NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT : CS Long Beach, Stanford Play for First Time Tonight

Strangers to postseason basketball and to each other, Cal State Long Beach and Stanford will play here tonight in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

The 49ers, who have never played Stanford, are in the NIT for the first time in eight years.

“Who would have guessed we’d get a postseason bid the first year,” said Joe Harrington, who led the 49ers to a 17-11 record in his initial season at Long Beach.

The Cardinal (20-11), coached by former Long Beach player Mike Montgomery, is in a postseason game for the first time since 1942, when they won the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament.

After losing to UC Irvine, 74-69, in last week’s Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. tournament, the 49ers had to wonder for three days if they’d be one of the 32 teams to get a bid to the NIT.

“Our players are just glad to be playing in the NIT because of the way some of them played against Irvine,” Harrington said.

Added center John Hatten: “We were lousy against Irvine, so we still have a statement to make.”

The teams are style opposites.

Stanford, one of only two teams that beat Arizona this season, excels in rebounding, a 49er weakness. The Cardinal prefers a half-court game, getting the ball inside, a strategy reflected in 52% shooting.

Long Beach is at its best in an up-tempo game, using a full-court press.

“I think we’ll do all right because we’ll be rested,” Harrington said.

Stanford may not be so fresh, having taken final examinations this week.

Both teams are led in scoring by 6-foot 4-inch guards. Senior Morlon Wiley, who made the All-PCAA team, is averaging 20.1 points a game for the 49ers. Junior Todd Lichti, All-Pacific 10 for the third straight season, is averaging 19.6 points for the Cardinal.

Inside, Stanford goes to 6-8 forward Howard Wright, who is averaging 16 points and 8 rebounds a game, and 6-11 center Greg Butler, averaging 13 points and 6 rebounds.

Long Beach’s center tandem of Hatten and starter DeAnthony Langston have combined for 19 points and 9 rebounds a game.

After Wiley, the 49ers’ biggest scoring threat is 6-5 forward Andre Purry, who has a 14.7 average after scoring 26 against Irvine.

If the 49ers win three games, they will go to Madison Square Garden in New York for the semifinals. But they know the danger of looking ahead.