The Long Beach St. 49ers return home to Walter Pyramid on Friday night, hoping to snap a two-game losing streak against the BYU-Hawaii Seasiders. You can forgive Long Beach State for scheduling a Division II team, as it is merely a brief respite in one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country.
The 49ers already beat then-No. 9 Pittsburgh Panthers on the road on November 16, then they traveled to Kentucky Monday night and lost to the No. 6 Louisville Cardinals. After battling the Division II Seasiders Friday night, the schedule next week for Long Beach State consists of road games at No. 15 Kansas Jayhawks on Tuesday and at No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday.
Long Beach State has lost two straight games and three of their last four, but should have no problem with BYU-Hawaii on Friday. The 49ers beat the Seasiders 90-83 last season with Casper Ware scoring 22 points and both T.J. Robinson and Eugene Phelps achieving double-doubles.
Robinson has three double-doubles in six games this season and is averaging 14.0 points and 10.8 rebounds per contest. He had 12 points and a team-high seven boards in Monday's loss to Louisville. Robinson was named Big West Conference Player of the Week last week for his efforts against Boise State and Montana. Three different 49ers have won player of the week honors in three weeks this season.
Friday night's 7:05 p.m. PST game can be heard online at LongBeachState.com.