Long Beach Puts Streak On The Line

For the Big West, this is as big as it gets.

Eastern Division favorite New Mexico State visits Western counterpart Long Beach State tonight to establish the conference pecking order. ESPN will televise the game live at 9 from the Pyramid.

Long Beach, which swept Idaho and Boise State on the road last week, has won eight straight games for the first time since the 1994-95 season. The 49ers return five starters from last year, but one, D’Cean Bryant, was supplanted by newcomer Rudy Williams.

“You have to sustain it,” Long Beach coach Wayne Morgan said. “We hope to get to the point where people recognize that we’ve got a good team.”

You’re there, coach. Long Beach defeated USC and won on the road against Kansas State. Idaho coach Dave Farrar said the 49ers are bigger, stronger and more athletic than anybody in the conference. BSU’s Rod Jensen applauded Long Beach’s unselfish play.

Defending Big West Tournament champion New Mexico State has won five of its last six games. The Aggies are the top 3-point shooting team in the conference and are second in rebounding.

The teams have contrasting styles. Long Beach has two solid inside players in Williams and Mate Milisa. New Mexico State relies on guards Billy Keys and Eric Channing.

Bronco bashin’

Boise State dropped two conference games at home last week. Then the Broncos had to read/hear about it.

Guard Clint Hordemann suggested the team is pleased to be playing on the road this week. “We’ve been getting some bad media,” he told the Idaho Statesman. “We hear this and that from every angle. It surrounds you all day and all night.”

It centers, mostly, on BSU’s anemic offense. The Broncos are averaging 59.5 points per game. Fans booed the team and coach Rod Jensen during losses to Long Beach State and Pacific.

Said Jensen: “People will tell me there are rumblings out there, but that’s not really a concern of mine. I know everybody in this town is going to have an opinion, but we’re preparing the same way we did last year.”

Flip flop

The meek - Nevada and North Texas - share the top spot in the East with New Mexico State. Perhaps not for long, but the two surprised many with their 2-0 starts.

North Texas is 2-0 in conference for the first time since 1992-93 when it was in the Southland. However, Cal Poly coach Jeff Schneider, whose team lost to UNT 85-82, didn’t sound impressed. “We had three foul out and they didn’t have any,” he said. “We played better and deserved to win. That’s all I can say.”

Nevada, which has just three Division I wins, ripped Cal State Fullerton and edged UC Irvine. “We’re 2-0 and maybe we’re looking at 3-0,” said Wolf Pack forward Richard Stirgus, referring to tonight’s game at UC Santa Barbara.

Notes

Gordon Scott moved past Avery Curry into third on Idaho’s 3-point field goals list with 115… . New Mexico State’s team earned a 2.96 grade-point average fall semester, including 4.0s by Aaron Brodt, Eric Channing, Ryan McDermott and Mikko Noopila. Brodt and Channing are starters… . UC Irvine senior forward Adam Stetson, out for 12 games because of a partially collapsed lung, has returned to practice. The Anteaters entertain Idaho tonight… . Pacific’s Clay McKnight and Utah State’s Tony Brown are no longer perfect from the foul line. McKnight’s streak ended at 33 straight and Brown at 25… . The Big West stands No. 18 in Sagarin’s conference ratings. The Big Sky is No. 16, the West Coast Conference is No. 14 and the Pac-10 is No. 4.