49ers Close Regular Season On The Road
Cal Poly & UCSB On The Road
March 1, 2004
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| UPCOMING GAMES | Thursday, March 4 at Cal Poly, 7:05 pm, Mott Gym, San Luis Obispo, CA
(Radio: Tape-delayed at 8 pm on KRLA, 870 AM) | Saturday, March 6 at UCSB, 7:05 pm, The Thunderdome, Santa Barbara, CA
(Radio: Live on KRLA, 870 AM) |
| PROBABLE STARTERS | | F-24-Antoine Jackson (6-7, 242, Sr., 3.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg) | | F-30-Kevin Roberts (6-5, 255, Sr., 15.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg) | | C-5-Marcel Jackson (6-9, 290, Sr., 5.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg) | | G-3-Lucian Graham (6-6, 214, Fr., 5.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg) | | G-1-Jibril Hodges (6-2, 179, So., 10.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg) |
The Records: Long Beach State will look to close out its regular season in winning fashion when they play at Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara this week in its final regular season games. The 49ers are 6-19 overall and 4-12 in the Big West Conference, tied for ninth place with Cal Poly. LBSU has lost eight games in a row. Cal Poly is 9-15 overall and 4-12 in league, while UCSB is 14-11 overall and 8-8 in the Big West, good for fourth place.
The Series: The 49ers lead in their series with Cal Poly by a 26-23 count. The two met on Jan. 5 here in The Pyramid and the 49ers came away with an 86-72 victory. The 49ers had lost four of its previous five to the Mustangs prior to the home win on Jan. 5. Long Beach has lost its last three meetings at Cal Poly. The 49ers lead in their series with UCSB by a 49-44 margin, including a 63-62 triumph on Jan. 3 in The Pyramid. The 49ers have lost two straight at The Thunderdome to the Gauchos, including a 70-46 drubbing last season.
Staying Alive: The 49ers are still alive for the final spot in the eight-team Big West Conference Tournament (March 10-13) at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Beach must win both games this week and must have UC Irvine lose twice (at UCSB, at Cal Poly). Long Beach would then hold the edge in any tie-breaker situation with the Anteaters as the 49ers would have swept UCSB and UCI would have lost twice the the Gauchos.
Beach Drops Two At Home: The 49ers had a rough week falling at home to Utah State (67-47) and Idaho (60-56) in The Pyramid. On Thursday night the 49ers trailed by just one, 39-38, with 14:25 to play, but the Aggie defense shut down the 49ers in the final 10 minutes of the game using a 15-0 run to seal the decision. Kevin Roberts and Marcel Jackson both had 10 points, but the 49ers shot just .345 (20-58) from the field and were 2-6 at the free throw line. Saturday the 49ers let an 11-point (44-33) second half lead slip away in the 60-56 loss to Idaho. Long Beach led 51-50 with 4:24 left, but Idaho hit eight of ten free throws down the stretch and out-scored the 49ers 10-5 to come away with the win. Roberts led the way with 15 points and seven rebounds and Jibril Hodges and Lucian Graham both had 10 points. Long Beach shot an impressive .513 (20-39) from the field and out-rebounded the Vandals, 32-28.
First Meeting With Cal Poly: The 49ers played one of its best games of the season when they defeated the Mustangs 86-72 on January 5. the 49ers shot .500 (29-58) from the field and limited the Mustangs to a .386 field goal percentage as well as forcing 19 turnovers. Jibril Hodges led the 49ers with 21 points, Louis Darby added 20 and Kevin Roberts 13 points and 11 rebounds. Varnie Dennis led Cal Poly with 18 points and 11 rebounds and Mike Titchenal added 16 points.
First Meeting With UCSB: Louis Darby's long three-pointer at the buzzer gave the 49ers a 63-62 win over UCSB in the Big West opener for both teams on Jan. 3. Darby finished with 17 points and Kevin roberts 18 as the 49ers shot .520 (26-50) from the field. UCSB was led by Casey Cook's 15 points and Branduinn Fullove added 10. UCSB led 49-28 at the 16:59 mark of the second half, but the 49ers tied the game at 58-58 with 2:00 left. A layup by Jacoby Atako with 0:29 left gave UCSB a 62-60 lead before Darby's last-second heroics.
