Long Beach Returns Home For Three
CS Fullerton Comes To The Pyramid On Thursday
January 12, 2004
Click Here For PDF Version Of This Release
Click Here For 2003-04 Roster
| UPCOMING GAMES | Thursday, January 15 vs. CS Fullerton, 7:35 pm, The Pyramid
(Internet: Live on www.longbeachstate.com) | Saturday, January 17 vs. UC Riverside, 7:35 pm, The Pyramid
(Internet: Live on www.longbeachstate.com) | Saturday, January 24 vs. UC Irvine, 7:35 pm, The Pyramid
(Internet: Live on www.longbeachstate.com) |
| PROBABLE STARTERS | | F-52-Chris Jenkins (6-8, 184, Jr., 7.4 ppg, 2.0 rpg) | | F-30-Kevin Roberts (6-5, 255, Sr., 16.0 ppg, 7.6 rpg) | | C-5-Marcel Jackson (6-9, 290, Sr., 5.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg) | | G-2-Louis Darby (6-3, 212, So., 6.8 ppg, 1.9 rpg) | | G-1-Jibril Hodges (6-2, 179, So., 9.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg) |
The Records: Long Beach State is home for its next three games, beginning on Thursday, January 15 when The Beach hosts Cal State Fullerton at 7:35 pm. The 49ers then host UC Riverside on Saturday, January 17, also at 7:35 pm. LBSU is 4-9 overall and 2-2 in the Big West after dropping two road games last week at Pacific and CS Northridge. CS Fullerton heads into the week at 4-8 overall and 0-3 in the Big West. The Titans lost at UC Riverside, 64-60, on Saturday night. UCR is 5-6 overall and 2-1 in league play after its win over Fullerton.
The Coach: Larry Reynolds (UC Riverside, 1976) is 9-31 (.225) his second year at Long Beach State and 119-66 (.643) 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: Long Beach State leads its series with CS Fullerton by a 51-33 count. Last year the two teams split their games with the 49ers winning at home, 79-73, and the Titans winning 57-53 in overtime in Fullerton. The 49ers have won seven of their last eight meetings with Fullerton, including four straight in The Pyramid. Long Beach leads its series with UC Riverside by a 16-3 count, but has dropped three of the last four to the Highlanders. UCR swept The Beach last year winning 77-73 in Riverside and 68-65 in The Pyramid.
Tough Week For The 49ers: Long Beach lost both road games last week, falling at Pacific (70-55) and CS Northridge (79-57). Kevin Roberts was the only 49er in double digits in both games, with 17 points at Pacific and 21 at Northridge. Pacific shot .500 (26-52) from the field on Thursday evening in the victory. Christian Maraker led the way for UOP with 23 points and Tom Cockle added 13. The 49ers shot .407 (22-54) from the field and committed 17 turnovers. The Tigers turned the ball over only nine times while dishing out 19 assists. Saturday, Northridge shot an impressive .590 (23-39) from the field in the 79-57 win. Long Beach shot a decent .475 (19-40), but committed 21 turnovers and was just 3-16 from 3-point range. The 49ers were also out-rebounded by a 27 to 16 margin.
Shooting The Basketball: After shooting just .381 (114-299) from the field in its previous five games, the 49ers shot .500 or better in three of its last five games. In those five games the 49ers are shooting a solid .481 (124-258) overall from the field. The 49ers shot .520 (26-50) in its win over UCSB and .500 in games against Colgate (28-56) and Cal Poly (29-58). Five times this season the 49ers have shot .500 or better in a game, with their season-high of .522 (24-46) coming against CS Stanislaus. Overall this year the 49ers are shooting .428 from the field. In Big West Conference games that number jumps to .475.
Defense Slips: The 49ers had a string of five games where opponents shot under .500 from the field, but that was broken on Thursday at Pacific when the Tigers shot .500 (26-52) from the field. The Beach followed that up by giving up a season-high .590 (23-39) field goal percentage on Saturday night to CS Northridge. Last week 49er opponents shot an impressive .538 (49-91) from the field. Only three 49er opponents have shot .500 or better from the field this year, with the third being Southern Utah (.561). The 49ers have held four opponents to under .400 shooting from the field.
