With Thanksgiving break over, the Long Beach State men’s basketball team doesn’t have much to be thankful for.
The team was unable to take care of business when the team traveled to Fort Myer, Florida to take on Binghamton Thursday and Florida Gulf Coast Friday, two of its weaker road trip opponents, during the Battle4Atlantis Tournament.
On Thursday, the 49ers took a 24-17 lead against Binghamton heading into halftime but weren’t able to keep up, allowing the Bearcats to score 55 points on their way to a 72-64 win.
Against Florida Gulf Coast University, LBSU battled in a back-and-forth game, but ultimately couldn’t hold onto its 65-60 lead with 2:47 remaining. The 49ers went on to lose 68-67 in overtime.
LBSU hasn’t played much on Thanksgiving or the day after the holiday, but since 2010 the 49ers are 1-5. The 49ers’ lone win came against Western Michigan Nov. 27, 2014.
It’s safe to say that, though LBSU coach Dan Monson has said he expects his team to get better during this road trip, they haven’t.
It’s still early in the season, but the 49ers aren’t getting enough from their guards. Junior guard Justin Bibbins is shooting .279 percent from the field and .226 percent from the three-point line.
That isn’t going to cut it from a player; LBSU needs to perform at a high level if it expects to win the Big West and earn a NCAA Tournament berth.
But until then, and with the way the 49ers have been playing, they won’t win a game until they host The Master’s at Walter Pyramid Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. That should put LBSU at 1-12 heading into its third home game of the regular season.
As the team prepares for its eighth game on the road against No. 5 Kansas tonight, the 49ers are huge underdog once again.
Kansas (5-1) is on five-game winning streak after knocking off then-No.1 Duke University Nov. 15.
The Jayhawks will have a size advantage from the start with senior guard Frank Mason III, whose 21.5 point per game leads the team early on in the season.
Along with Mason, freshman guard Josh Jackson will cause problems for the 49ers’ guards. Jackson is averaging 14.3 points per game.
In the end, LBSU will once again be unable to keep up with a top-ranked opponent and will lose to Kansas, 97-53.
