Long Beach State University Athletics
49ers host Idaho in men's basketball season opener Saturday
11/7/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 7, 2011
THE 49ERS ON THE INTERNET: Rob Brender will provide play-by-play for the third consecutive season. All games can be heard on longbeachstate.com.
49ERS OPEN SEASON AT HOME AGAINST FORMER BIG WEST MEMBER IDAHO: Long Beach State opens the 2011-12 season this Saturday when the 49ers host Idaho at 2:05 p.m. in the Walter Pyramid. The 49ers will look to win their home opener for the third time in the last four seasons when they face the Vandals. The game is a return game as part of the 2010 BracketBuster game played in Moscow two seasons ago. T.J. Robinson led the 49ers to a 77-66 win in that game with 22 points and 15 rebounds, while Casper Ware added 20 points and Larry Anderson chipped in 10. Kyle Barone is the only player on the Vandals' current roster who played in the first meeting. He scored six points and grabbed four rebounds in 22 minutes.
49ERS FACE ONE OF NATION'S TOUGHEST NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULES, INCLUDING GAMES AGAINST FIVE OF THE NATION'S PRESEASON TOP 14 TEAMS: Long Beach State heads into the 2011-12 season with a non-league schedule that few teams can match. The 49ers, who had the nation's top rated non-conference schedule the last two seasons according to a couple websites, will play five teams ranked in the top 14 of the Associated Press preseason poll. The 49ers will face No. 1 North Carolina, No. 9 Louisville, No. 10 Pittsburgh, No. 13 Kansas and No. 14 Xavier. LBSU will play 11 games before Big West Conference action begins, with those opponents combining for a 273-99 (73.4 winning percentage) record last season. Nine of the 49ers' opponents won at least 20 games, with six winning more than 25 games and two winning more than 30 games.
FOUR 49ERS RANK AMONG BIG WEST'S ACTIVE LEADERS HEADING INTO SEASON, INCLUDING LEAGUE LEADERS IN POINTS, REBOUNDS, ASSISTS AND STEALS: Heading into the 2011-12 season, Long Beach State players are the active Big West leaders in points, rebounds, assists, steals, field goals made, free throws made and minutes played. T.J. Robinson leads three categories--points, rebounds and field goals made. Robinson has scored 1,310 points in three seasons at Long Beach State and leads teammate Casper Ware by 60 points. Robinson has 861 career rebounds and leads teammate Eugene Phelps by 376 boards, while making 498 field goals, 100 more than UC Santa Barbara's Orlando Johnson.
In addition to being second in scoring heading into the season, Ware is the active leader in four categories--assists, steals, free throws made and minutes. He has 431 career assists and leads teammate Larry Anderson by 161. Ware leads Anderson in career steals by 10, 159 to 149, and has played 301 more career minutes than Robinson. Phelps and Anderson also rank among the active leaders in points and blocked shots, while Anderson is also among the leaders in rebounds, field goals made, free throws made and minutes played. Robinson also ranks in the top five in free throws made and minutes played.
WARE NAMED TO 2011-12 JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD PRESEASON TOP 50 LIST: Senior point guard Casper Ware has been named to the John Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 List released by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. The list was based on last year's individual performance and team records, and the players are early frontrunners for college basketball's most prestigious honor. Ware is the first Long Beach State player in school history to be on the preseason Wooden Award watch list.
Ware received a number of postseason honors last season after leading the 49ers to the Big West Conference regular-season title and a berth in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). He was an honorable mention All-America pick, while also being selected as both the Big West Conference Player of the Year and the Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He was the first player in Big West history to win both awards in the same season, and is the only returning player in the nation to claim both league honors. Ware also earned a spot on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 9 Team, as well as a place on the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-District IX Team, the 2011 Lefty Driesell Defensive All-America Team, and the 2011 Lou Henson All-America Team (the mid-major All-America team).