SeeSaw At The Line: It's been either feast or famine at the free throw line through the first four Big West Conference games. The 49ers shot just 14 free throws in the win over UCSB, but then came back with 31 attempts (hitting 21) against Cal Poly. Thursday at Pacific the 49ers were just 7-9 at the charity stripe, but Saturday at CSUN, the 49ers went to the line 25 times. The nine free throw attempts at Pacific is a season-low. Overall, the 49ers are shooting just .651 (155-238) at the free throw line.
Season Low On The Boards: The 49ers had a season-low 16 rebounds in Saturday's loss at Northridge, including a season-low five offensive rebounds. The 49ers had been leading the Big West in offensive rebounding, and now stand second in the league at 12.7 per game. After averaging 36.4 rebounds per game in its nine non-conference games, the 49ers are averaging just 26.8 rebounds per game in Big West outings.
Turnover Turnaround: After committing just 27 turnovers in its two Big West wins over UCSB (14) and Cal Poly (13), the 49ers turned the ball over 38 times in losses this past week to Pacific (17) and CS Northridge (21). The 21 turnovers at CSUN are the second-most this season behind the 26 miscues in the season opener at San Diego State.
Home Court Advantage: The 49ers are 4-2 at home this year, and are just five points from being a perfect 6-0 in The Pyramid. A one-point loss to Southern Utah and a two-point setback to Colgate are the only blemishes. Long Beach is shooting .463 from the field in its six home games while holding opponents to a .426 field goal percentage. The 49ers are also averaging 70.2 points per game at home. Kevin Roberts is averaging 18.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game at The Pyramid and Jibril Hodges is averaging 11.2 points per game.
CS Fullerton Facts: The Titans are 4-8 overall and 0-3 in the Big West. Saturday they fell at UC Riverside, 64-60. Pape Sow led Fullerton with 17 points and 17 rebounds and Bobby Brown added 12 points. Sow leads the squad at 18.6 points and 8.8 rebounds per game with Brown second in scoring at 14.1 points per game. Anthony Bolton is third at 11.6 points per game and second in rebounding at 5.7 boards per game. Fullerton is shooting .447 from the field and averaging 71.9 points per game. The Titans are allowing 72.5 points per game this season.
UC Riverside Facts: The Highlanders are 5-6 overall and 2-1 in the Big West, with all three league games at home. Nate Carter had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the win over CS Fullerton and Kevin Butler added 14. Carter leads the team at 14.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game with Butler second in scoring at 12.5. Vili Morton checks in at 11.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. UCR is averaging 71.6 points per game and shooting .452 from the field. Highlander opponents are at 70.6 points per game and are shooting .478 from the field.
Big West Statistics: In the latest Big West Conference statistics, senior Kevin Roberts is fourth in the league in scoring (16.0) and rebounding (7.6). Louis Darby is sixth in free throw percentage (.810) and Antoine Jackson is sixth in blocked shots (1.00). Jibril Hodges checks in at #4 in 3-pointers made per game at 1.85 and ninth in 3-point field goal percentage at .393. As a team the 49ers rank in the top five in the league in just three categories. They are third in blocked shots (3.15), second in offensive rebounds (12.69) and tied for fifth in total rebounding (33.5). In Big West Conference games the 49ers are third in field goal percentage at .475 and fourth in turnover margin at +1.25.
775 Total Wins: The 49ers earned career win number 775 in its victory over Cal Poly (86-72) on January 5. Overall, in 53-plus years of men's basketball, Long Beach State is 775-676.
