Advertisement

MEN

Share

* No. 4 STANFORD (5-0) at LONG BEACH STATE (3-2), 7:30 p.m., KPLS (830)--The 49ers fared fairly well in Hawaii, winning two of three and taking third in the Big Island Invitational, but it was also a case of two different teams. In wins over San Francisco and Tulane, they had big first-half leads and nearly let them get away. Against Oregon State, an awful start in the first five minutes did them in. The 49ers can ill afford to fall behind early against the Cardinal. Coach Wayne Morgan said he’ll try to mix in different zone defenses with basic man-to-man coverage, but added that Stanford is hard to defend because of its outside shooting ability. So far, any defense hasn’t worked. Opponents are shooting 56% from the field. All-America candidate Casey Jacobsen leads the Cardinal in scoring at 16.2 points a game. The game, a sellout, is a homecoming for Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery, a 49er grad, and point guard Michael McDonald, formerly of Long Beach Poly. Long Beach reserve forward Vance Lawhorn’s knee is not responding well from surgery a month ago and is out indefinitely.

Advertisement