March 9, 2010

Complete Release in PDF Format

ROBINSON CLAIMS FIRST-TEAM ALL-BIG WEST HONORS; WARE NAMED TO SECOND TEAM: Long Beach State sophomores T.J. Robinson and Casper Ware have been named to the Big West All-Conference Team in a vote of the league's coaches.

Robinson earned first-team all-league honors, while Ware was named to the second team. Robinson (St. Thomas More Prep/West Haven. Conn.) claimed first-team recognition after leading Long Beach State in scoring (15.7 ppg) and rebounding (10.3 ppg). He finished the regular season as just one of just 20 Division I players to average a double-double, while leading the Big West with 17 double-doubles. The 49er forward scored more than 20 points seven times during the season, while finishing with 28 double-digit scoring games and 17 double-digit rebounding games. He also led the Big West Conference in rebounding, while finishing seventh in scoring and second in field goal percentage. Robinson ranks in the top 20 in the country in both rebounds per game and double-doubles. His 308 rebounds are the most by a 49er in the last 30 years and the sixth most all-time, while his 197 free throw attempts rank seventh in school history. He was an honorable mention all-league pick as a freshman, as well as being named to the Big West All-Freshman Team.

Ware (Gahr HS/Cerritos, Calif.) earned second-team accolades after averaging 11.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game. He finished the regular season with three 20-point games, 18 double-digit scoring games and one double-double. Ware led the Big West Conference is assists, while finishing second in steals, seventh in free throw percentage (.764) and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.60). His 147 assists are tied for the eighth most in a season at LBSU and his 57 steals rank ninth on the single season list. As a freshman he was named to the Big West All-Freshman Team.

T.J. Robinson ONE OF JUST 20 PLAYERS IN DIVISION I BASKETBALL AVERAGING A DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Long Beach State's T.J. Robinson is in exclusive company in Division I basketball. The LBSU sophomore is averaging 15.7 points and 10.3 rebounds and is just one of 20 players in Division I averaging a double-double. Robinson is joined in the small group by Artsiom Parakhouski (Radford), Kenneth Faried (Morehead State), Daniel Emerson (Mercer), Kevin Thompson (Morgan State), Damian Saunders (Duquesne), Chris Gaston (Fordham), Omar Samhan (St. Mary's), Al-Farouq Aminu (Wake Forest), Jarvis Varnado (Mississippi State), Herb Pope (Seton Hall), Lavoy Allen (Temple), Ryan Rossiter (Siena), Justin Rutty (Quinnipiac), George Odufuwa (North Texas), Damion Jones (Texas), Ben Stywall (UNC Greensboro), DeMarcus Cousins (Kentucky), Keith Benson (Oakland) and Jamine Peterson (Providence).

ROBINSON LEADS BEACH IN REBOUNDING AND SCORING; HAS SEVEN 20-POINT GAMES AND 17 DOUBLE-DOUBLES: Sophomore T.J. Robinson has shown he is one of the best players in the Big West Conference and that he has the ability to put up big numbers against the best of opponents. The West Haven, Conn. native, leads Long Beach State in rebounding (10.3 rpg/league leader) and scoring (15.7 ppg).

He has put together seven 20-point games this season and has a league-best 17 double-doubles. Robinson's 20-point games have come against Clemson (25 points), UCLA (25 points), Utah State (25 points), Loyola Marymount (22 points), Cal Poly (20 points), Idaho (22 points) and UC Davis (25 points). His double-doubles were against Alaska Anchorage (15 points/12 rebounds), Pepperdine (15 points/10 rebounds), Clemson (25 points/15 rebounds), UCLA (25 points/12 rebounds), Utah State (25 points/11 rebounds), Loyola Marymount (22 points/18 rebounds), Kentucky (13 points/15 rebounds), UC Riverside (16 points/10 rebounds), UC Santa Barbara (19 points/12 rebounds), Cal State Northridge (17 points/13 rebounds), UC Davis (10 points/13 rebounds), Cal State Fullerton (16 points/13 rebounds), Cal Poly (14 points/11 rebounds), UC Santa Barbara (12 points/15 rebounds), Idaho (22 points/15 rebounds) and UC Davis (25 points/12 rebounds). Robinson now has 11 20-point games during his career and 22 double-doubles.