Kevin Roberts: Is the 49ers leading scorer (16.0) and rebounder (7.6) this season. Averaged 19.0 points in the two games last week, including 21 at Northridge, his third game with 20 or more points. Roberts has recorded five double-double's this season and has scored in double figures in 12 of the 13 games, including nine consecutive. He also has shown the ability to pass the ball as he is third on the team with 26 assists. He has recorded four assists in four games this year. Roberts scored a season-high 24 points vs. Colgate and had 22 against Southern Utah. His latest double-double came in the win over Cal Poly as he finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. His other "double's" have come against CS Stanislaus (17/11), Southern Utah (22/10), LMU (17/13) and Sacramento State (13/13). Roberts currently has 922 career points and 498 career rebounds. He can become just the 10th player in 49er history to record 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds.
Marcel Jackson: Averaged 8.5 points per game in the two games last week and is currently averaging 5.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game overall while shooting .542 (32-59) from the field. In Big West games he stands at 6.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per outing while shooting .750 (12-16). Jackson had nine points at Northridge on Saturday and eight points and four boards at Pacific. His best game of the season came on Dec. 23 in the 49ers win over Loyola Marymount. Jackson finished with a career-high 17 points and a career-best 10 rebounds. All 17 of his points came in the second half. Jackson also reached double digits in scoring against Southern Utah with 12 points.
Antoine Jackson: Was held to three points on Saturday at CS Northridge, but prior to that averaged 7.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in the first three Big West Conference games. Had 10 points in the win over UCSB, all coming in the second half, and then had seven points, three rebounds and three blocks in the victory over Cal Poly. Overall he is averaging 4.8 points per game, but in the Big West he stands at 6.5 points per game while shooting .786 (11-14) from the field. Jackson had a career-high tying 12 points at Portland and he leads the squad with 11 blocked shots.
Chris Jenkins: Checks in as the 49ers third-leading scorer at 7.4 points per game. Has missed three games due to two separate ankle sprains (San Diego State, Sacramento State, Colgate). Scored a season-high 15 points in the win over CS Stanislaus and was 4-6 from 3-point range at Minnesota, finishing with 12 points. Once of his best overall games came in the win over Cal Poly as he finished with nine points, a career-high tying five rebounds and two assists. Is shooting .314 (11-35) from 3-point range this season. Struggled with his shot this week on the road, as he was just 4-19 (.211) from the field.
Cody Pearson: Sustained a huge bump on his head in Thursday's game at Pacific after taking an elbow from the Tigers Christian Maraker underneath the basket in the second half. Played 19 minutes on Saturday at Northridge, with one point and one rebound. Currently averaging 3.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, Pearson is one of the 49ers best rebounders. He grabbed nine rebounds in the opener at San Diego State and followed that up with a career-best 11 boards at Portland. In the game at Minnesota he tied his career-high with 12 points, shooting 4-6 from the field and 4-4 at the free throw line. Pearson's numbers have tailed off some recently as he has just three points and eight rebounds in his last four games.
Jibril Hodges: Struggled this last week with his shot in the two road losses, averaging 4.5 points per game and shooting .250 (3-12) from the field and .222 (2-9) from 3-point range. Is still second on the team at 9.3 points per game. Knocked down a career-best 21 points in the 49ers win over Cal Poly, shooting 4-7 from 3-point range. He also dished out five assists in that contest. Hodges is the 49ers top long-range threat this season, shooting .393 (24-61) from 3-point range. He also has done a fine job in distributing the basketball lately. He's second on the team with 30 assists, with 12 of those coming in the past four games. Hodges has hit double digits in scoring four times this season, including three consecutive games at the beginning of the season (Portland 18, CS Stanislaus 16, Pepperdine 17). Hodges has connected on 60 career 3-pointers and needs just 16 more to tie for 10th on the 49er career chart with 76 made treys.
Louis Darby: Caught the attention of the entire Big West Conference in the opening weekend of league play as he scored 17 points against UCSB and a career-best 20 vs. Cal Poly. Darby was named the Big West Player of the Week for his efforts. He hit his first career 3-pointer against UCSB, connected on the long trey at the buzzer in the 49ers 63-62 victory. Darby struggled this past week on the road, scoring just six points and taking just five shots from the field (2-5). Darby is currently averaging 6.8 points per game overall while shooting .442 (23-52) from the field and .810 (34-42) from the free throw line. In Big West games he stands at 10.8 points per game while shooting .583 (14-24) from the field.