In 2010-11, Ware led Long Beach State in scoring (17.2 ppg), assists (150) and steals (56), while also finishing second in 3-pointers made (75). Ware finished the season second in the Big West Conference in scoring, while also ranking second in assists (4.4 apg), fourth in steals (1.6 spg), sixth in free throw percentage (.810), fifth in 3-point field goals made (2.2 per game) and seventh in 3-point field goal percentage (.381). He ranked among LBSU's all-time single-season leaders in free throws made (3rd), free throws attempted (6th), 3-point field goals made (7th), 3-pointers attempted (7th), assists (9th), and steals (11th).
Ware was one of 20 finalists for the Bob Cousy award honoring the nation's best point guard, and he claimed Big West Conference Player of the Week honors once after leading the 49ers to wins at UC Davis and Cal State Northridge. Defensively he spearheaded an attack that, in Big West games, helped limit opponents to 60 points or less on seven occasions, all resulting in 49er victories. LBSU was 12-0 in conference play when it held the opponent under 70 points.
WARE AND ANDERSON NAMED TO LOU HENSON PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA TEAM: Seniors Larry Anderson and Casper Ware have been named to the 2011-12 Lou Henson Preseason All-America Team. Ware and Anderson are among the 25 players named to the team which honors the top Mid-Major players in the country. The 49er duo is the only pair of teammates on the team, as well as being the only players from a Big West Conference school to be honored.
WARE RANKS IN TOP 10 IN FOUR CAREER CATEGORIES AT LBSU: Casper Ware heads into his senior season among the all-time greats at Long Beach State in a number of career categories. The 49er point guard is third in assists (431) and free throws made (337), while ranking fifth in steals (159) and 10th in points (1,250). Ware also has made 119 career 3-pointers, which is two shy of cracking the school's top 10.
Ware should leave Long Beach State as the career record holder in at least two of those categories and he has an outside chance at a third. Ware trails the all-time leaders by 41 in steals (he had 69 and 56 the last two years), 76 in assists (he had over 100 in each of his three seasons) and 212 in free throws made (he had 166 as a junior and would need to break the single-season record to have a chance). He trails Lucious Harris, the school's all-time leading scorer, by 1,062 points (Ware had a career-high 585 points as a junior) and Jibril Hodges, the school's all-time leader in threes, by 133 3-pointers (Ware had a career-high 75 as a junior).
WARE HEADS INTO SENIOR SEASON WITH 19-GAME DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORING STREAK: Casper Ware scored in double digits in the 49ers' last 19 games of the 2010-11 season, marking his second streak of nine or more games during the season. During the on-going streak, Ware scored 23 points against Cal State Northridge, 21 points vs. UC Irvine, 12 points against UC Davis, 18 points vs. Pacific, a career-high 27 points at Cal State Fullerton, 17 points at UC Irvine, 19 points at Pacific, 21 points vs. Cal State Fullerton, 23 points at UC Davis, 22 points at Cal State Northridge, 17 points vs. UC Riverside, 12 points vs. Montana, 25 points vs. Cal Poly, 26 points vs. UC Santa Barbara, 17 points at UC Riverside, 23 vs. UC Irvine, 16 against UC Riverside, 14 vs. UCSB and 25 at Washington State in the NIT. He averaged 19.9 points and 3.2 assists, while making 45.5 percent (106-of-233) of his shots, 41 percent (59-of-144) from 3-point range and 79.9 percent (107-of-134) from the free throw line during the streak.
Earlier in the season Ware had a nine-game double-digit scoring streak snapped when he had nine points in a win at UC Santa Barbara. Overall, Ware scored in double-digits in 30 of LBSU's 34 games with only a seven-point effort vs. Clemson, an eight-point game at Cal Poly and nine-point games against Saint Peter's and UCSB falling short of double digits.
