Long Beach State University Athletics
49ers host Cal Poly Thursday, travel to Northridge Saturday
1/4/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2012
THE 49ERS ON THE INTERNET: Rob Brender provides play-by-play for the third consecutive season, while Kevin McConnell adds color commentary for home games. All games can be heard on longbeachstate.com.
49ERS HOST CAL POLY IN BIG WEST HOME OPENER: Long Beach State returns home Thursday for its Big West Conference home opener against Cal Poly. The 49ers will look to move to 2-0 in league play after winning at UC Irvine, 77-60, on Monday. Cal Poly opened league action Monday with a loss, 58-57, at home to UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos used a 3-pointer by Orlando Johnson with five seconds to go to steal the victory.
49ERS RIDING 14-GAME HOME WINNING STREAK: Long Beach State will take a 14-game home winning streak into Thursday night's game against Cal Poly. The 49ers have started the 2011-12 season with four straight wins after ending the 2010-11 season with 10 home wins in a row. LBSU has won the 14 games by an average of 12.9 points, while winning this season's four home games by an average of 19 points per game.
49ERS FACE NATION'S TOUGHEST NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR: Long Beach State's 2011-12 non-league schedule ranked as the toughest in the country for the third straight season. LBSU ended a run to conference action that saw the 49ers play five teams currently ranked in both of the two major polls, including two teams ranked in the top 10 of the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The 49ers' schedule earned realtimerpi.com's nod as the top-ranked strength of schedule on Dec. 30 before league play started. The 49ers also enter the Cal Poly game with a RPI of 16 according to the website (as of 1/3/12).
ROBINSON ESTABLISHES 1,000-POINT, 1,000-REBOUNDS CLUB: T.J. Robinson grabbed his 1,000th career rebound Monday night at UC Irvine to become the first Long Beach State player to ever score 1,000 points and pull down 1,000 rebounds in a career. Robinson, who has 1,480 points and 1,002 rebounds, is just the fourth player in Big West history to reach the double-milestone. He joins Tony Neal (Cal State Fullerton), Stacey Augmon (UNLV) and Greg Grant (Utah State).
ROBINSON CLOSING IN ON 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 the Cal Poly game as the fourth all-time rebounder in conference history after passing Pacific's Ron Cornelius in Hawaii. Robinson has 1,002 career rebounds, and needs 114 more to break the league record of 1,115 rebounds held by Tony Neal (Cal State Fullerton). He needs two more rebounds to pass Greg Grant (Utah State) for third and four more to pass Stacey Augmon (UNLV) for second all-time.
ROBINSON SETS LBSU CAREER REBOUNDING RECORD: T.J. Robinson became the Long Beach State all-time leading rebounder on Nov. 22 against Boise State. He has run his career total to 1,002 boards, 106 more than Francois Wise (1976-80), the former record holder. He is the first 49er in history to surpass the 1,000-rebound plateau.
ROBINSON CLIMBING LBSU CAREER CHARTS IN POINTS, FIELD GOALS MADE AND FREE THROWS MADE: Besides ranking as the greatest rebounder in school history, T.J. Robinson is also among the Long Beach State all-time leaders in points, field goals made and free throws made. Robinson passed Craig Hodges (1978-82) for sixth all-time on the all-time scoring list in Monday's game at UC Irvine. He trails teammate Casper Ware for fifth by six points, while needing 48 points to pass Ramel Lloyd (1998-01) for fourth on the scoring list.
Robinson also heads into the Cal Poly game sixth all-time in field goals made with 566 and needs to make five more to pass Lloyd for fifth. He is fifth on the all-time free throws made list with 339 after passing Michael Wiley (1976-80) in Hawaii. He trails teammates Larry Anderson by seven and Casper Ware by 54 for fourth and third, respectively.
ROBINSON HAS 15 CAREER 20-POINT GAMES: T.J. Robinson has 15 career 20-point games. The senior forward had a career-high 31 points in one game, 25 points in five games, 24 points in two games, 22 points in four games, 21 points in one game and 20 points in two games. His career high of 31 came at North Carolina last year.