ROBINSON HAS THREE DIFFERENT STREAKS OF THREE STRAIGHT DOUBLE-DOUBLES THIS SEASON: Three has been the magic number of Long Beach State forward T.J. Robinson. The 49er sophomore has put together three streaks of three straight double-doubles this season.

Robinson had his last three-game double-double streak snapped when he finished with 15 points and eight boards against Cal State Northridge on Feb. 6. Robinson started that streak with 17 points and 13 boards against Cal State Northridge on Jan. 28, then posted a 10 point-13 rebound game against UC Davis on Jan. 30 and had 16 points and 13 boards Feb. 4 against Cal State Fullerton.

Streaks of three straight double-doubles are nothing new for Robinson. He had a three-game streak of double-doubles (matching a career-best streak he set as a freshman last season) snapped when he had 13 points and seven rebounds against Cal State Monterey Bay on Dec. 12. Robinson immediately started another streak against Utah State and ran it back to three with double-doubles at Loyola Marymount and Kentucky before having it snapped with 10 points and nine rebounds at Duke on Dec. 29.

Robinson started the first streak with a pair of double-doubles in the 76 Classic over Thanksgiving weekend that earned him a spot on the all-tournament team. Robinson had 25 points and 15 rebounds (both career bests at the time) in a loss to No. 19 Clemson before scoring 25 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in a win over UCLA. Robinson stretched the double-double streak to three in LBSU's loss to No. 2 Texas when he had 12 points and 12 boards. He started the second streak with 25 boards and 11 rebounds against Utah State, before scoring 22 points and grabbing a career-high 18 rebounds at LMU. He had 13 points and 15 boards at Kentucky to extend his double-double streak to three games for the third time in his career.

Last year, his first career three-game double-double streak included 20 points and 10 boards at UC Irvine on Jan. 31, 24 points and 12 rebounds vs. UC Davis on Feb. 5 and 24 points and 10 boards against Pacific on Feb. 7. Robinson earned his first career Big West Player of the Week honor after the double-doubles against UC Davis and Pacific last year. He claimed his second career player of the week honor this year after the double-doubles against Clemson and UCLA.

ROBINSON NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM AT 76 CLASSIC: T.J. Robinson was named to the 76 Classic All-Tournament Team after LBSU finished the Thanksgiving weekend tournament with a 1-2 record. Robinson led the tournament in scoring and rebounding averaging 20.0 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. He was the only player on any of the eight teams to average a double-double. Robinson also finished among the tournament leaders in field goals made (1st), field goals attempted (1st), free throws attempted (2nd), free throws made (1st), offensive rebounds (2nd), defensive rebounds (1st) and minutes (1st). Robinson opened the tournament with 10 points (4-of-6 shooting) and nine rebounds against No. 8 West Virginia. He followed that by recording career highs with 25 points (9-of-13 shooting) and 15 rebounds in a nine-point loss to No. 19 Clemson. Robinson finished the tournament with a career-high 25 points (10-of-19 shooting) and 13 boards in the 49ers' win over UCLA. In the three-year history of the 76 Classic, Robinson became the first Big West player to be named to the all-tournament team.

ROBINSON BECOMES SEVENTH 49ER EVER WITH 300 BOARDS IN A SEASON; ALSO MOVING UP SINGLE-SEASON LIST IN FREE THROW ATTEMPTS: T.J. Robinson has moved into sixth place on the single-season rebounding list at Long Beach State with 308 boards this season. Robinson passed Nate Stephens (1971-72) for sixth on the all-time rebounding list in The Beach's win over UC Riverside to end the regular season. He needs six rebounds in the Big West Conference Tournament to pass George Trapp (1970-71) for fifth, 17 to pass Francois Wise (1979-80) for fourth, 23 to pass John Rambo (1964-65) for third and 27 to pass Bill Daron (1956-57) for second on the single-season list.

Robinson's 308 rebounds are the most rebounds by a 49er since Wise had 324 during the 1979-80 season. He also became just the seventh 49er to ever grab 300 rebounds in a season.