WARE MAKES 20-POINT GAMES THE NORM: Casper Ware scored at least 20 points in 12 games during his junior season, but the way he did it with increasing regularity is what was most impressive. After not scoring 20 points in a game in the first seven games of the season and only doing it twice in the first 15 games, Ware went on a scoring flurry putting up 10 games of 20-or-more points in the team's last 19 games. He also scored at least 20 points in seven of the last 12 games, four of the last seven, and two of the 49ers' four postseason games. Ware also scored 20-or-more points in eight of LBSU's 16 conference games. The 49ers' senior point guard has 17 total 20-point games during his three year career.
WARE JUST ONE OF FOUR PLAYERS IN LBSU HISTORY TO HAND OUT OVER 100 ASSISTS IN THREE SEPARATE SEASONS: Junior Casper Ware handed out 150 assists as a junior marking the third straight year that the 49er point guard broke the century mark in assists. Ware, who finished with a freshman record 122 assists in 2008-09 and 159 assists in 2009-10, joins Billy Walker (1984-88), Craig Hodges (1978-82), and Ed Ratleff (1970-73) as the only four 49ers to have three 100-assist seasons. Walker, the all-time assists leader at LBSU, had 161, 147 and 113 in the three seasons he handed out triple-digit assists. He had 86 assists during his freshman season at LBSU. Hodges, second all-time in assists at Long Beach State, handed out 130, 110 and 103 during his three triple-digit assist years. He had 94 during his freshman season at The Beach. Ed Ratleff, who holds the single-season record with 189 assists, also had 113 and 108 while playing just three seasons (due to NCAA freshmen eligibility rules) at Long Beach State.
WARE JUST FOURTH PLAYER IN LBSU HISTORY TO SCORE 1,000 POINTS AND HAND OUT 400 ASSISTS: Casper Ware joined three of the all-time greats at Long Beach State when he got his 400th career assist during his junior season. Ware joined Ed Ratleff, Craig Hodges and Morlon Wiley as the only 49ers to score 1,000 points and hand out 400 assists during their careers.
WARE IS ONLY 49ER WITH THREE OF TOP 20 ASSIST SEASONS IN LBSU HISTORY: Casper Ware cracked the top 20 in single-season assists at Long Beach State for the third time in his career as a junior to become the only 49er in the history of the program to have three of the top 20 assist seasons in 49er history. Ware had 150 to finish in ninth. Ware also has the fifth most assists in a season with 159 as a sophomore and the 19th most with 122 as a freshman.
ROBINSON HEADS INTO SENIOR SEASON IN TOP 10 IN FOUR CAREER CATEGORIES AT LONG BEACH STATE: T.J. Robinson enters his senior season ranked in the top 10 in four career categories at Long Beach State and should easily leave LBSU as the career record holder in rebounding. Robinson finished his junior campaign second in rebounding (861) seventh in field goals made (498), and eighth in scoring (1,310) and free throws made (305). Robinson should become the all-time leading rebounder in Long Beach State history early this season. He needs just 35 boards to tie Francois Wise (1976-80) for the most career rebounds in school history. His enters the year trailing Lucious Harris in scoring by 1,002 points (Robinson had a career-high 508 points in 2009-10), Michael Wiley by 316 field goals (Robinson had a career-high 193 FGs in 2009-10) and Harris by 244 free throws (Robinson had a career-high 122 free throws in 2009-10).
ROBINSON CLOSING IN ALL-TIME BIG WEST REBOUNDING LEAD: T.J. Robinson has a chance to leave Long Beach State as the Big West Conference's all-time leader in rebounding. The forward enters his senior season as the ninth leading all-time rebounder in the Big West with 861 boards. He needs 255 during the season to break the league record of 1,115 rebounds held by Tony Neal (Cal State Fullerton). Robinson can pass Eric Franson (Utah State) for eighth all-time with 25 rebounds, while needing just 30 to pass Armon Gilliam (UNLV) for seventh. He will move into sixth when he overtakes Francois Wise in the Long Beach State record books.
