Casper Ware (Cerritos, Calif./Gahr HS) turned in one of the finest games of his career as preseason Big West favorite Long Beach State throttled Utah State, the preseason pick to win the Western Athletic Conference.  Ware's performance earned him the honor of Big West Men's Basketball Player of the Week.

The 5-10 point guard was fantastic in all facets of the game, scoring 19 points with seven assists and three rebounds in Friday's 75-62 victory over the former Big West member Aggies.  He made 7 of 16 floor shots, including three three-pointers and converted both of his free throw attempts.

In addition, Ware harassed Utah State point guard Jared Quayle into a 2-for-11 shooting night and helped limit the normally efficient Aggies to 38.2% (21-of-55) shooting for the game.  Quayle, the preseason WAC Player of the Year, had only four assists against three turnovers.

Ware's 19-point effort was just two off of his career-high and ran his double-digit scoring streak to a career-best five games.  During that five game stretch, Ware is averaging 15.2 points and 7.2 assists per game, with a 1.9 assist to turnover ratio.

Ware is also the fourth different 49er to capture Player of the Week acclaim in the first six weeks of the season, joining Larry Anderson (Nov. 16), T.J. Robinson (Nov. 30) and Stephan Gilling (Dec. 14) on the honor roll.

Others nominated:  None