Long Beach State’s Larry Anderson could miss conference tournament
Long Beach State guard Larry Anderson, the Big West Conference’s defensive player of the year, will probably miss this week’s conference tournament, 49ers Coach Dan Monson said Monday.
Anderson, a senior, sustained a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee during a game at Cal State Fullerton on Saturday. Fullerton defeated Long Beach, 77-74, handing the 49ers their first loss of the conference season.
Long Beach, 22-8 overall, won the Big West regular season with a conference record of 15-1. Monson said Anderson, because of his competitive nature, might try to play at some point this week, though it is highly unlikely he would try it in Long Beach’s opener Thursday against UC Davis at the Honda Center.
Monson said Anderson should be ready to play next week in the NCAA tournament, if the 49ers can get there. Saturday’s loss to Fullerton probably eliminated Long Beach as an NCAA at-large candidate, forcing the 49ers to claim the Big West’s automatic bid by winning the conference tournament.
Anderson, a three-time all-conference selection, is averaging 14.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in 34.7 minutes per game. He probably will be replaced in the starting lineup by freshman Mike Caffey.
Long Beach swept the Big West awards, announced Monday. Senior guard Casper Ware was the conference’s player of the year and Monson was coach of the year in addition to Anderson being recognized as the top defensive player.
Senior forward T.J. Robinson joined teammates Ware and Anderson as first-team selections, along with guards Orlando Johnson of UC Santa Barbara, Phil Martin of UC Riverside and D.J. Seeley of Fullerton. Forward Stephan Hicks of Cal State Northridge was freshman of the year.
All-Pac-12
Senior guard Jorge Gutierrez of California was chosen Pac-12 Conference player of the year and defensive player of the year, the conference announced Monday.
Lorenzo Romar of Washington was coach of the year and Huskies guard Tony Wroten was freshman of the year.
Joining Gutierrez and Wroten on the first team were guards Allen Crabbe of California, Jared Cunningham of Oregon State, Kyle Fogg of Arizona, Devoe Joseph of Oregon, Terrence Ross of Washington and forwards Solomon Hill of Arizona, Brock Motum of Washington State and Andre Roberson of Colorado.
Guard Lazeric Jones of UCLA was a second-team selection and Bruins forward David Wear received honorable mention.
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