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 is 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 is currently averaging 12.1 points and 10.1 rebounds, while Gaston is averaging 16.7 points and 11.3 rebounds. (as of 1/3/12)
ROBINSON NAMED BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK: T.J. Robinson was named the Big West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week on Nov. 28 after becoming Long Beach State's all-time leading rebounder. The conference player of the week award was the fourth of his career. Robinson averaged 21.5 points and 13 rebounds per game, while making 75 percent (15-of-20) of his field goal attempts and 72.2 percent (13-of-18) of his free throws. Robinson finished the week with double-doubles against both Boise State and Montana, the 40th and 41st double-doubles of his career. He scored 18 points, on 8-of-9 shooting, and grabbed 13 rebounds in the 49ers 72-62 win over Boise State. He followed with 25 points and 13 boards at Montana, where he made 7-of-11 field goals and matched a career-high making 11-of-12 free throws.
ROBINSON HAS 44 CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLES, INCLUDING SIX ALREADY THIS SEASON: T.J. Robinson added another double-double at UC Irvine to run his career total to 44, including six this year. He had 16 double-doubles as a junior, 17 during his sophomore season and five as a freshman. 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 44 double-doubles in just 104 games. Robinson also has 11 games in which he has had at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. Robinson has 49 games with double-digit rebounds during his career.
WARE NEEDS 30 ASSISTS TO BECOME SCHOOL'S ALL-TIME LEADER, WHILE ALSO CRACKING THE TOP 10 IN BIG WEST HISTORY: Casper Ware heads into the Cal Poly game with 478 career assists and needs to hand out just 30 more to become the all-time leader at LBSU. Billy Walker (1984-88) is the current career leader with 507. Walker also ranks 10th all-time in the Big West, so Ware will move into the conference's all-time top 10 when he becomes the school's assist leader. Ware is currently 12th in Big West history and needs 20 to pass UNLV's Freddie Banks for 11th.
WARE CLOSING IN ON SECOND IN CAREER STEALS AT LBSU: Casper Ware grabbed four steals in Long Beach State's conference opener at UC Irvine on Monday to move his career total to 182 steals. The 49er point guard needs six more to pass Morlon Wiley (1984-88) for second all-time, while needing just 19 more to pass Lucious Harris (1989-93) for the most in LBSU history.
WARE MOVES INTO TOP 5 IN CAREER SCORING AT LBSU: Casper Ware continues to climb the top 10 in all-time scoring at Long Beach State. The 49er senior moved into fifth place during the conference opener at UC Irvine on Monday, passing Craig Hodges (1978-82). He has scored 1,486 career points and needs to score 42 more to pass Ramel Lloyd (1998-01) for fourth all-time. He leads teammate T.J. Robinson by six points heading into the Cal Poly game.
WARE NEEDS TO MAKE FOUR FREE THROWS TO MOVE INTO SOLE POSSESSION OF SECOND IN LBSU CAREER RECORD BOOKS: Casper Ware has made 393 free throws during his career to rank third all-time at LBSU. The senior guard needs to make just four vs. Cal Poly Thursday to pass James Cotton (1993-97) for second all-time. Lucious Harris (1989-93) is the all-time leader with 549 free throws.
WARE SEVENTH IN CAREER 3-POINTERS MADE, ALSO CLIMBING RECORD BOOKS IN 3-POINT ATTEMPTS AND FIELD GOALS MADE: Casper Ware heads into this weekend's games with 149 career 3-pointers, ranking seventh in school history. Ware needs to make eight more to pass James Cotton (1993-97) and Rod Hannibal (1991-94) for fifth on the all-time list. He also ranks fifth in 3-point field goals attempted with 440. The 49er guard moved into ninth in field goals made at UC Irvine with 472 field goals made. He needs to make 18 more to pass Francois Wise (1976-80) for eighth all-time.