Robinson is also climbing the single-season free throw attempts list at Long Beach State. The junior has attempted 197 free throws this season and is seventh on the single-season list. He passed Rambo (1964-65) against UC Riverside. He needs four more attempts to pass Lucious Harris (1990-91) for sixth. He is only 18 behind James Cotton's (1996-97) single season record of 215 free throw attempts.

ROBINSON AND PHELPS SIDE-BY-SIDE IN LBSU RECORD BOOKS WITH 18 REBOUND GAMES: T.J. Robinson and Eugene Phelps have given the Long Beach State 49ers a great rebounding tandem. Robinson leads the Big West in rebounding (10.5 per game), while Phelps ranks seventh (6.0 rpg). Both have shown the ability to have a dominating performance on the glass. Phelps did it first. Facing off with All-America center Luke Harangody, Phelps put together one of the most dominant rebounding nights in school history against Notre Dame. Phelps grabbed 18 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end. Robinson matched Phelps in The Beach's loss at Loyola Marymount when he had 18 boards, including seven on the offensive end. The duo's 18-board games tied for the 10th most in LBSU history and were the third most by a 49er in the last 27 years. Mark Dawson was the last Beach player to grab more rebounds than Phelps and Robinson when he had 19 vs. UC Riverside on March 2, 2006. Travon Free had 19 against UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 28, 2004. The only other player with 18 or more rebounds in the last 27 years was Kevin Cutler who had 18 vs. Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 17, 1991.

WARE MOVES INTO EIGHTH ON THE SINGLE-SEASON ASSISTS LIST: Casper Ware has cracked the single-season top 10 assist list at Long Beach State, while boasting two of the top 20 assist seasons in school history. Ware handed out four assists against UC Riverside in the season finale to run his season total to 147 to tie Billy Walker (1987-88) for eighth on the list. Ware needs six assists in the Big West Tournament to pass Bobby Sears (1991-92) for seventh, nine to pass Rick Aberegg (1972-73) for sixth and 12 to pass Rasul Salahuddin (1994-95) for fifth.

WARE AND ANDERSON MOVE INTO SINGLE-SEASON TOP 20 IN STEALS AT LBSU: Casper Ware and Larry Anderson also cracked the single-season top 20 in steals with both ranking in the top 10. Ware is ninth with 57 and Anderson is tied for 10th with Craig Hodges (1981-82) with 56. Ware passed Brandon Titus (1996-97), Bryon Russell (1992-93), Donnie Martin (1977-78), Russell (1991-92) for 10th and Hodges (1981-82) for ninth. He needs two more to pass Lucious Harris (1992-93) for eighth, four more to pass Juaquin Hawkins (1995-96) for seventh, six more to pass Rasul Salahuddin (1994-95) for sixth and nine more to pass Antrone Lee (1997-98) for fifth on the single-season list.

GILLING THIRD IN CAREER 3-POINTERS AND 3-POINT ATTEMPTS; PLATER IN TOP 10 IN BOTH CATEGORIES AS WELL: Senior guard Stephan Gilling has taken his place among the top 3-point shooters in Long Beach State history. A year after finishing second on the single-season 3-pointers made and attempted lists, Gilling is moving up the career charts in both of those categories. Gilling is third in 3-pointers made at LBSU after passing James Cotton (1993-97) and Rod Hannibal (1991-94) in the regular season finale. He is 52 behind Lucious Harris (1989-93) for second on the makes list. Gilling is also third on the 3-pointers attempted list with 435. He is over 100 behind Harris, who also ranks second with 583 all-time.

Greg Plater has also moved into the top 10 in both categories as well. He is eighth on the career attempts list with 355 in three years at The Beach. He needs 20 more to pass Tony Darden (2001-03) for seventh. The junior guard also moved into a tie for seventh in 3-pointers made with Morlon Wiley (1984-88) with 127 threes. He needs 13 more to pass Tony Darden (2001-03) for sixth on the all-time makes list.

GILLING MOVES INTO FIFTH IN SINGLE SEASON 3-POINT FIELD GOALS, THIRD IN ATTEMPTS; PLATER 13TH IN ATTEMPTS AND 12TH IN MAKES: Stephan Gilling is climbing the single-season record books in 3-pointers made and attempted for the second straight season, while Greg Plater is making a move up the list for the first time.

