Pitt falls to Long Beach State

True to his name, Long Beach State guard Casper Ware seemed supernatural in the Petersen Events… True to his name, Long Beach State guard Casper Ware seemed supernatural in the Petersen Events Center on Wednesday night.

The 49ers senior went off for a career-high 28 points, leading the 49ers to an 86-76 victory over the Panthers, which broke a 58-game win streak against nonconference opponents at home.

“We came in here hungrier,” Ware said. “Because [the Panthers are] ranked, they thought they had it.”

It was another slow start for the Pitt men’s basketball team, which fell behind 45-36 in the first half. The defensive struggles continued as the Panthers allowed the California squad to shoot an impressive 66 percent from the field in the first half.

“We got beat every which way,” head coach Jamie Dixon said. “We were indecisive on what we need to do defensively, and that’s slowing us down.”

Transition defense helped win the game for Long Beach State: The Panthers allowed 25 fast break points.

“They did a lot to try and stop us from running, but we’re too fast for that,” Ware said.

Dixon recognized the 49ers strength in transition, but mostly blamed Pitt’s lackluster defense.

“Our transition defense is not good enough. It hasn’t been good enough,” Dixon said.

Offensively, the Panthers continued to play inconsistently. They had 12 turnovers compared to the 49ers’ 10, but still managed to score 76 points.

Once again, Pitt was led by senior guard Ashton Gibbs, who scored 20 points and shot 8 of 21 from the field. The last lead the Panthers held was 14-12 with 13:02 minutes left in the first half. After losing it, the closest they got to regaining the lead was 62-56 with 9:53 remaining.

“There were certain spots we were supposed to be at certain points in the game, and we weren’t there,” Gibbs said. “They played harder than us.”

Nasir Robinson played a consistent supporting role throughout, scoring 19 points to go along with three rebounds and two assists. Still, the senior forward felt the effort of the team was not enough.

“They worked harder, ran harder, got back to loose balls, executed better than us, outsmarted us,” Robinson said. “They just wanted it more.”

In the second half, the Panthers switched to a zone defense that had some spotty success. Long Beach State was running zone as well, and head coach Dan Monson said a big reason for the zone was Robinson.

“Robinson was a load for us,” Monson said. “We probably went to the zone more for him than anything else.”

For Long Beach State, the win was a long time coming. Playing in a mid-major conference, the 49ers have faced teams like Duke, Syracuse, Notre Dame and North Carolina over the last four years without ever getting a major win.

“It’s a great accomplishment,” Ware said. “It’s a big win, we feel good. But we expected to win this. We knew we were going to win this game.”

“First, I want to thank Coach Dixon for giving us the opportunity today,” Monson said. “A lot of coaches wouldn’t do that. He knew we had a veteran group coming back, he did it because he’s a friend and I appreciate the opportunity to come in here today.”

However, Monson stressed that his team was just getting started.

“This group has not been to an NCAA tournament yet,” he said. “That goal for the end of the year is not attained in one game. We’ve got to play better.”

For the Panthers, point guard Travon Woodall also had a strong showing, scoring 17 points on five of six shooting from the field. He shot three of four from beyond the arc. The redshirt junior injured his arm in the first half, but returned in the second half. He received an X-ray after fouling out at the 1:44 mark, but results have not come back yet.

Pitt will be back in action next Tuesday against La Salle.

“I had anticipated us being a much better team, but obviously we’re not where I want us to be at this time,” Dixon said. “We always get better as the year goes on, and we’ll have to do that again.”