Behind a stellar senior class that won its second straight regular season title and fulfilled the goal to play in the NCAA Tournament, Long Beach State highlighted the accomplishments of the 2011-12 men's basketball campaign.
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D. J. Seeley, Cal State Fullerton
Seeley polished off his junior season at Cal State Fullerton with a stellar performance against Loyola Marymount in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, scoring a career-high 32 points in an 88-79 loss. Seeley, who finished second to Big West scoring champion Orlando Johnson of UC Santa Barbara with 13 games of 20 points or more, is one of the leading candidates for conference Player of the Year honors in 2012-13. Seeley ranked among the Big West leaders in several categories, including scoring (4th - 17.3 ppg), rebounding (14th - 5.5 rpg), field goal percentage (8th - .439) and steals (3rd - 1.5 spg). He also placed in the top 10 in three-point field goal percentage (4th - .434) and three-point field goals made per game (8th - 2.1).
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Long Beach State’s Season Ends In NCAA Tournament
Long Beach State enjoyed one of the finest seasons in program history, finishing with a 25-9 record after losing 75-68 to New Mexico in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 25 wins tie for the second-most in a season in 49er history and trail only the 1972-73 (26-3) squad for the record. No. 12 seed LBSU made its ninth NCAA Tournament appearance – first since 2007 – and dropped to 7-10 all-time with the loss to the No. 5 seeded Lobos.
After winning the Big West Tournament to secure automatic NCAA qualifier status, Long Beach State seniors Casper Ware, Larry Anderson, T.J. Robinson and Eugene Phelps followed through in their quest to reach the Big Dance. The cornerstones of head coach Dan Monson’s rebuilding project, the foursome started a combined 436 of the 515 games they played throughout their four-year careers.
One Away From Perfection
Long Beach State prepared for a successful run through the Big West ledger with the nation’s toughest non-conference schedule that included eight opponents in the 2012 NCAA Tournament field – No. 1 seed North Carolina, No. 2 seed Kansas, No. 4 seed Louisville, No. 6 seed San Diego State, No. 8 seeds Kansas State and Creighton, No. 10 seed Xavier, and No. 13 seed Montana. North Carolina, Kansas, Louisville and Xavier reached the Sweet 16, while the Jayhawks and Cardinals advanced to the Final Four.
As a result, the 49ers dominated the Big West landscape with a 15-1 record and won the league by three games. It was the second consecutive regular season crown for LBSU, and marked the first time the program had gone back-to-back since reeling off eight straight titles from 1969-77.
Long Beach State was only the sixth team in league history to begin conference play with 15 straight wins. The 49er bid for a perfect 16-0 record was dashed on the final day of the regular season by a Cal State Fullerton squad which finished 21-10 overall and 12-4 in Big West play.
Best Conference Starts In Big West History
Year School League Start
2004-05 Pacific 18-0
1991-92 UNLV 18-0
1990-91 UNLV 18-0
1986-87 UNLV 18-0
1999-00 Utah State 16-0
2011-12 Long Beach State 15-0
Doing It With Defense
Long Beach State went 23-0 this season when holding its opponent to under 70 points. The 49ers led the Big West in scoring defense (61.1 ppg) in conference games, doing so for the first time since the 1974-75 season.
Padded Honor Roll For Ware
Long Beach State senior Casper Ware finished his career with a litany of accolades. In addition to being named Big West Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and earning Associated Press All-American Honorable Mention recognition, the guard received plaudits from the following other organizations:
• Named CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Most Valuable Player.
• Named to the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Defensive All-America Team.
• Selected USBWA All-District IX Player of the Year and a member of the All-District IX Team.
• Earned NABC All-District 9 First Team honors.
• One of 11 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, honoring the nation’s top point guard.
Ware concluded his four years in the black and gold with 1,841 points, 545 assists, 159 steals and 213 three-pointers made. He etched his name in the Big West career record book, ranking No. 7 in assists and free throws made (456), No. 6 in field goal attempts (1,458), and No. 10 in three-point field goal attempts (610).
He became just the seventh individual overall and first since UC Irvine’s Jerry Green (2001, 2002) to win back-to-back Player of the Year awards. The 2012 Big West Tournament Most Valuable Player punched LBSU’s ticket to the NCAA Tournament with one of the best performances in championship game history with eight three-pointers leading to 33 points against UC Santa Barbara. In the tournament record book, the eight treys tied for third all-time and the 33 points tied for seventh.
Robinson Makes His Own Mark
Senior T.J. Robinson broke a record that had stood for nearly three decades to punctuate an outstanding career at Long Beach State. He pulled down 1,208 rebounds to unseat Cal State Fullerton’s Tony Neal, who held the top perch with 1,194 caroms from 1981-85. Robinson also joined a rare club in becoming one of just four players in Big West history – Neal, UNLV’s Stacey Augmon and Utah State Greg Grant were the others – to have amassed 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. In Big West annals, Robinson finished No. 4 in career free throw attempts (642), No. 12 in field goals made (652) and tied for No. 10 in rebounding average (9.2 rpg). A member of the NABC All-District 9 Second Team, the forward averaged 10.2 rebounds per game to lead the Big West for the second time in his career.
Johnson A Giant In Gaucho Lore
In just three seasons at UC Santa Barbara, senior Orlando Johnson completed his career as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,825 points. In addition, he made history as the first Big West player to win the scoring title three times. He scored 540 points as a sophomore, 674 as a junior and 611 as a senior, averaging 19.7 points per game in his final season as a Gaucho. A member of the John R. Wooden Midseason Top-25 List, he was just the second player in UCSB history to earn All-Big West First Team honors on three occasions. He received additional postseason accolades with spots on the NABC All-District 9 First Team and USBWA All-District IX Team.
Hicks Named Freshman All-American
Cal State Northridge looks toward a bright future with 6-5 guard/forward Stephan Hicks on the roster. Hicks was one of 25 players named to the 2012 CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Freshmen All-America Team, and one of only four representatives from the west coast. Hicks was selected the Big West Freshman of the Year – second in CSUN history to earn the award – after averaging 15.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game to rank No. 7 and No. 3 in the Big West, respectively. He enters next season as the conference’s top returning rebounder.