Long Beach, Harris Off to a Good Start in Big West

Lucious Harris, Cal State Long Beach’s freshman guard, wasn’t worried about playing in his first tournament game.

“I just stay cool,” Harris said after scoring a career-high 23 points to lead the 49ers to an 86-68 victory over Utah State in the Big West Conference tournament Friday at the Long Beach Arena.

Harris, who made eight of 11 shots, said he felt pressure “at first, but then it was just another game, another step.”

The victory was the eighth in a row for the 49ers (21-7), who will play New Mexico State in the semifinals tonight.

“He doesn’t panic or worry about anything. He just goes out and plays,” Tyrone Mitchell, the 49ers’ senior guard, said of Harris. “I take a lot of pressure off him--I let him play and I do the rest of the stuff.”

Mitchell had nine assists against Utah State.

Long Beach had not won a postseason game in its last five attempts, three under Coach Joe Harrington.

“That was the first tournament game for about eight of our guys, so they’re 1-0,” Harrington said.

The 49ers won the game with two big surges in the last eight minutes of the first half. Over that span, they outscored Utah State, 27-10, and led at the half, 45-31. The Aggies never seriously threatened in the second half.

Utah State lost its last lead when Kevin Cutler, who had 19 points and 12 rebounds, scored on a jump shot in the lane.

Mitchell then stole the ball from Allen Gordon and drove for a layup.

Cutler scored again in the lane to put the 49ers ahead, 28-23.

Utah State (14-16) not only started missing shots, but also started making errors against Long Beach’s press.

“Defensively they caused us problems,” Aggie Coach Kohn Smith said. “After they put on their press, they rushed us into off-balance shots.”

A three-point play by Harris and a reverse dunk by Rudy Harvey, which followed an Aggie turnover, made it 33-23.

Utah State got back to within 35-29, but the 49ers closed the half with a 10-2 run, which featured two baskets each by Cutler and Frankie Edwards, and a reverse dunk by Joseph, who had driven the baseline.

The 49ers shot 52% from the field in the first half and forced the Aggies into 13 of their 20 turnovers.

Reserve forward Frankie Edwards scored 16 points for the 49ers, making seven of 10 shots.

Kendall Youngblood led Utah State with 16 points.

“I’m happy with 21 wins,” Harrington said. “Happy but not satisfied. We’re getting into a better rhythm on offense, better than we have had at any time this season. They’re a happy bunch of guys, and they’re working hard.”