Gilling, already second in both makes and attempts as a junior, passed Lucious Harris (1992-93), Jibril Hodges (2004-05) and Donovan Morris (2007-08) in The Beach's regular season finale win. He needs to make four more in the Big West Conference Tournament to pass Tony Darden (2002-03) for fourth, six to pass Aaron Nixon (2006-07) for third, eight to pass himself (2008-09) for seocnd and 12 to pass Jibril Hodges (2005-06) for the all-time lead. Gilling has also moved into a tie for third on the single-season 3-point attempts list with Nixon, while passing Darden for fourth. He is 21 attempts behind the 228 that he took last year.

Plater sits 13th in attempts and 12th in makes on the single-season lists. He needs to make three more to pass James Cotton (1996-97) for 11th, six to pass Cotton (1995-06) for 10th and eight to pass Rod Hannibal (1993-94) for ninth. He needs to attempt three more to pass Cotton (1996-97) for 12th, four to pass Hannibal (1993-94) for 11th, seven to pass Darden (2001-02) for 10th and nine to pass Harris (1992-93) for ninth.

GILLING TIES LBSU RECORD WITH EIGHT 3-POINTERS AGAINST CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY: Senior guard Stephan Gilling tied a Long Beach State record when he made eight 3-pointers against Cal State Monterey Bay on Dec. 12. Gilling connected on 8-of-14 threes in LBSU's 96-61 win over the Otters and scored a career-high 28 points. Gilling's eight threes matched the Long Beach State record held by Tony Darden (Dec. 2, 2002 vs. Pepperdine) and Morlon Wiley (Feb. 5, 1987 vs. UC Santa Barbara). Both Darden and Wiley made 8-of-11 threes.

GILLING PASSES 1,000 CAREER POINT MILESTONE: Senior guard Stephan Gilling accomplished a major career milestone in LBSU's loss to Cal Poly on Jan. 16 when he scored his 1,000th career point. Gilling started his career at Colorado State where he scored 484 points (216 as a freshman and 268 as a sophomore) during his two-year career with the Rams. After sitting out the 2007-08 season after transferring to Long Beach State, Gilling scored 330 points as a junior last year and has 284 this season to run his career total to 1,098 total points.

WARE GETS THIRD 20-POINT GAME OF SEASON IN WIN AT IDAHO; FOURTH TIME IN HIS CAREER HE HAS SCORED AT LEAST 20 IN A GAME: Casper Ware put together an impressive individual game in LBSU's win at Idaho on Feb. 20. The 49er point guard had 20 points and four assists (no turnovers), while making 10-of-10 free throws. The 20-point game was the third of the season for Ware. His last one came when he put together one of the top offensive games of his career when he had 20 points, four assists and five steals in LBSU's overtime loss to Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 4. Ware made 9-of-15 shots, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range to help push the game into overtime. Ware had a shot at the buzzer to win the game in regulation, but he missed the shot and crumbled to the ground with leg cramps that kept him on the bench the first two minutes of the OT. Ware's other 20-point game this season came when he scored 20 points in a loss to Clemson in the 76 Classic. He put together his lone 20-point game as a freshman when he scored a career-high 21 points against UC Santa Barbara.

WARE HAS CAREER-BEST SIX GAME DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORING STREAK SNAPPED AT KENTUCKY: Sophomore point guard Casper Ware scored in double-digits in six straight games starting with 20 points vs. Clemson and finishing with 16 points at Loyola Marymount. In the stretch he scored 92 points (15.3 per game). In addition to the Clemson and Loyola Marymount games, Ware scored 11 vs. UCLA, 16 at Texas, 10 vs. Cal State Monterey Bay and 19 against Utah State. The 91 points was the most he has scored in a six-game stretch during his career. His previous best came as a freshman when he scored 67 points in a six-game stretch starting with 15 points against Idaho State and finishing with six points at Syracuse. He also scored 75 points in a six-game stretch from the LMU game to the UCSB game this season. Ware has 29 career double-digit scoring games, including 16 this year.