WARE HAS SCORED IN DOUBLE DIGITS IN 32 OF LAST 33 GAMES: Casper Ware's streak of consecutive games with double-digit points was snapped at 22 on Nov. 22 against Boise State. The Broncos held Ware to five points on 1-of-9 shooting to end the streak. Ware had scored over 20 points in each of LBSU's first three games, after finishing the 2010-11 season scoring in double-digits in LBSU's final 19 games. During the 22-game streak, Ware scored at least 20 points 13 times, including a then career-high 28 at Pitt. During the stretch, he averaged 20.5 points per game. Ware has rebounded with 10 straight double-digit games at Montana, at No. 6 Louisville, vs. BYU-Hawaii, at No. 13 Kansas, at No. 4 North Carolina (career-high 29 points), vs. Eastern New Mexico, vs. No. 14 Xavier, vs. Auburn, vs. Kansas State and at UC Irvine to give him 32 double-digit scoring games in his last 33 games.
WARE GETS 21ST CAREER GAME WITH 20 POINTS AT NORTH CAROLINA: Casper Ware scored a career-high 29 points at North Carolina to mark the 21st time during his career the senior point guard had scored at least 20 points in a game.
WARE LOOKING TO BECOME FIRST PLAYER IN LBSU HISTORY WITH 100 ASSISTS IN FOUR STRAIGHT SEASONS: 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, joined 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, third 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 LBSU. 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 NAMED BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR SECOND TIME THIS SEASON: Senior Casper Ware was named the Big West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week after nearly leading Long Beach State to a pair of upset wins at No. 13 Kansas and No. 4 North Carolina in early December. The conference player of the week award was his second of the season and the fourth of his career. Ware averaged 22.5 points, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game while shooting 43.8 percent from 3-point range. Ware scored a career-high 29 points, including 21 of LBSU's 45 first-half points, on 12-of-24 shooting at North Carolina, while handing out five assists. He finished with 16 points and four steals at Kansas.
Ware earned his first player of the week honor after leading LBSU to an upset of No. 9 Pittsburgh on Nov. 16 when he scored 28 points, then a career high, and an overtime loss at San Diego State. For the week, Ware averaged 27 points, six assists and three rebounds per game. His efforts also earned him the College Sports Madness Mid-Major Player of the Week and the Lou Hensen Award Player of the Week.
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.
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 AND ANDERSON NAMED TO LOU HENSON PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA TEAM: Seniors Larry Anderson and Casper Ware were named to the 2011-12 Lou Henson Preseason All-America Team. Ware and Anderson were among the 25 players named to the team which honors the top Mid-Major players in the country. The 49er duo was the only pair of teammates on the team, as well as being the only players from a Big West Conference school to be honored.
ANDERSON BECOMES ONE OF JUST THREE PLAYERS IN SCHOOL HISTORY WITH 1,000 POINTS, 500 REBOUNDS AND 300 ASSISTS: Larry Anderson joined two of the all-time greats at Long Beach State when he grabbed his 500th rebound, making him just the third player in school history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists. Anderson joined Lucious Harris (1989-93) and Ed Ratleff (1970-73) in the exclusive club.
ANDERSON MOVES INTO NINTH IN CAREER ASSISTS AT LBSU: Larry Anderson became just the 12th player in Long Beach State history to hand out 300 career assists when the 49er senior reached the milestone at Kansas. Anderson now has 319 assists, passing Dale Dillon (1973-77) and Rick Aberegg (1972-74) to move into ninth all-time at LBSU. He needs seven more to pass Bobby Sears (1988-92) for eighth. Anderson also became just the sixth 49er to ever score 1,000 career points and dish out 300 career assists, joining Craig Hodges, Casper Ware, Morlon Wiley, Ed Ratleff and Lucious Harris.
ANDERSON CRACKS TOP 10 IN CAREER SCORING AT LBSU: Larry Anderson moved into 10th all-time in scoring at Long Beach State when he passed Francois Wise (1976-80) during the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii. Anderson heads into the Cal Poly game with 1,323 points and trails Morlon Wiley (1984-88) by 107 points for ninth place and James Cotton (1993-97) by 129 points for eighth place. Anderson's teammates Casper Ware (1,486 points) and T.J. Robinson (1,480 points) sit in fifth and sixth place, respectively.
