The No.1-seeded Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (26-5) and Long Beach State 49ers (20-13) meet in the third round of the BigWst tournament at Honda Center. Action begins at 11:30 pm ET on Saturday, Mar. 12 and can be seen on ES2 and ES3.
The Rainbow Warriors come into this game hoping to repeat their last performance, topping UC Santa Barbara 88-76 in the 2. Roderick Bobbitt was a key piece with 21 points, six rebounds, and five assists. The 49ers, meanwhile, are coming off a 77-72 win against UC Irvine in the 2. Justin Bibbins was the team’s top scorer, accounting for 17 points on 4-for-6 shooting.
Nick Faust has upped his play over the last five games for the 49ers, averaging 20.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.6 blocks, and 2.4 three-pointers.
Baskets could be hard to come by as Hawaii ranks fourth in the nation, allowing just 93.8 points per 100 possessions, while Long Beach State is 11th (103.3). Also, the 49ers commit the fifth-fewest errors in the nation (TO% of 17.2%), while the disruptive defense of the Rainbow Warriors causes the fourth-most (opponents’ TO% of 20.8%).
The 49ers have emerged victorious in both games against the Rainbow Warriors this year, including an 88-76 win the last time these two teams met. Bobbitt had a standout performance in the victory, putting up 21 points, six rebounds, five assists, four steals, one block, and four three-pointers.
Notes
Ranked 11th, the Long Beach State 49ers have one of the top defenses in the country, giving up just 103.3 points per 100 possessions. The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors rank 92nd in offense, scoring 109.6 points in the same number of possessions.
On average, Hawaii has 71.2 possessions per game and scores 1.096 points on each possession. Long Beach State has both fewer possessions (70.4) and scores fewer points during those possessions (1.055).
Long Beach State has an average effective field goal percentage of 50.1%. Hawaii is a winning 6-3 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
Hawaii ranks 35th in assists, recording 15.9 per game. Long Beach State ranks 64th with 15.2 assists per game.
Long Beach State ranks 195th in offensive rebounds, while Hawaii ranks at 75th in defensive rebounds.
On average, Long Beach State forces a turnover rate of 20.0%, ranked sixth in the nation. When Hawaii turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a superb 7-1 record.