WARE GETS FIRST CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLE; RECORDS CAREER-HIGH 10 ASSISTS AGAINST CLEMSON: Sophomore point guard Casper Ware put together his first career double-double in the 76 Classic against No. 19 Clemson when he scored 20 points and handed out a career-best 10 assists. Ware's 20 points (6-of-12 shooting) was one off his career high of 21 that he set as a freshman in the Big West Conference opener against UC Santa Barbara. In addition to the double-double against Clemson, Ware had a solid 76 Classic for The Beach leading the tournament in assists (6.0 per game), while averaging 13.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. He was instrumental in the 49ers' win over UCLA in the tournament when he scored all of his 11 points in the second half. He also had six assists and three steals against the Bruins and only committed one turnover in the second half. In the LBSU opener in the 76 Classic, Ware scored eight points, grabbed two boards and handed out two assists against No. 8 West Virginia.

THREE PLAYERS RECORD DOUBLE-DOUBLES AGAINST CLEMSON; FIRST TIME THREE BEACH PLAYERS HAVE HAD A DOUBLE-DOUBLE IN SAME GAME IN 29 YEARS: T.J. Robinson, Casper Ware and Eugene Phelps did something against Clemson that a trio of 49ers hadn't accomplished since March 4, 1980. Robinson, Ware and Phelps each had a double-double in the same game against Clemson with Robinson leading the way with 25 points and 15 rebounds, Ware adding 20 points and 10 assists, and Phelps contributing 12 points and 10 boards against the No. 19 Tigers. You have to go back 29 years in the LBSU record books to find the last time three LBSU players were able to put together three double-doubles in the same game. The last time it happened was in the PCAA (now the Big West) Tournament in 1980 when Michael Wiley (31 points/12 rebounds), Francois Wise (15 points/18 rebounds) and Craig Hodges (15 points/11 assists) had double-doubles in the same game in a 104-87 win over Pepperdine. Ironically, both the current players and the players on the 1979-80 team put together the three double-doubles in the Anaheim Convention Center.

PHELPS HAS BACK-TO-BACK GAMES WITH CAREER HIGH IN POINTS; SETS CAREER LONG STREAK WITH FOUR STRAIGHT DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORING GAMES: Eugene Phelps had the most productive offensive streak of his young career from Jan. 21 to Feb. 4. The sophomore forward scored in double-digits in all four of LBSU's games during that stretch, including setting new career scoring highs in two of the games. Phelps started the streak with a double-double, 14 points and 10 rebounds in a loss at UC Irvine. He then scored career highs in each of The Beach's next two games with 18 points, on 7-of-12 shooting, at Cal State Northridge and 21 points, on 9-of-14 shooting, in a home win over UC Davis. He made it four games in a row with double figures when he scored 10 points against Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 4. Phelps' longest consecutive games with double-digit scoring outputs before the streak was two games when he scored 14 and 11 points in losses at Loyola Marymount and Kentucky. During his career, Phelps has 12 double-digit scoring games, including 10 this season.

Phelps' numbers over the four games were very impressive. He averaged 15.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game while making 52.9 percent (27-of-51) of his shots. He also made 9-of-13 (69.2 percent) of his free throws.

PHELPS GETS SECOND CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLE AT UC IRVINE: Eugene Phelps snapped out of a four game rebounding funk, where he didn't grab more than four rebounds in a game, to record his second career double-double at UC Irvine. Phelps finished with 14 points (one off his career high) and 10 boards against the Anteaters. His first double-double came at the 76 Classic where the sophomore averaged 8.7 points and 8.0 rebounds, while making 55 percent (11-of-20) of his shots from the floor. He put up the double-double against then-No. 19 Clemson when he finished with 12 points and 10 boards. In that game he grabbed five offensive and five defensive rebounds. He had another strong outing in the team's final game of the tournament when he had his third career double-digit rebounding game when he grabbed 10 boards in a win over UCLA. He also had seven points (3-of-3 shooting) and handed out a career-best three assists in the win over the Bruins. In the opening game of the 76 Classic, Phelps finished with seven points (3-of-4 shooting) and four rebounds against No. 8 West Virginia. Phelps now has four double-digit rebounding games in his career.

