G, 6-2, 180, Dallas, TX/Eastfield College). Rodrigues hails from Brazil and is in his second season playing at Laurinburg Institute under Head Coach Rolando DeLaBerrera. Rodrigues, a left-hander, averaged 7.0 points per game last season. Last year at Eastfield, Henderson averaged 20.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game. A first team All-Metro Athletic Conference selection, he also earned first team Region V honors. Henderson shot .790 from the free throw line and .360 from 3-point range. He was named the Freshman of the Year in the Metro Athletic Conference as Eastfield finished the season at 18-12. This season Henderson has been named a pre-season All-American by several publications. Henderson prepped at Spruce High School in Dallas.
Rebounding Impressive: The 49ers have out-rebounded three of their first four opponents this season. Saturday at Pepperdine was the first time The Beach was out-rebounded (38-32). Last Wednesday vs. CS Stanislaus the 49ers won the battle of the boards 39-33. LBSU is averaging 36.2 rebounds per game while allowing 33.0 boards per game (+3.2 rpg). Last year the 49ers averaged 30.4 rebounds per game to rank dead-last, tenth, in the Big West Conference. In the opener at San Diego State the 49ers out-rebounded the Aztecs 45 to 37, including grabbing 19 offensive rebounds. At Portland the 49ers out-rebounded the Pilots, 29-24. LBSU is averaging an impressive 13.3 offensive rebounds per game. Cody Pearson leads the way at 7.5 rebounds per game. He had a career-high 11 boards at Portland and of his 30 total rebounds, 10 are on the offensive glass. Kevin Roberts is second on the glass at 6.3 rebounds per game and Antoine Jackson third at 4.3 rpg.
Low Point Total: The 49ers scored just 44 points in the opener at San Diego State, its lowest point total since a 55-43 loss at Wyoming on January 3, 1998, a span of 165 games. Last year the 49ers averaged 63.4 points per game with their low point total coming on February 27 at UCSB, a 70-46 defeat.
Scoring On The Upswing: The 49ers have scored more points with each game this season. After tallying just 44 in the opener at San Diego State, the 49ers had 59 at Portland, 71 vs. CS Stanislaus and then had a season-best 73 points at Pepperdine. LBSU is currently averaging 61.8 points per game, but 72.0 in its last two outings.
Looking To Break Road Skid: The 49ers have lost 18 consecutive games away from home, including an 0-14 mark last season and an 0-3 mark this year. The last road win came on February 16, 2002 at CS Northridge, a 73-60 49er victory. The last non-conference road win came on November 16, 2001 in a 74-55 win over Alabama State at the University of Oregon Tournament. Last last true non-league road win came on December 18, 2000 at Loyola Marymount, a 57-54 victory.
Hot Shooting From The Field: After opening the season shooting just .291 (16-55) from the field in a 74-44 loss at San Diego State, the 49ers have shot .473 (70-148) from the field in its last three games. Last Saturday at Portland the 49ers shot an even .500 (23-46) from the field, but, in the second half The Beach blistered the nets for a .680 (17-25) percentage. Wednesday vs. CS Stanislaus the 49ers shot .522 (24-46) from the field. Sophomore Jibril Hodges has had the hot hand in the last three games, shooting .593 (16-27). Last season the 49ers shot .500 or better only three times on the season. The season-high came in the home win over CS Fullerton as The Beach shot .682 (30-44) from the field in a 79-73 triumph.
Turnovers Need To Improve: After committing 26 turnovers in the opener at San Diego State, the 49ers pared that down to just 15 miscues at Portland. But on Wednesday, The Beach had 20 miscues vs. CS Stanislaus and then followed that up with 20 more at Pepperdine. Thus far the 49ers are averaging 20.3 turnovers per game.
A Tale Of Two Halves: Through four games the 49ers are averaging 36.0 points per game in the second half. The first half is another story. The 49ers have scored just 102 first half points (15 at SDSU, 17 at Portland, 39 vs. CS Stanislaus, 31 at Pepperdine), for an average of 25.5 points per half.
Block Party: Wednesday night vs. CS Stanislaus the 49ers recorded eight blocked shots. Antoine Jackson had three and Kevin Roberts added two. The eight blocks are a 2003-04 season-high and the most recorded by a 49er squad since Feb. 10, 2001 when the 49ers had eight blocks in an 86-79 home win over Idaho. Saturday at Pepperdine the 49ers added five more blocks. LBSU has blocked 16 shots this season, an average of 4.0 per game. Last year the most blocks the 49ers had in a game was seven against Portland, as the 49ers had 73 blocks all season long (2.70 bpg). Jackson led The Beach with 23 blocks last year, and he has five this year.