ANDERSON AMONG CAREER LEADERS IN STEALS AND FREE THROWS MADE: Larry Anderson is also among the all-time leaders in both steals and free throws made at LBSU. Anderson sits in fifth in steals with 170 during his career, while ranking fourth in free throws made with 346. Anderson has a legitimate chance to become the all-time steals leader at LBSU. He needs just 30 more 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 12 ahead of Anderson. He is also just the ninth player in school history to make 300 free throws in his career.
ANDERSON ALSO CLOSING IN ON CAREER LEADERS IN THREE OTHER CATEGORIES: In addition to already ranking among the all-time LBSU leaders in four categories, Larry Anderson should also join the all-time school leaders in rebounds and field goals and could join the list in blocked shots. He needs 58 rebounds and 14 field goals to crack the top 10 in each of those categories. Anderson also needs 13 blocks to move into the top 10.
ANDERSON NAMED BIG WEST CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR SECOND TIME THIS SEASON, SIXTH TIME IN CAREER: Senior Larry Anderson earned his second Big West Conference Player of the Week honor, and the sixth of his career, after averaging 14.8 points, 4. 8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game in LBSU's games against Eastern New Mexico and at the Diamond Head Classic. Anderson led LBSU to three wins in four games, including victories at the Diamond Head Classic over No. 14 Xavier and Auburn, while making 57.1 percent of his field goal attempts and 53.8 percent of his 3-pointers. He earned a spot on the all-tournament team in Hawaii after averaging 15 points, four rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game.
Anderson's first player of the week honor this season came after he led Long Beach State to a season-opening win over Idaho. Anderson scored 16 points and matched a career-high with seven assists in LBSU's 69-61 win over the Vandals. The 49er guard made all four of his field goal attempts, while canning a career-high three 3-pointers, in 27 minutes of action. He also went 5-for-6 from the free throw line, grabbed two rebounds and had a steal.
ANDERSON NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM AT DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC: Larry Anderson was named to the Diamond Head Classic All-Tournament Team after LBSU finished the three-game tournament in second place with a 2-1 record. Anderson joined MVP Rodney McGruder (Kansas State), Zane Johnson (Hawaii), Michael Perez (UTEP) and Jamar Samuels (Kansas State) on the all-tournament team. Anderson averaged 15.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game, while making 53.8 percent (14-of-26) of his shots. He also went 6-of-10 (60 percent) from three. Anderson opened the tournament by scoring 12 points, handing out three assists and grabbing three steals in a win over No. 14 Xavier. He followed that effort with a team-high 16 points, on 5-of-6 shooting, and three rebounds in a win over Auburn. He finished the tournament with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists, while making 3-of-6 threes in the championship game against Kansas State. Anderson has been named to four all-tournament teams during his career at Long Beach State. He earned all-tournament honors at the Paradise Jam Tournament in the Virgin Islands last year, and has been a member of the all-tournament team at the last two Big West Conference Tournaments.
ANDERSON MATCHES CAREER HIGH WITH 25 POINTS AT SAN DIEGO STATE: Larry Anderson scored 25 points at San Diego State on 8-of-13 shooting to tie his career high. Anderson had scored 25 points twice before during his career. As a freshman, he scored 25 points at UC Riverside on 10-of-17 shooting, and then as a junior he had 25 points on 9-of-10 shooting in a win at UC Santa Barbara. During his four years at LBSU, Anderson has 13 games with at least 20 points.
PHELPS MOVES INTO SIXTH AT LBSU IN BLOCKED SHOTS: Eugene Phelps moved into a sixth all-time in blocked shots at LBSU when he passed Mark Dawson (2005-07) with a block against No. 14 Xavier in the Diamond Head Classic. He now has 70 career blocks after blocking one shot at UC Irvine.
PHELPS NEEDS FOUR BOARDS TO MOVE INTO NINTH IN CAREER REBOUNDING AT LBSU: Eugene Phelps, who moved into the top 10 in career rebounding at Long Beach State during the 49ers appearance in the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii over Christmas, needs four rebounds against Cal Poly on Thursday to pass Bryon Russell (1990-93) for ninth on the LBSU career list. He can pass Kevin Roberts (2000-04) for eighth with nine boards against the Mustangs.
