After two consecutive road losses, the Long Beach State men’s basketball team looked happy to be home Friday night.
The ‘Niners defeated BYU-Hawaii, 79-43, at the Walter Pyramid to maintain its perfect record of 3-0 at home this season.
A 15-3 LBSU run to open the second half quickly took away any thought of a Seasiders upset. The 49ers (4-3) never looked back, and closed out with the convincing 36-point victory.
Leading by just four at halftime, 32-28, the ‘Niners picked up the defensive intensity in the second period. The Beach forced BYUH (1-5) into 23 turnovers for the game, and capitalized on the offensive end to the tune of 29 points off turnovers.
Despite the large margin of victory, LBSU head coach Dan Monson said he is weary of these types of games.
“I’ve never been this frustrated with a 36-point win,” he said, “This team has got to be more consistent of their identity. We need to play the same on every possession, whether we’re up 10, or down 10.”
The ‘Niners had four players score in double figures on the night with senior guard Larry Anderson leading the way with 16 points on 5 of 9 shooting and 4 of 4 from three-point range, while also collecting five steals. Senior forward Eugene Phelps recorded a double-double, scoring 14 points on 5 of 10 shooting and grabbing 13 rebounds.
Senior forward T.J. Robinson recorded his fourth double-double of the season, scoring 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting and pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds. Senior guard Casper Ware scored 13 points on 4 of 8 shooting and 4 of 4 from the free throw line. Ware also came up with five steals and dished out four assists in only 28 minutes of play.
The Beach looked balanced offensively, but Monson wanted his team to focus more on the defensive end for this game.
“We really focused defensively,” he said. “We were so focused defensively that we were messy offensively; we had one goal and that was to keep them under 60 points.”
Phelps said the team’s second half surge was purely due to effort.
“Coach said at halftime that every time we play a weaker team we relax,” he said. “He told us to pick it up and play how we can play.”
The 49ers did just that, outscoring the Seasiders, 47-15, in the second half, and holding ‘Siders star senior Tsung-Hsien “Jet” Chang to just five points after the break and 16 for the game. Chang dropped 32 points on The Beach last season. No other player scored over five points for BYUH.
Anderson said the team was unhappy with their first half performance.
“Coach got on us, and we got on ourselves,” he said. “It was really embarrassing, but we came out and had a better second half.”
The ‘Niners can’t afford to have a slow start in their next two games because they are scheduled to face two schools who are perennial top 25 teams — No. 14-ranked Kansas and No. 5 North Carolina.
Phelps said in order for the 49ers to come out victorious in these games, they can’t succumb to the pressure.
“There’s pressure but we’ve been there before,” he said. “We just have to play hard, try and get the ‘W’ and see where we go.”
The Beach will hit the road to take on the Jayhawks at the historic Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday in Lawrence, Kan. The game can be seen on ESPNU at 6 p.m. (PT).
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