Free Throw Shooting On The Upswing: Wednesday night the 49ers hit 17-23 (.739) of its free throw attempts, including five of six in the final minute of the game. Saturday at Pepperdine the 49ers were 22-25 (.880) at the charity stripe. Overall the 49ers are shooting just .675 (56-83) at the charity stripe, but in its last two games that number jumps to .813 (39-48). In its opening game of the year the 49ers were a miserable 11-23 (.478) at the line. Jibril Hodges is shooting .857 (12-14) from the line, while Louis Darby is at .833 (10-12) and Kevin Roberts .765 (13-17). Kevin Houston is right there as well at .750 (6-8). Last year the 49ers shot .713 (387-543) at the line.
Roberts Earns A Double-Double: Senior forward Kevin Roberts (Petaluma) has scored in double figures in three of the four games this season and recorded his first double-double of the year Wednesday night with 17 points and 11 rebounds vs. CS Stanislaus. Roberts also added four assists and two blocks in his 36 minutes. He leads the team in scoring thus far averaging 12.5 points per game. His 6.3 rebounds per game is second-best on the squad. A strong passer as well, Roberts has the second-most assists on the team with nine (2.3 apg) and is the only 49er with more assists than turnovers (9 to 8). Roberts is coming off a solid season in 2002-03 where he averaged 12.3 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds per game. He reached double figures in scoring 19 times and recorded two double-double's, both coming against UC Riverside. With 764 career points, Roberts needs to average 10.2 points per game the remainder of the season to become just the 14th player in 49er history to reach 1,000 career points. With just 76 more rebounds and 236 more points, Roberts can become just the 10th player in 49er history to record 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds.
Antoine Jackson Shines: Senior Antoine Jackson (San Antonio, TX) broke the small finger on his left hand in early October and missed several weeks of practice, the two exhibition games and the opener at San Diego State. He was able to practice for the first time the week of the Portland game. Jackson finished with a career-high tying 12 points, shooting 6-9 from the field, at Portland. Wednesday vs. CS Stanislaus he had four points, but got the job done by grabbing seven rebounds and blocking three shots in 21 minutes. He currently is averaging 6.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting .500 (9-18) from the field.
Hodges Hot From Long-Range: Sophomore Jibril Hodges (Park Forest, IL) had a team-high 18 points on Nov. 29 at Portland and has been on fire the last three games. Hodges is averaging 17.0 points per game in his last three games, while shooting .615 (16-26) from the field, .667 (10-15) from 3-point range and .900 (9-10) at the free throw line. Hodges had 16 points on Wednesday vs. CS Stanislaus and then added 17 this past Saturday at Pepperdine, hitting 3-5 shots from 3-point range. Hodges is averaging 13.5 points per game, best on the team. He began the season with a rough outing at San Diego State where he had just three points and was 0-9 from the field. A Big West Conference All-Freshman Team selection last year, Hodges averaged 6.0 points and 2.1 assists per game. In league outings those totals rose to 7.9 points and 2.8 assists per game. A starter the final 11 games of the season, Hodges hit double digits in scoring five times, including a career-high 19 points in the 49ers 68-67 win over conference champion UCSB.
Jenkins Steps Up: Junior forward Chris Jenkins (Albuquerque, NM) hit his first 3-pointer in the first exhibition game against CS San Bernardino on November 8, but then sprained his right ankle four minutes into the contest and sat out the remainder of the game. He did not suit- up and play in the second exhibition game or the opener at San Diego State. Jenkins was given the go-ahead to practice and was in the starting lineup at Portland (11/29). Jenkins played 11 minutes, finishing with two points and one assist. Wednesday night he came through big for The Beach in his second start, contributing 15 points in 22 minutes vs. CS Stanislaus. Jenkins was 6-7 from the field and hit his lone 3-point attempt of the game. Saturday at Pepperdine he had seven points in 30 minutes. Jenkins is averaging 8.0 points per game thus far, third-best on the team.
Pearson A Rebounding Machine: Junior Cody Pearson (Sherman Oaks) has turned into a rebounding machine for the 49ers. In the opener at San Diego State he led the team with nine rebounds, to go along with his six points. At Portland he once again led the squad in rebounding, grabbing a career-high 11 boards. He also added four points in a career-high 36 minutes of action. Wednesday night vs. CS Stanislaus he had four points, five rebounds and three assists and then at Pepperdine he had seven points and five rebounds. Of his 30 total rebounds this year, 10 are on the offensive glass. Pearson is averaging 5.3 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game while shooting 9-18 (.500) from the field. Last year Pearson averaged 4.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, appearing in 26 games. In Big West Conference games he averaged 4.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. One of his best outings came in the 49ers home win over CS Fullerton when he finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Houston Goes For 10 At Pepperdine: True freshman Kevin Houston (Highland) will be a handful for opponents to stop this season. He has had an up-and-down start to his 49er career, but the future is definitely bright. He struggled at San Diego State in the team's opener, finishing with three points, six turnovers and three assists. He was 1-11 from the field. On November 29 at Portland he racked up a season-best eight assists, with just three turnovers, while adding four points. Wednesday vs. CS Stanislaus he had two assists and five turnovers and did not score. Saturday at Pepperdine he recorded a career-high 10 points, while adding two assists, two blocks and two steals. He leads the 49ers with 15 assists (3.8 apg), but also has 18 turnovers. He has struggled with his shot in the early going, shooting just .167 95-30) from the field. Houston is averaging 4.3 points per game and is tied for the team lead with four steals. At San Gorgonio High School, Houston averaged 20.0 points and 9.0 assists per game last year, earning first team All-CIF honors.