PHELPS NEEDS 179 POINTS TO JOIN TEAMMATES ANDERSON, ROBINSON AND WARE IN LBSU 1,000-POINT CLUB: Eugene Phelps has scored 121 points in the 49ers' first 14 games of the season and now needs just 179 points to become the sixth player in the Dan Monson era to score 1,000 career points at Long Beach State. The 49er forward will look to join current teammates Casper Ware (1,486) T.J. Robinson (1,480), and Larry Anderson (1,323) 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.
FOUR 49ERS RANK AMONG BIG WEST'S ACTIVE LEADERS, INCLUDING LEAGUE LEADERS IN POINTS, REBOUNDS, ASSISTS AND STEALS: Long Beach State players are the active Big West leaders in points, rebounds, assists, steals, field goals made, free throws made and minutes played. Casper Ware is the active leader in five categories--points, assists, steals, free throws made and minutes. He has 1,486 career points to lead teammate T.J. Robinson by six. Ware has 478 career assists and leads teammate Larry Anderson by 159. Ware leads Anderson in career steals by 12, 182 to 170, and has played 357 more career minutes than Robinson.
Robinson leads two categories--rebounds and field goals made. Robinson has also scored 1,480 points in three-plus seasons. Robinson has 1,002 career rebounds and leads teammate Eugene Phelps by 438 boards, while making 556 field goals, 94 more than Ware. 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.
ENNIS ADDS ANOTHER SCORING THREAT TO 49ER LINEUP: Junior James Ennis has given Long Beach State a fifth scoring option after transferring to LBSU from Ventura College. The 49er wing is averaging 9.1 points per game, while making 48.4 percent (45-of-93) of his shots through 14 games. He is also averaging 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Ennis has scored in double figures five times with a season-high 19 points in a win at No. 9 Pitt, while adding a pair of 16-point games against Boise State and at Kansas, a team-high 15 points vs. Eastern New Mexico and a 12-point game at Louisville. The junior has handed out six assists twice (at Pitt, vs. Boise State) and had six steals at Kansas and five steals at Pitt.
FRESHMAN CAFFEY PLAYING LIKE A VETERAN POINT GUARD, AVERAGING LESS THAN ONE TURNOVER EVERY 22 MINUTES: Freshman Mike Caffey has been more than just a backup to senior Casper Ware at the point guard position. The Riverside native has been so solid that coaches have moved Ware to the shooting guard position for long stretches and allowed Caffey to run the team. The freshman is averaging 20.6 minutes per game, and has played at least 20 minutes in nine separate games (and the last six) including a season-high 30 minutes against Kansas State in the championship game of the Diamond Head Classic, 27 at UC Irvine, 25 minutes in the season opener against Idaho and 24 at North Carolina. For the season, Caffey is averaging 6.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game, but more impressively boasts a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio. He has handed out 21 assists in 14 games, while turning the ball over just 13 times in 288 minutes--one turnover every 22.1 minutes. Caffey has scored at least six points in 11 of LBSU's games, including a season-high 14 points in a win over No. 14 Xavier and 10 points in the conference opener at UC Irvine. He had a season-best four assists at Louisville in 16 minutes of action and grabbed a season-high nine rebounds in 30 minutes against K-State.
CAFFEY PUTS TOGETHER STRONG SHOWING AT DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC; SCORES IN DOUBLE FIGURES FOR FIRST TIME AGAINST XAVIER AND NEARLY REACHES DOUBLE DIGITS IN REBOUNDING VS. K-STATE: Mike Caffey scored a season-high and team-best 14 points in the Diamond Head Classic opener to push LBSU to a 68-58 win over No. 14 Xavier. Caffey continued his strong effort in the tournament against Auburn (six points, four rebounds) before grabbing a season-high nine boards to go with eight points against Kansas State in the championship game. During the three-game tournament, Caffey averaged 9.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game, while making 12-of-18 shots (66.7 percent). He had five offensive rebounds in the K-State game, as well.
