LOS ANGELES – Despite a huge night from Dan Jennings, the Long Beach State men’s basketball team just couldn’t keep up with UCLA over the final ten minutes Tuesday night’s game at Pauley Pavilion.
The ‘Niners (4-7) trailed by only seven with nine minutes to play, but the Bruins (8-3) pulled away to earn an 89-70 victory.
Jennings scored a career-high 27 points to go with six rebounds for the Beach while shooting a sizzling 13-of-15 from the field, but said the stats mean nothing without a win.
However, the junior forward also said that he is beginning to get into a rhythm in his first year at Long Beach State.
“I feel much more comfortable,” he said. “I trust my teammates more. We’re going to get better.”
LBSU head coach Dan Monson agreed, saying he notices Jennings’ comfort level rising.
“I think he’s slowing down and getting comfortable,” Monson said. “It takes transfers a while to do that. I thought he did a really nice job.”
Senior guard James Ennis added 20 points for the Beach to go along with six rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal.
Both Jennings and Ennis had to spend some time on the bench during the UCLA run due to foul trouble. Ennis picked up his fourth with 9:25 to go and Jennings did the same just over a minute later.
Monson said he is unhappy with the way the team has played early in games, routinely creating situations where it is playing from behind.
“We start out (down) 13-4 and, they never felt us,” he said. “[The Bruins] were always comfortable, and going into league that’s really scary. Our first four minutes, for the year, right to the D-II games, has been a stat that I probably don’t want to see. We start out every game down nine or ten, and you can’t do that on the road.”
Freshman guard Jordan Adams led four Bruins in double-figures with 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
Shabazz Muhammad got the job done from all over the floor en route to 21 points. The freshman got the UCLA run started with six points in less than a minute which brought the lead back to double-digits at 11.
Senior guard Larry Drew II tacked on 14 for the Bruins to go with a game-high nine assists. Drew is third in the nation averaging 8.3 dimes per contest.
UCLA outshot The Beach 58.9 to 48.3 percent on the night. The Bruins also shot 50 percent from long range, connecting on eight of 16 3-point attempts.
The 49ers, who have been using a seven-man rotation since the second game of the season, took one step toward gaining some depth as Edgar Garibay became eligible before the contest with the Bruins. Keala King and Tony Freeland are expected to be cleared later this week.
LBSU returns to the court on Dec. 29 when it hosts Pacific (5-5) in the Big West Conference opener at 4:05 p.m.