ANDERSON SCORES 20 POINTS IN TWO CONFERENCE GAMES; HAS FOUR 20-POINT GAMES THIS SEASON: Larry Anderson had his best offensive game at UC Irvine since the third game of the season and then matched it against Cal State Fullerton. The 49ers sophomore scored 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting while connecting on all eight of his free throws at Irvine and then had 20 points on 9-of-20 shooting with two free throws against Fullerton. Before the Irvine game, Anderson had gone 15 games without scoring 20 points in a game. He had put up back-to-back 20-point games in the second and third games of the season on Nov. 17 and Nov. 19. Anderson has seven 20-point games in his career. He had three last year.

PLATER GIVING THE BEACH A THREAT OFF THE BENCH: Junior guard Greg Plater has given The Beach a much needed offensive threat coming off the bench. The Salem, Ore., native is averaging 9.2 points per game, while ranking third on the team in assists with 35. He is also second on the team with 61 made 3-pointers. Plater has scored in double-figures 14 times this season, with two nine-point games and three eight-point games. He led the 49ers with a season-high 18 points at Cal State Fullerton. He also scored 17 points in the 49ers win over Cal State Monterey Bay, in the team's league opener at UC Riverside and their regular season-finale against UCR, while scoring 16 points vs. Cal Poly and UC Davis, 14 points vs. West Virginia and at Cal Poly, 13 at Duke, 11 at both Pepperdine and Notre Dame, 12 at Idaho, and 10 vs. UCLA and at UC Davis. He finished with a career-high seven assists in The Beach's win at Green Bay.

LAZDAUSKAS MOVES INTO STARTING LINEUP AT IDAHO: Senior Arturas Lazdauskas moved into the starting lineup at Idaho and has responded with strong play. At Idaho, Lazduaskas played a season-high 32 minutes and scored a season-best eight points on 3-of-6 shooting. He also tied a career high with four steals in helping The Beach to the win. He continued to contribute on the 49ers' trip to UC Davis and Pacific where he played 44 minutes. Against Pacific he had a season-best nine rebounds (one off his career high) in just 21 minutes of action. In his four games since moving into the starting lineup, Lazdauskas is averaging 4.5, 3.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game while leading the 49ers to a 3-1 record.

LBSU BOASTS FIVE BIG WEST CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOREES THIS SEASON: Long Beach State players have been prominent in the Big West Conference Player of the Week selections so far this season. The league has handed out 12 awards this season and The Beach has had players claim five of them.

The latest LBSU winner came Feb. 1 when Eugene Phelps claimed the prize after leading The Beach to a pair of conference wins. Phelps claimed the award after putting up back-to-back career highs in points. He started the week with a then career-best 18 points, on 7-of-12 shooting, in LBSU's 69-68 win at Cal State Northridge on Thursday. The sophomore forward followed that by setting a new career high with 21 points, on 9-of-14 shooting, in The Beach's 80-58 win over UC Davis on Saturday. For the week, Phelps averaged 19.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots per game, while making 61.5 percent (16-of-26) of his shots.

Casper Ware became the second straight 49er to to win the award in mid-December. Ware was named Big West Conference Player of the Week on Dec. 21, after scoring 19 points and handing out seven assists in a 75-62 win over WAC favorite Utah State. Ware also flustered WAC Preseason Player of the Year Jared Quayle into a 2-of-11 shooting night.

Senior Stephan Gilling won it the week before after averaging 23.0 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game in LBSU's games against Texas and Cal State Monterey Bay. In the Monterey Bay game, Gilling tied a school record making eight 3-pointers on his way to a career-high 28 points. He finished the game 10-of-17 from the floor, while making 8-of-14 shots from 3-point range. In The Beach's loss to Texas, Gilling led LBSU with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc. For the week, Gilling went 14-of-26 (53.8 percent) from 3-point range and 16-of-30 (53.3 percent) from the floor overall.

Sophomore T.J. Robinson was named the Big West Player of the Week on Nov. 30 after putting together a tournament unmatched by any other player in the 76 Classic. Robinson averaged 20 points and 12.3 rebounds per game against West Virginia, Clemson, and UCLA. He led the tournament in both scoring and rebounding while also making more field goals than any other player in the tournament. He had back-to-back double-doubles with 25 points and 15 rebounds against Clemson and 25 points and 13 boards against UCLA. He just missed a double-double against West Virginia, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Sophomore Larry Anderson was named the co-Big West Player of the Week after leading Long Beach State to a season-opening 86-65 win over Alaska Anchorage. Anderson (Long Beach, Calif./Jordan HS) earned the award after leading The Beach in scoring, assists and steals in the win. He finished with 18 points, a career-high seven assists and a career-best five steals. Anderson made 5-of-8 shots, 2-of-3 from three and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. The player of the week honor was the first of Anderson's career. He shared the award with UC Davis' Joe Harden.