49ers Get A Transfer: Head Coach Larry Reynolds announced that Onye Ibekwe (F, 6-7, 244, So.) has transferred to The Beach from Oklahoma State. Ibekwe prepped at Crenshaw High School. In 2002-03 at OSU, Ibekwe appeared in 11 games, averaging 0.8 points and 1.2 rebounds per game in 51 minutes of action. Ibekwe was an all-league selection and a McDonald's All-America nominee his senior year at Crenshaw where he averaged 16 points and 13 rebounds per game in 2002 as Crenshaw finished as co-Coliseum League champions.
School-Record Tied: On February 18 at UC Irvine the 49ers tied a school-record by hitting 13 three-pointers. Long Beach was 13-22 (.591) from long-range for the contest. Two other times the 49ers knocked down 13 three's in a game. The last time was on December 22, 1993 in a 108-107 triple overtime win over Fairleigh Dickinson. The first time was on December 18, 1992 in a 112-71 victory over Point Loma College. The .591 field goal percentage vs. UCI represented a season-high as well.
Roberts Eclipses 1,000 Points: Senior Kevin Roberts became just the 14th player in Long Beach State history to score 1,000 career points. He accomplished the feat on February 7 vs. Pacific at the 18:56 mark of the second half. Roberts had 11 points vs. the Tigers. He now stands at 1,090 career points, good for 11th place all-time. Directly ahead of him in the No. 10 spot is Bill Florentine (1959-62) with 1,158 points. Lucious Harris (1989-93) is the career scoring leader at LBSU with 2,312 points.
Hodges Climbs On 3-Point Charts: Jibril Hodges is shooting .394 (52-132) from 3-point range this season. He has knocked down five three's three times this season; first at Portland, second at home against CS Fullerton and the third time at UC Irvine. With 52 made three's this year, Hodges is No. 9 on the 49er single season chart. On the 49er career chart, Hodges is 88-238 and his 88 makes are also No. 9 all-time.
Roberts On The Rebounding Chart: With 564 career rebounds, Kevin Roberts moved into the No. 9 spot all-time on the 49er career rebound chart. Directly ahead of his in the No. 9 spot is Bryon Russell (1990-93) with 567 boards. Francois Wise (1976-80) is the career leader in rebounds at LBSU with 896.
27 Points A Season-High: Kevin Roberts' 27-point performance on February 14 at CS Fullerton not only tied his previous career-best, but it was the most points scored by a 49er this season. Roberts currently has five of the top six scoring marks for LBSU this season.
Can He Do It Again?: Louis Darby had a great weekend when UCSB and Cal Poly came to town the opening weekend of conference play. In the win over UCSB he scored a career-high 17 points and hit the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer in the 63-62 victory. He came back two nights later against Cal Poly to score 20 points, a new career-high, as the 49ers won 86-72. Darby was named the Big West Player of the Week for his efforts as he averaged 18.5 points per game while shooting .632 (12-19) from the field and .857 (12-14) from the free throw line.
A Big Assist: The 49ers had recorded more assists than turnovers in four consecutive games (UCR, CSF, UCI, USU), prior to Saturday's Idaho contest where they fell short with 11 assists and 18 turnovers. In the February 14 game at CS Fullerton the 49ers had a season-high 19 assists. Eight times the 49ers have had more assists than turnovers in a game this year, including last Thursday night vs. Utah State when the 49ers had 15 assists and just 12 turnovers.
Assists Part Two: In Big West Conference games 49er freshman Kevin Houston is averaging 3.50 assists per game, fifth in the league. Jibril Hodges stands tied for sixth place at 3.31 apg. In 16 league games, Houston had 56 assists and just 37 turnovers while Hodges had 53 assists and 42 miscues.
