49ers’ Seesaw Record Raises Doubt on Tournament Bid

LONG BEACH —  Will the real Cal State Long Beach men’s basketball team please stand up?

The 49ers clobbered then-No. 1 Kansas, 64-49, Jan. 25 at Lawrence, Kan., then had their 20-game home winning streak snapped Saturday night by UC Santa Barbara, 68-59, in a Big West Conference game.

Those were the latest in a series of events that has left Coach Seth Greenberg on an emotional roller coaster.

“I accept full responsibility for the loss,” Greenberg said after Saturday night’s game. “My job as a coach is to get the players ready to play and I didn’t do that.

“I wish I could say it was something that Santa Barbara did to us, but it wasn’t anything it did. We did it to ourselves.”

The 49ers committed 21 turnovers against Santa Barbara. Their usually sound perimeter defense was nonexistent. Santa Barbara, led by guard Idris Jones’ six three-point baskets, shot 60% from the floor, making 24 of 40 attempts. The Gauchos, who defeated the 49ers 61-60 on Jan. 18, swept the two-game series with Long Beach for the third time in five seasons.

“We had two (bad) practices and we played a (bad) game,” said guard Lucious Harris, who was held to 17 points, six below his average. He made one of five from three-point range.

Were the 49ers looking ahead to their two big road games with first-place New Mexico State on Saturday night and 10th-ranked Nevada Las Vegas on Monday night?

History says they were.

Two nights before it stunned Kansas, Long Beach was embarrassed at Virginia Commonwealth, 95-61.

There are other examples.

Long Beach snapped the nation’s longest winning streak (29 games) when it defeated Las Vegas, 101-94, Jan. 7. But three days earlier, the 49ers lost, 68-56, at the University of the Pacific.

After victories at Nevada and Utah State, Long Beach blew a 22-6 lead in its loss at Santa Barbara. Three days later, in their own gym, the 49ers defeated Cal State Fullerton, 72-58.

Earlier in the year, Greenberg indicated that he though it was important for the 49ers to prove that they could win consistently, particularly on the road.

On the eve of its most important trip of the season, Long Beach hasn’t proved that. The team, which has an overall 14-4 record and is 6-3 in the Big West, has lost three of its last five games and is tied for third in the league with Fullerton.

Should the 49ers lose at New Mexico State and Las Vegas, their chances of making the NCAA tournament will be in doubt. Long Beach has not been to the tournament since 1977, although it has been to the National Invitation Tournament three of the last five seasons.

The 49ers thought they had sewed up an NCAA bid with the victories over Kansas and Las Vegas. This weekend, they will be in a fight to salvage those hopes.