Growing pains continued for the Long Beach State men’s basketball team this weekend as it lost by a combined 65 points on the road to No. 4 Syracuse and No. 7 Ohio State.
The 49ers (3-6) fell 84-53 to the Orange (7-0) on Thursday and 89-55 to the Buckeyes (6-1) on Saturday.
Potentially more crucial than the losses on the scoreboard, however, may have been the loss of sophomore point guard Mike Caffey, who left Saturday’s game early in the second half with an injury.
On Thursday, there was no answer for the size and length of Syracuse, as one of the best zone defenses in the country kept the ‘Niners in check all night.
The lone bright spot for LBSU was the play of junior forward Dan Jennings, who tallied a career-high 20 points to go along with seven rebounds. Jennings also connected on six free-throws, the most he has made in any game this season.
The nation’s leading assist man, sophomore guard Michael Carter-Williams, paced the Orange with 15 points and 10 dimes. Junior forward C.J. Fair’s 16 points led Syracuse, which finished the game with five players in double digits in points.
Syracuse led by 20 at the half, and The Beach was unable to come back after the break.
On Saturday morning in Ohio, LBSU did a decent job of keeping the contest close in the first half but allowed the Buckeyes to score 50 in the second.
Jennings led The Beach again with 16 points and eight boards.
Senior guard James Ennis scored 12 for the 49ers, extending his streak of double-digit scoring to 14 games.
Ohio State was led by the nation’s 16th leading scorer, junior forward Deshaun Thomas, who compiled 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting.
The Beach returns to the court Saturday when it hosts BYU-Hawaii (4-3) at 4:05 p.m.