FIVE DIFFERENT PLAYER OF THE WEEK SELECTIONS BREAKS RECORD HELD BY 73-74 BEACH TEAM FOR MOST IN BIG WEST HISTORY: Having four different players win conference player of the week honors is almost unheard of in the history of the Big West (previously the Pacific Coast Athletic Association). Long Beach State has already accomplished the feat this year with Larry Anderson, Stephan Gilling, T.J. Robinson and Casper Ware all claiming the award once. The last time four players from the same team earned the weekly honor happened during the 1973-74 season when Long Beach State's Leonard Gray, Glenn McDonald, Bob Gross and Clifton Pondexter (twice) claimed PCAA Player of the Week honors.

MONSON GETS 200TH CAREER WIN: Long Beach State coach Dan Monson picked up his 200th career win at Cal State Northridge. Monson started his head coaching career at Gonzaga where he won 52 games in two seasons. He then moved to Minnesota where he won 118 in seven-plus seasons before coming to Long Beach State where he has 35 wins midway through his third season.

LONG BEACH STATE PLAYED NATION'S TOP-RANKED NON-LEAGUE SCHEDULE: The murderer's row of opponents Long Beach State played before conference play started is evident when looking at The Beach's strength of schedule on Dec. 31. The 49ers had the No. 1 ranked SOS in the nation according to realtimerpi.com. The 49ers played the top two teams in the nation based on RPI, as well as three of the top eight and four of the top 25. Duke was the nation's No. 1 team according to realtimerpi.com, while LBSU opponents West Virginia (No. 2), Texas (No. 8) and Kentucky (No. 23) all ranked in the top 25 based on their RPI.

So far this year, Long Beach State's 11 Division I opponents (from November and December) have compiled a 227-114 record (66.6 winning percentage) thru games played on March 8. Nine of the 11 teams (Notre Dame, Green Bay, West Virginia, Clemson, Texas, Utah State, Loyola Marymount, Kentucky, Duke) have at least 18 wins and eight (Notre Dame, Green Bay, West Virginia, Clemson, Texas, Utah State, Kentucky, Duke) have at least 21 wins.

LONG BEACH STATE THE PRESEASON PICK TO WIN THE BIG WEST; ANDERSON AND ROBINSON NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-LEAGUE TEAMS: Long Beach State was the preseason pick to win the Big West title by the league's media, outdistancing second-place UC Santa Barbara by 31 points. The Beach collected 17 first-place votes and 209 points, while UCSB grabbed six first-place votes and 178 total points. Defending champion Cal State Northridge was third with 130 points. Pacific, picked fifth, also had one first-place vote. Individually, sophomore guard Larry Anderson was one of six players named to the preseason all-league team. The reigning first-team All-Big West selection was also picked as a preseason first-team all-league selection by Blue Ribbon Magazine along with teammate T.J. Robinson. Robinson, also a sophomore, earned Big West All-Freshman Team honors last season and was an honorable mention all-league pick as a true freshman.

LONG BEACH STATE GETS FIRST WIN EVER AGAINST UCLA: It was a long time coming for fans of Long Beach State. In the 12th meeting between LBSU and UCLA dating back 39 years, the 49ers finally came away on the winning side when The Beach handed UCLA a 79-68 loss in the 76 Classic on Nov. 29. Long Beach State played UCLA three times in the 70s, three times in the 80s, twice in the 90s and four times in the 2000s and had never been able to knock off UCLA. That all changed in the 76 Classic thanks to T.J. Robinson leading LBSU to the win with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Long Beach State had come close to winning a handful of times. The 49ers dropped a 57-55 heartbreaker in the 1971 NCAA Tournament in the closest battle between the two teams. The Beach also had a six-point loss in 1983, a two-point loss in 1987 and a nine-point loss in 1991.