Box Score Feb. 11, 2012
Final Stats
DAVIS, Calif. - Sophomore Josh Ritchart hit seven three-pointers and scored 24 points - both career-highs - but Long Beach State picked up 23 points from forward Eugene Phelps as the 49ers downed UC Davis 89-69 in a Big West Conference men's basketball game on Saturday afternoon at The Pavilion.
UC Davis, coming off a 79-71 win over Cal State Northridge on Thursday, fell to 2-22 overall and 1-11 in the Big West with the loss while Long Beach State remained perfect in the league at 12-0 and improved to 19-6 overall.
Eddie Miller scored12 points for UC Davis and had a team-high six rebounds. T.J. Robinson had a double-double for Long Beach State with 14 points and 11 rebounds, becoming the Big West's all-time leading rebounder with 1,119. Guard Casper Ware added 16 points and Larry Anderson finished with 15.
Ritchart has made five three-pointers seven times previously in his career including five times this season, most recently last week at UC Riverside last week. His 24 points bettered the 23 he scored at UCLA last season.
He was 1 for 6 from beyond the arc in the first half but made six of his eight long-distance attempts in the second. He helped UC Davis make 12 of 26 from three-point overall.
"He didn't get off to a great start shooting the ball but a good shooter has got to continue to not just shoot the ball but take good shots," said Aggie coach Jim Les. "I thought Josh took good shots. His teammates have a lot of confidence in him to find him and get him the ball."
UC Davis battled the 49ers - ranked fifth in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll - tough during the early stages of the game, taking a quick 2-0 lead on Ritchart's layup and then building an 8-3 advantage three minutes in after guard Tyrell Corbin's steal and layup. That followed a dunk from Eddie Miller that helped key a 6-0 run from the Aggies.
Ware, however, hit a three-pointer starting eight straight points from Long Beach State that gave them the lead for good. Tyler Les countered with his own trey later in the half to bring UC Davis to within 15-13 after eight minutes and it was just a 20-15 deficit at the 11-minute mark.
The 49ers opened a 29-16 lead with six minutes left after going on a 13-1 run and then went up 46-24 at halftime with 13 straight points after back-to-back three-pointers from Ritchart and Miller brought UC Davis to within 33-24 with 3:09 in the half. Ware had 11 points in the first half while Phelps had 10.
The Aggies outscored Long Beach State 45-43 in the second half, getting as close as 17 points on three occasions. Ritchart had 18 points after halftime and UC Davis shot 53.6 percent (15 of 28) from the field. It also had just two turnovers and made 9 of 15 shots from beyond the arc.
The 49ers had 24 assists on 34 baskets in the game, led by five each from James Ennis and Wares. They also outrebounded UC Davis 42-26 and finished the game shooting 51.5 percent from the floor. Long Beach State also finished with just eight turnovers while the Aggies only had 12.
"As I told the team, success leaves clues and that's a very successful team for a lot of good reasons," Les said of Long Beach State. "And they leave clues all over the stat sheet - 24 assists, they outrebound us by 16, they only turn it over eight times (and) they've got four guys in double figures. And I thought early on their defensive intensity and pressure bothered us.
"That's a team playing well, they're well-coached and talented but they're playing winning basketball too."
UC Davis will continue a busy stretch of basketball, hosting rival Pacific on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in another Big West matchup. The Aggies will then travel to Northern Arizona on Saturday for an ESPN Sears BracketBuster game before traveling to face Seattle a week from Monday.