ROBINSON HAS 14 CAREER 20-POINT GAMES: T.J. Robinson enters his senior season with 14 career 20-point games. The senior forward had a career-high 31 points in one game, 25 points in four games, 24 points in two games, 22 points in four games, 21 points in one game and 20 points in two games.
ROBINSON ONE OF JUST SIX PLAYERS IN DIVISION I BASKETBALL TO AVERAGE A DOUBLE-DOUBLE EACH OF THE LAST TWO SEASONS: T.J. Robinson is in select company when it comes to averaging double-doubles in each of the last two seasons. Robinson is one of just six players who averaged a double-double during both the 2009-10 season and the 2010-11 season. Robinson was joined by Kenneth Faried (Morehead State), Ryan Rossiter (Siena), Chris Gaston (Fordham), George Odufuwa (North Texas) and Keith Benson (Oakland). Robinson enters the 2011-12 season as one of only two players with the chance to run the streak to three seasons. Four of the six players were seniors in 2010-11, while Robinson (junior in 10-11) and Gaston (sophomore in 10-11) are the only two with eligibility left in 2011-12.
ROBINSON HAS 38 CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLES, INCLUDING 16 IN 2010-11: T.J. Robinson added 16 double-doubles to his impressive total during his junior season to run his career total to 38. He had 17 during his sophomore season. His first career double-double came in his first career start at Weber State on Dec. 11, 2008, when he scored 18 points and grabbed 10 boards. Since then he has tallied his total of 38 double-doubles in just 89 games. Robinson also has 10 games in which he has had at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.
ANDERSON HEADS INTO SENIOR YEAR AMONG CAREER LEADERS IN THREE CATEGORIES AT LBSU, COULD ADD NAME TO THREE MORE: Larry Anderson is among the all-time leaders in three career categories at Long Beach State heading into his final year with the 49ers. Anderson ranks sixth all-time in steals (149), ninth in free throws (256) and 15th in points scored (1,114). Anderson has a legitimate chance to become the all-time steals leader at LBSU. He needs just 52 to match the all-time leader Lucious Harris (200 from 1989-93), but he would have to pass teammate Casper Ware as well who is 10 ahead of Anderson. Anderson has had 62 and 53 steals the last two seasons. The 49er guard enters his senior season 1,198 points behind Harris for the all-time lead and 256 points behind Harris in free throws made.
Anderson should also join the all-time school leaders in rebounds and field goals and could join the list in blocked shots. He needs 119 rebounds to move into the top 10 and his career low is 120 rebounds as a freshman in 2008-09. He is 61 field goals short of the top 10 and has had at least 188 FGs in each of his three seasons at LBSU. Anderson also needs 19 blocks to move into the top 10. He set a career high last season blocking 20 shots.
PHELPS EIGHTH AT LONG BEACH STATE IN BLOCKED SHOTS: Eugene Phelps moved into eighth in career blocks at Long Beach State during his junior season. He finished the year with 63 total blocks. He had a career-high 27 blocks as a junior, two more than be blocked as a sophomore. He heads to his senior season 65 blocks behind all-time leader Antrone Lee (1997-00).
PHELPS NEEDS 290 POINTS DURING SEANIOR SEASON TO JOIN TEAMMATES ANDERSON, ROBINSON AND WARE IN LBSU 1,000-POINT CLUB: Eugene Phelps needs just 290 points to become the sixth player in the Dan Monson era to score 1,000 career points at Long Beach State. The 49er forward has scored 710 career points in his first three season at LBSU and will look to join current teammates T.J. Robinson (1,310), Casper Ware (1,250) and Larry Anderson (1,114) in the LBSU 1,000-point club. Greg Plater (1,029 points) and Donovan Morris (1,025) points are the other two players from the Monson era to score over 1,000 points. A total of 21 players in school history have reached the milestone.