Mark Bowens: Has played in eight games this season with one start (Southern Utah). Had three points and three assists in 18 minutes against SUU. Recorded a career-high tying five points at Sacramento State and also had two rebounds in 26 minutes, both new career-high's. Bowens is 5-12 (.417) from 3-point range this year. Saturday at Northridge he was 1-1 from 3-point range, appearing in his first game since Colgate on December 30.
Ulric Pattillo: Walk-on Ulric Pattillo had played in five games this season, averaging 1.2 points per game. Saturday at CS Northridge he played 11 minutes off the bench, finishing with one rebound and one assist. Pattillo scored three points against both Pepperdine and Sacramento State, knocking down a three against both. The three points is a career-high for him. Pattillo played 11 minutes at Sacramento State as well, representing a season-high. Last year he scored just two points, with both of those coming at the free throw line. Pattillo is 2-4 (.500) from 3-point range this season.
Alex Graham: Has appeared in four games this year and has grabbed seven rebounds, 1.8 boards per game. Has yet to score a point this season. Had three rebounds against both San Diego State and Minnesota. Played seven minutes at Minnesota, finishing with three boards, two blocks and one steal. Saw 11 minutes of action at SDSU with three boards and was 0-2 from the field. Played just one minute on Saturday at CS Northridge.
Kevin Houston: Finished with four points, two rebounds and two assists on Saturday at Northridge. Had a strong outing at Pacific on Thursday with nine points, three rebounds and three assists. Averaging 4.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game this season. He leads the team with 33 assists, including a career-high eight at Portland. One of his best games of the season came in the win over LMU as he established career-high's for points (14) and rebounds (5). He also dished out four assists in 36 minutes vs. the Lions. After shooting just .207 (12-58) from the field in his first eight games as a 49er, Houston is shooting .474 (9-19) from the field in his last five games.
Travon Free: Did not play on Saturday at Northridge, but has been averaging nine minutes of action per game. Checks in at 2.9 points and 1.8 rebounds per game while shooting an impressive .640 (16-25) from the field. Recorded career-high's against Colgate as he had eight points and seven rebounds. Was 4-7 from the field in a season-high 25 minutes. Also had eight points in the opener at San Diego State in 15 minutes. He has yet to score in a Big West Conference game, but has played just 11 minutes in the four league outings thus far. Free is one of just three 49ers who are shooting better than .500 from the field.
Lucian Graham: The freshman came off the bench on Saturday at Northridge finishing with five points, two rebounds and one steal in nine minutes of action. On the year Graham has played in 12 games with two starts (LMU, Sacramento State). He is averaging 3.3 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. Graham had a career-high seven points against Colgate and has tallied six points against San Diego State, Minnesota and Southern Utah. Is shooting .400 (8-20) from 3-point range this year and he is the only 49er with more assists (17) than turnovers (16). Graham has hit four of his last eight 3-pointers. Against SDSU, in his first collegiate game, he had six points, six rebounds and four assists. In the win over LMU he had just three points, but added four rebounds and a career-best five assists in 27 minutes of action.
2003-04 Schedule & Results (4-9 / 2-2 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 | L, 58-88 | | Dec. 20 | Southern Utah | L, 59-60 | | Dec. 23 | Loyola Marymount | W, 71-68 | | Dec. 27 | at Sacramento State | L, 51-73 | | Dec. 30 | Colgate | L, 71-73 | | Jan. 3 | *UC Santa Barbara | W, 63-62 | | Jan. 5 | *Cal Poly | W, 86-72 | | Jan. 8 | *at Pacific | L, 55-70 | | Jan. 10 | *at CS Northridge | L, 57-79 | | 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 |
