ANAHEIM — The Long Beach State men’s basketball team stepped right over the vastly out-matched UC Davis Aggies in its first round game in the Big West Conference tournament Thursday night at Honda Center.
The top-seeded 49ers took controlled the contest from start to finish, cruising to an 80-46 wire-to-wire victory over the 8th-seeded Aggies.
The game saw no lead changes or ties, as the ‘Niners jumped out to an early 14-6 lead and never looked back. LBSU head coach Dan Monson said the first game of tournaments like these are always the toughest.
“The first game [in Big West tournament] is always a lot of apprehension,” he said. “And just to get that first win over with is huge.”
Monson added: “Especially when you’ve started the same lineup for 30-some games, and then all of a sudden you’re starting the tournament with a new lineup for the first time.”
LBSU didn’t miss Anderson much in this game, however, as senior forward Eugene Phelps did his usual damage against the Aggies (5-26).
Phelps finished with 18 points on 8 of 12 shooting, including five rebounds and two assists. Phelps also joined the 49ers 1,000-point club on the evening.
“My teammates just look for me [against Davis] and I just finish,” he said. “It feels great [scoring 1,000 points] of the fab-four I finally got to 1,000.”
Monson said that they always try to expose the inside advantage they hold over the Aggies.
“We emphasize trying to get the ball inside,” he said. “They’re [Davis] more of a perimeter oriented team, and Eugene has really taken advantage of that over the years.”
LBSU played inside-out for much of the contest, taking advantage of exactly what Monson wanted them to.
The Beach out-scored Davis 38-16 in points in the paint, and they out-rebounded the Aggies 39-28, including pulling down 16 offensive boards.
Overall, the 49ers played a clean game, turning the ball over just six times while forcing Davis into 20 turnovers. The ‘Niners capitalized on the Aggies mistakes, scoring 31 points off of them.
Freshman guard Mike Caffey got the first start of his collegiate career in the absence of the injured senior Larry Anderson. Caffey said he wanted to focus defensively to help his team get a win.
“Mainly just [focus on] defense,” he said. “Larry’s a scorer, I try to come in and look on the offensive side, but mainly defense.”
Caffey added: “Defense turned into offense and we got out breaks, and finished.”
The LBSU defense held the Aggies to just 34.7 percent shooting (17 of 49), including 27.8 percent (5 of 18) from 3-point range.
The 49ers connected on 47.6 percent of their field goal attempts (30 of 63) on the evening, including 38.9 percent (7 of 18) from behind the arc.
Senior forward T.J. Robinson scored 12 points on 4 of 10 shooting, while pulling down eight rebounds. Senior guard Casper Ware, junior wing James Ennis, and junior guard Peter Pappageorge each pitched in 11 points.
Senior guard Eddie Miller was the only Aggie to score in double figures on the night. Miller scored 17 points on 7 of 21 shooting. UC Davis’ second-leading scorer, sophomore Josh Ritchart was held scoreless for the game, missing both of his shot attempts.
Monson said he thought his team responded well to the lineup change and the sudden loss of Anderson.
“I was very pleased with their focus, and how we came out with a business-like approach,” he said. “They got it done, and it’s on to the next one, and that’s our mindset now.”
The 49ers will play 7th-seeded UC Irvine on Friday at 6:30 p.m. in the semi-finals of the Big West tournament. The Anteaters upset second-seeded Cal State Fullerton, 65-59, in the quarterfinals on Thursday.