LAS VEGAS, Nevada — This year, the Big West Conference has been one of the most affected by the pandemic. Long Beach State (10-15) is a clear example of that; with three separate pauses, the team only finished 16 regular-season games and 12 conference games. They struggled heavily entering the conference tournament, dropping three of their last five matchups.
However, watching the first-round matchup between Long Beach and Cal State Northridge (9-12) might have given a different impression. Long Beach dominated the game, jumping out a 20-point lead and never looking back, winning by 23 points, 85-63. Long Beach was lights-out from the perimeter; they hit 9 three-pointers and shot 40.9% from behind-the-arc.
On defense, Long Beach completely shut down CSUN. CSUN shot a dismal 18% from three, only hitting on 5 of their 29 attempts. Outside of junior TJ Starks (23 points), CSUN struggled to find open shots. Their starters combined to shoot 14-49 on the game (29%).
Long beach
In this matchup, the dominant guard play stood out for Long Beach. Freshman guard Jadon Jones was the standout, finishing with a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Long Beach has tremendous rebounding guards; their starters combined for 29 rebounds on the night, contributing to a 48 to 31 rebound advantage.
Early on, the three-point shooting allowed the lead to skyrocket for Long Beach. Initially, it was Jones’s threes that ballooned the lead to 17. Then, fellow guard Colin Slater knocked down back-to-back threes late in the first half as the lead went to 20. Jones would not slow down in the second half, hitting another three late and scoring 9 of his 19 after halftime.
Looking forward, Long Beach will now have a tough challenge facing them on Thursday. They face the top seed in the Big West, UC Santa Barbara, for a chance to move on to the semi-finals. As the 9 seed, they will still need to win 3 more games for an NCAA Tournament shot. However, if they continue to shoot the way they did on Tuesday, do not count out Long Beach.
Slow-shooting limits CSUN
CSUN would have had a tough time reaching 85 points, regardless of how they played. On the year, they average 72.5 PPG; the last time they reached 85 points was February 20 in a 90-87 shootout win over CSUB. However, they had no shot of keeping up with Long Beach with the way they shot. They are a team that makes a living from the perimeter, but they were unable to get anything going on Tuesday. Starks, the lone bright spot, hit just 2 of his 7 shots from the perimeter.
CSUN will look to rebound next year with many, if not all, of their players coming back. One of the youngest teams in the conference, the experience of ending the season in heartbreak should harden their core players. Hopefully, the late ankle injury Starks suffered will not be anything serious. He was the leading scorer in the Big West for the regular season in 2021 at 21.6 PPG.
Up Next
Long Beach vs. UC Santa Barbara, Thursday, March 11, Mandalay Bay Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
