Long Beach State men's basketball coach Dan Monson wouldn't say the two-game road trip his team begins tonight is its most vital of the season when asked about it Tuesday after practice. But he came close.
"I think you never know the importance because you have over half your season left," said Monson, whose team plays Big West Conference games tonight at 7 at Cal Poly and Saturday at 8 at UC Santa Barbara (on ESPNU).
"I think as a competitor, what it is is a fun week because you know that you're playing two teams that are the top of the league and as a competitor you want to play against the best and have success.
"And the league has come down to us and Santa Barbara for a couple of years now and so we know the road through winning the regular season or winning the league tournament is going to come down through them because they've proven that."
Senior guard Larry Anderson put his spin on it.
"These are probably two of the toughest teams, you know, better teams in our league," he said. "Getting these two would put us in first and would give us a lot of confidence as far as winning the rest of the league."
Actually, the 49ers (12-6, 5-0) are already in first - a half-game ahead of somewhat surprising UC Riverside (4-1 Big West) - so winning both games would keep them there. Cal Poly is 11-7 overall and 2-3 in conference and UCSB is 8-6, 3-1.
What Long Beach must guard against is looking past tonight and
ahead to Santa Barbara because the Gauchos prevented the 49ers from going to the NCAA Tournament the past two years by beating them in the conference tournament championship game. Monson said he isn't concerned about that because his team edged Cal Poly just 55-50 Jan. 5 at the Walter Pyramid.
"Well, I don't think I have to make sure of that because I think Cal Poly made sure of that when they came in here and played us to a five-point game," Monson said. "I think they did that job for me.
"I don't think there's any way our players walked into that locker room after that game and said, `Oh, OK, well now we can look past them when we go to Santa Barbara. It was a war here and now we've gotta go to their place."
Perhaps most difficult about handling Cal Poly is the tempo it likes to play at. Whereas the 49ers prefer a fast-paced game, the Mustangs want the opposite. Long Beach is averaging 73 points, Cal Poly 62.4.
"I think the biggest thing we've gotta concentrate on first and foremost is a good start," Monson said. "They're so much about dictating tempo and when they get ahead they're a whole different team and that's what they did at our place here and it was back and forth.
"We've gotta take control of the game and try to get it at our pace."
The Mustangs led by as many as nine points in the first half Jan. 5. They were paced by Will Taylor, a 6-foot-7, 230-
pound senior forward who scored 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds.
He averages 10.2 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds.
Ware thanks teammate
Senior guard Casper Ware leads the team in scoring with a 16.4 average. But he's shooting just 38.6 percent from the field, including 31.5 from 3-point range. He struggled from distance in the 49ers' 76-66 victory over Pacific on Saturday, making three of 10 from beyond the arc.
But he was Mr. Clutch when it counted most. With his team trailing 60-57, Ware sank a 3-pointer from well beyond the top of the key. He was fouled and made a four-point play that gave the 49ers a 61-60 lead with 3:31 to play. Long Beach never trailed again.
Afterward, Ware was asked if that particular shot felt good as it was released.
"A lot of them felt good today, but they weren't falling," said Ware, who led the way with 20 points. "(Senior forward) T.J. (Robinson) kept telling me, `Keep shooting them, they're going to fall; we need you.' That boosted my confidence even more to hit that shot."
"I think you never know the importance because you have over half your season left," said Monson, whose team plays Big West Conference games tonight at 7 at Cal Poly and Saturday at 8 at UC Santa Barbara (on ESPNU).
"I think as a competitor, what it is is a fun week because you know that you're playing two teams that are the top of the league and as a competitor you want to play against the best and have success.
"And the league has come down to us and Santa Barbara for a couple of years now and so we know the road through winning the regular season or winning the league tournament is going to come down through them because they've proven that."
Senior guard Larry Anderson put his spin on it.
"These are probably two of the toughest teams, you know, better teams in our league," he said. "Getting these two would put us in first and would give us a lot of confidence as far as winning the rest of the league."
Actually, the 49ers (12-6, 5-0) are already in first - a half-game ahead of somewhat surprising UC Riverside (4-1 Big West) - so winning both games would keep them there. Cal Poly is 11-7 overall and 2-3 in conference and UCSB is 8-6, 3-1.
What Long Beach must guard against is looking past tonight and
<hr class="articleAdRule">ahead to Santa Barbara because the Gauchos prevented the 49ers from going to the NCAA Tournament the past two years by beating them in the conference tournament championship game. Monson said he isn't concerned about that because his team edged Cal Poly just 55-50 Jan. 5 at the Walter Pyramid.
"Well, I don't think I have to make sure of that because I think Cal Poly made sure of that when they came in here and played us to a five-point game," Monson said. "I think they did that job for me.
"I don't think there's any way our players walked into that locker room after that game and said, `Oh, OK, well now we can look past them when we go to Santa Barbara. It was a war here and now we've gotta go to their place."
Perhaps most difficult about handling Cal Poly is the tempo it likes to play at. Whereas the 49ers prefer a fast-paced game, the Mustangs want the opposite. Long Beach is averaging 73 points, Cal Poly 62.4.
"I think the biggest thing we've gotta concentrate on first and foremost is a good start," Monson said. "They're so much about dictating tempo and when they get ahead they're a whole different team and that's what they did at our place here and it was back and forth.
"We've gotta take control of the game and try to get it at our pace."
The Mustangs led by as many as nine points in the first half Jan. 5. They were paced by Will Taylor, a 6-foot-7, 230-
pound senior forward who scored 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds.
He averages 10.2 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds.
Ware thanks teammate
Senior guard Casper Ware leads the team in scoring with a 16.4 average. But he's shooting just 38.6 percent from the field, including 31.5 from 3-point range. He struggled from distance in the 49ers' 76-66 victory over Pacific on Saturday, making three of 10 from beyond the arc.
But he was Mr. Clutch when it counted most. With his team trailing 60-57, Ware sank a 3-pointer from well beyond the top of the key. He was fouled and made a four-point play that gave the 49ers a 61-60 lead with 3:31 to play. Long Beach never trailed again.
Afterward, Ware was asked if that particular shot felt good as it was released.
"A lot of them felt good today, but they weren't falling," said Ware, who led the way with 20 points. "(Senior forward) T.J. (Robinson) kept telling me, `Keep shooting them, they're going to fall; we need you.' That boosted my confidence even more to hit that shot."