Darby Seeing More Time: Sophomore Louis Darby (Panorama City) is seeing more and more time as the season progresses. Darby played 11 minutes on Saturday at Pepperdine, finishing with a season-high seven points and one rebound. Darby was 7-8 at the free throw line in that game and now is shooting .833 (10-12) at the charity stripe. Darby is averaging 4.0 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. He grabbed a career-best four rebounds in 16 minutes in the opener at San Diego State.
Lucian Graham Solid In Opener: True freshman Lucian Graham (Houston, TX) performed extremely well in his first collegiate game at San Diego State. Graham, who played 25 minutes off the bench, finished with six points, six rebounds and a team-high four assists. Graham prepped at Westbury Christian High School and spent last season at Fort Union Military Academy in Fort Union, VA. He didn't see much action last year due to an injury, but as a senior in high school he averaged 18.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game and was named All-State and All-City.
Marcel Jackson A Force: Senior Marcel Jackson (Santa Cruz) is a force down low for the 49ers and had two strong outings last week. Jackson finished with eight points and two rebounds in 15 minutes of action vs. CS Stanislaus and then came back with three points and seven rebounds in 15 minutes at Pepperdine. Jackson is currently averaging 3.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game and is shooting .545 (6-11) from the field.
Free Continues To Improve: True freshman Travon Free (Compton) is off to a strong start this season. Saturday at Pepperdine he had six points in just five minutes of playing time, connecting on three of four shots from the field. In his first collegiate game at San Diego State, Free played 15 minutes and finished with eight points and one rebound. At Portland he played 16 minutes and finished with five points and three rebounds. He is averaging 4.8 points and 1.5 rebounds per game thus far and is shooting an impressive .727 (8-11) from the field. A talented prep player out of Dominguez High School, Free averaged 19.0 points and 12.0 rebounds per game his senior season.
Bowens Back In Action: Sophomore Mark Bowens (Peoria, AZ) is back in a 49er uniform and on the court after missing last season due to a knee injury. In the opener at San Diego State, Bowens played in his first game since February 7, 2002. He played six minutes, finishing with one assist and one rebound. At Portland he had three points, going 1-3 from 3-point range and Wednesday he played 10 minutes vs. CS Stanislaus.
Pattillo Registers First Points Of Season: Walk-on sophomore guard Ulric Pattillo (Harbor City) played in the final two minutes on Saturday at Pepperdine and knocked down his first career three-pointer. The three points scored is a career-best for him. Last year Pattillo appeared in 11 games and scored two points (both free throws).
2003-04 Schedule & Results (1-3 / 0-0 Big West)
| Nov. 21 | at San Diego State | L, 44-74 | | Nov. 29 | at Portland | L, 59-65 | | Dec. 3 | CS Stanislaus | W, 71-62 | | Dec. 6 | at Pepperdine | L, 73-87 | | Dec. 9 | at Minnesota (TV: ESPN+) | 5:05 pm | | Dec. 20 | Southern Utah | 7:35 pm | | Dec. 23 | Loyola Marymount | 7:35 pm | | Dec. 27 | at Sacramento State | 7:05 pm | | Dec. 30 | Colgate | 7:35 pm | | Jan. 3 | *UC Santa Barbara | 7:35 pm | | Jan. 5 | *Cal Poly (TV: FSW2) | 7:35 pm | | Jan. 8 | *at Pacific | 7:05 pm | | Jan. 10 | *at CS Northridge | 7:05 pm | | Jan. 15 | *CS Fullerton | 7:35 pm | | Jan. 17 | *UC Riverside | 7:35 pm | | Jan. 24 | *UC Irvine | 7:35 pm | | Jan. 29 | *at Idaho | 7:05 pm | | Jan. 31 | *at Utah State | 6:05 pm | | Feb. 5 | *CS Northridge (TV: KVMD) | 7:05 pm | | Feb. 7 | *Pacific | 7:35 pm | | Feb. 12 | *at UC Riverside | 7:10 pm | | Feb. 14 | *at CS Fullerton | 7:05 pm | | Feb. 18 | *at UC Irvine (TV: KVMD) | 7:05 pm | | Feb. 26 | *Utah State | 7:35 pm | | Feb. 28 | *Idaho (TV: FSW2) | 5:05 pm | | Mar. 4 | *at Cal Poly | 7:05 pm | | Mar. 6 | *at UC Santa Barbara | 7:05 pm | | Mar. 10-13 | at Big West Tournament | tba |
# Exhibition Game
* Big West Conference Game |