Kevin Roberts: Leads the team at 15.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Has scored in double digits in seven consecutive games and is 22 of the 25 games this season. Had 15 points and seven rebounds in his final home game on Saturday vs. Idaho at The Pyramid. Scored a career-high tying 27 points on February 14 at CS Fullerton, shooting 11-16 from the field and adding a team-high seven rebounds. The 20-point effort against the Titans was the fifth this season for Roberts. He is currently 11th on the 49er career scoring chart with 1,090 points and he is just the 14th LBSU player to garner 1,000 career points. Against Utah State Roberts moved into the No. 10 spot on the LBSU career rebounding chart and he now stands at No. 9 all-time with 564 career rebounds.
Marcel Jackson: Played well in his final two home games last week. On Thursday vs. Utah State he finished with 10 points and four rebounds in 15 minutes. Was 5-8 from the floor and of his four rebounds, three were on the offensive glass. Saturday vs. Idaho he had six points and seven rebounds in a career-high 31 minutes. On the year Jackson is averaging 5.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game while shooting .532 (58-109) from the field. Had a strong outing vs. CS Northridge (Feb. 5) with 13 points, five rebounds and two blocks in 16 minutes. Was 6-8 from the field and three of his rebounds were offensive. Of his 95 total rebounds this season, more than half (50), are on the offensive glass. His best game of the season came against LMU as he finished with a career-high 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Antoine Jackson: Started his sixth and seventh games of the season this weekend vs. Utah State and Idaho. Saturday vs. the Vandals he had six points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 23 minutes. The three assists was a new career-high. Tallied four points, two rebounds and a career-high four blocks in 15 minutes at UC Irvine on Feb. 18. In the win over UCI (1/24) he finished with four rebounds and three blocked shots. Jackson is averaging 3.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game overall while shooting .533 (32-60) from the field. He leads the squad with 22 blocked shots and has 16 in Big West outings. He had a big game in the win over UCSB (1/3) at home, finishing with 10 points, all coming in the second half.
Anthony Coleman: Is out for the remainder of the season due to a stress fracture in his foot. Played in only two games this year. Made his long-awaited debut on February 5 night vs. CS Northridge playing 24 minutes off the bench, finishing with six points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Started the game on February 7 vs. Pacific and finished with nine points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes. Averaging 7.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Was originally supposed to be ready to play on December 23, but suffered a stress fracture in his foot and was sidelined from early December until this week.
Chris Jenkins: Broke a bone in his left hand on February 14 at CS Fullerton and is out for the remainder of the season. He had been playing extremely well for the 49ers in recent games. Had 11 points and two rebounds in 22 minutes at UC Riverside (2/12) and finished with eight points and two rebounds in 25 minutes vs. Pacific on February 7. Played 21 minutes at CS Fullerton before sustaining his injury, finishing with two points and one assist. Is averaging 5.7 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. He 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.
Cody Pearson: Finished with six points, three rebounds and one assist vs. Utah State. and four points and three boards vs. Idaho. Pearson is averaging 3.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game this year. In his last three games he is averaging 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. In the 49ers win at Idaho he had five points and a team-high seven rebounds in 21 minutes. In the home win over UC Irvine, he had seven points, three rebounds and three steals in 23 minutes. Pearson had a career-best 11 boards at Portland earlier this season.
Jibril Hodges: Had 10 points and four assists against Idaho, his tenth double-digit scoring game of the season. Had eight points, three rebounds and a career-high tying seven assists vs. Utah State on Thursday night. In his last four games he is averaging 11.0 points and 4.8 assists per game. He has registered at least two assists in each of his last eight games. In the loss at UC Irvine he had 17 points, shooting 5-8 from three-point range. On the year Hodges is averaging 10.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He is shooting .394 (52-132) from three-point range and an impressive .804 (41-51) at the free throw line. Hodges had a season-high 21 points in the home win over Cal Poly and he hit the 20-point mark again on Jan. 15 with 20 against CS Fullerton. Hodges is ninth all-time on career three-pointers made at Long Beach State with 88. His 52 treys this season is the ninth-best single season mark in school history.
