The Long Beach State 49ers can clinch the Big West regular season title with a home win Wednesday night against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos at Walter Pyramid. The 49ers, who won the regular season conference title last year, are looking for their first back-to-back league titles since winning eight straight from 1969-1970 to 1976-1977.
Long Beach State (19-7, 12-0 in Big West play) had its 12-game winning streak snapped on Saturday in their BracketBuster loss to the Creighton Bluejays. But the 49ers have still won 20 consecutive regular season Big West games, and have won 19 straight home games as well.
Head coach Dan Monson needs one win for 250 in his career. In five seasons at Long Beach State, Monson is 79-75.
The 49ers have lost the last two Big West Tournament finals to the Gauchos, but picked up a tough road win with a 71-48 pasting in Santa Barbara on January 21. Larry Anderson led Long Beach State in scoring in the win with 19 points, while T.J. Robinson added 11 rebounds.
Tonight's 8 p.m. PST game will be televised by ESPN2, with Roxy Bernstein on play-by-play and Sean Farnham as the analyst. The game will also be available for viewing online at WatchESPN.com.