49ERS HAVE WON FIVE OF EIGHT BIG WEST CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS: It was an award winning November and December for Long Beach State players as three 49ers combined to win five of the eight Big West Conference Player of the Week honors handed out, including five of the six that LBSU had a nominee (The 49ers didn't have games the weeks of Dec. 19 and Dec. 30 winners). Larry Anderson started the run for LBSU winning the honor on Nov. 15 after leading LBSU to a season-opening win over Idaho. Casper Ware won the next week after scoring 28 points in a win over No. 9 Pittsburgh and 26 in an overtime loss at San Diego State. T.J. Robinson became the third 49er to claim the honor in as many weeks on Nov. 28 after he became LBSU's all-time leading rebounder. Ware added his second award on Dec. 12 after averaging 22.5 points per game, including a career-high 29 points against the Tar Heels, in games at Kansas and North Carolina. Anderson claimed his second of the season last week after being named to the all-tournament team at the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu. In all, current LBSU players have won 15 career Big West Conference Player of the Week honors with Anderson leading the way with six, Ware and Robinson each winning four, and Eugene Phelps claiming one.
49ERS NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE RANKS AS THE TOUGHEST IN THE COUNTRY; INCLUDED GAMES AGAINST SIX TEAMS RANKED IN LATEST POLLS: Long Beach State's 2011-12 non-league schedule is one that was unmatched according to realtimerpi.com. The website ranked LBSU's strength of schedule heading into conference play as the toughest in the country. The 49ers also had the nation's top rated non-conference schedule the previous two seasons according to a couple websites. LBSU ended a run to conference action that saw the 49ers play five teams currently ranked in both of the two major polls, including two ranked in the top 10 of the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Long Beach State played No. 3/4 (AP/ESPN) North Carolina, No. 11/10 Louisville, No. 14/15 Kansas, No. 23/22 Kansas State, No. 24/25 San Diego State, and Xavier (receiving votes in both polls) in the first two months of the season. LBSU also beat then No. 9 Pitt in early November. The 49ers 11 Division I non-conference opponents have combined to win 75.2 percent (115-38) of their games through Jan. 3, with every team boasting a winning record except Idaho, which is 7-7. Eight of the 11 already have at least 10 wins.
49ERS CLAIM SECOND WIN OVER RANKED TEAM IN 2011-12; MOST WINS` OVER RANKED TEAM SINCE 1992-93 SEASON: Long Beach State's win over No. 14 Xavier in the first round of the Diamond Head Classic was the 49ers' second win over a ranked team this season. Earlier this season, LBSU handed No. 9 Pittsburgh an 86-76 defeat on the Panthers' home court. The two wins over ranked teams mark the first time since the 1992-93 season that LBSU has defeated a pair of teams in the Top 25. The 49ers beat four ranked teams that season, knocking off No. 12 UNLV, No. 1 Kansas, No. 19 UNLV and No. 24 New Mexico State.
49ERS WIN AT PITT ONE FOR THE LBSU RECORD BOOKS: Long Beach State's win over No. 9 Pittsburgh on Nov. 16 made news for a number of reasons. The win was the first ever for the 49ers over a team from the Big East Conference. LBSU had a combined record of 0-7 against teams from the Big East before claiming the win over Pitt. The 49ers, who were 0-3 against Big East teams in the Dan Monson era heading into Pittsburgh, have losses to Georgetown (0-3), Syracuse (0-2), Notre Dame (0-1) and West Virginia (0-1). Long Beach State does own wins against Marquette (2-4) and Cincinnati (1-0), but those came before either team joined the Big East. The 49ers loss at Louisville on Nov. 28 dropped its record to 1-8.
The 49ers win also marked the first win by an LBSU team over a ranked team since beating No. 25 New Mexico State 84-83 on Feb. 24, 1994, and it was the highest ranked opponent LBSU beat since handing No. 1 Kansas a 64-49 loss on Jan. 25, 1993. It was the sixth win ever for a 49er team against a top 10 team, as well as the sixth highest-ranked opponent LBSU has ever beat. Long Beach State's win was also just the second over Pitt by a non-Big East team in the history of the Petersen Events Center.