Louis Darby: Did not play on Saturday vs. Idaho and played just six minutes vs. Utah State on Thursday. Has scored just three points in the last three games since picking up 10 points in 26 minutes at CS Fullerton on February 14, his fifth game in double digits this year. Is currently averaging 6.8 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. Had a career-best 20 points against both Cal Poly and UC Riverside at home. Was named the Big West Player of the Week on January 6 after leading the 49ers to wins over UCSB and Cal Poly. Averaged 18.5 points per game and hit the game-winning shot, a three-pointer, at the buzzer vs. the Gauchos, a 63-62 49er triumph. Is shooting .795 (66-83) at the free throw line this year and is averaging 7.9 points per game in Big West Conference games.
Mark Bowens: Had a career-high six points at UC Irvine, shooting 2-5 from three-point range. Also added two assists in 15 minutes vs. the Anteaters. Hit a three-pointer last Thursday vs. Utah State. Has appeared in 17 games this season, averaging 1.8 points and 0.6 rebounds per game. Is shooting .360 (9-25) from three-point range. Had three points against CS Fullerton on January 15, and added two steals in four minutes. Started against Southern Utah, finishing with three points and three assists in 18 minutes. Had five points at Sacramento State in a career-best 26 minutes.
Ulric Pattillo: Walk-on Ulric Pattillo had played in nine games this season, averaging 0.7 points per game. Played three minutes at UC Irvine, but did not score. On January 10 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.
Alex Graham: Saw his first action on Thursday vs. Utah State in six games. He last saw court time on Jan. 31 at Utah State. Played 10 minutes on Thursday, grabbing two rebounds. Played five minutes at Idaho (1/29) and a season-high 13 minutes at Utah State on January 31. Had one rebound at Idaho and finished with three rebounds and a blocked shot at USU. Has appeared in eight games, averaging 0.0 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. Played eight minutes at home against UC Irvine, finishing with two rebounds and a blocked shot. Played seven minutes at Minnesota, finishing with three boards, two blocks and one steal.
Kevin Houston: Did not start vs. Utah State or Idaho as the 49ers went with its "big" lineup. Came off the bench vs. Utah State finishing with three assists in 13 minutes. Saturday vs. Idaho he had three points and one assist in 23 minutes. Averaging 5.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game overall. In Big West outings those numbers rise to 5.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Is shooting .393 (33-84) from the field in league games after shooting just .226 (14-62) in the nine non-league games. Had six points, four rebounds and five assists at UC Irvine. Had 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals at CS Fullerton on February 14. Recorded a career-high 10 assists vs. CS Northridge (Feb. 5). In the overtime win over UC Irvine he had nine points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in a career-best 40 minutes. Leads the team with 80 assists, the third-most ever by a 49er freshman, and is second with 19 steals.
Lucian Graham: Tallied seven points and three assists in a career-best 35 minutes vs. Utah State and then came back with 10 points and six rebounds in 31 minutes vs. Idaho. In his last five games Graham is averaging 9.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game and has scored in double digits in three of those five contests. Has 11 points and four rebounds at UC Irvine and came off the bench to finish with 12 points, two assists and a career-high seven rebounds at UC Riverside on February 12. Had a career-best 17 points in the 49ers win over UC Irvine (1/24), adding three assists and shooting 4-6 from 3-point range. Graham is averaging 5.5 points and 2.2 rebounds per game overall, but in Big West games he is averaging 6.8 points and 2.4 rebounds per game and shooting .484 (15-31) from three-point range.
Travon Free: Played 19 minutes on Thursday night, finishing with two points, four rebounds, one block and on steal vs. Utah State. The 19 minutes played was the most for Free since December 30 when he played a season-high 25 minutes against Colgate. Has appeared in 21 games this season, averaging 245 points and 1.4 rebounds per game while shooting .500 (22-44) from the field. Had four points and three rebounds in eight minutes vs. Pacific on February 7. Recorded career-high's against Colgate as he had eight points and seven rebounds where he was 4-7 from the field.
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