The Long Beach State University 49ers entered tonight coming off of probably the toughest non-conference schedule in the country, with consecutive road losses to Wichita State, #4 North Carolina, #10 Louisville and #13 UCLA. Yikes. Despite this, they gave their all against the Huskies, who managed to pull off a late 94-88 win over the 49ers.
LBSU started out hot hitting two from beyond the arc with another field goal for a quick 8-0 lead. The Huskies were an abysmal 0-12 from 3 in the first half, but after finally getting on the board 3 1⁄2 minutes into the game, they were eventually able to convert many of the 15 first half 49er turnovers into points. Additionally, the Dawgs rebounded well, especially on the offensive glass, which lead to a lot of second chance points. As the Huskies climbed out of their early deficit, their D picked up in the final 12 minutes of the half with some added pressure, leading to at least two 3+ minute scoreless stretches for LBSU. The Huskies finally caught the 49ers with 3 minutes left in the half after a David Crisp bucket and 1 made it a 30-28 game.
In terms of scoring, it was a big first half for Noah Dickerson, who provided 17 of the Huskies 34 points in what looked to be a breakout performance from the second year big man. He was able to combine some jumpers from 14’+ out with good penetration and physicality in the paint to be the difference for the Dawgs. He would end the night with a career high 23 points, along with 7 rebounds, 2 steals and an assist. Meanwhile, David Crisp also had a nice first half offensively, but would explode in the second.
The 49ers lead for most of the first and came out swinging in the second retaking the lead. It was back and forth between the two squads for most of this quarter before momentum started to swing the Huskies way with about 6 minutes left, after Crisp hit one of his four 3’s on his way to a career high 26 points on the night. The Huskies were able to go 8-8 from 3 in the second half, a complete reversal from the 0-12 effort in the first, to hold off the 49ers. LBSU threatened again in the final minutes and managed to keep it close, but the Huskies were able to hang on for the win.
In addition to the great games from Dickerson and Crisp, Markel Fultz had another great showing tonight, going 9-18 for 21 points, including 1-3 from deep, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and a block.
Here are the game’s highlights from the UW Men’s Basketball Twitter Account:
Watch: Full highlights from Washington's 94-88 victory over Long Beach State at Alaska Airlines Arena. #YOUmeWE pic.twitter.com/NDEiAHDsQt
— UW Men's Basketball (@UW_MBB) November 23, 2016
Next up, the Huskies will leave the cozy confines of Hec Ed to play in the Global Sports Classic in Las Vegas. Their first opponent will be the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (3-1) of Conference USA in the first round on Friday night. On a quick final side note, prior to some research this evening, I knew next to nothing about Western Kentucky other than their absurdly awesome mascot:
Go Dawgs.