Long Beach State University NCAA News

Long Beach State guard Mike Caffey goes up against Cal State Northridge guard Landon Drew, left, in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game of the Big West Conference men's tournament in Anaheim, Calif., Friday, March 14, 2014.

GAME NOTES: A pair of teams with overall records below .500 find themselves in the semifinals of the Big West Conference Tournament, as the Cal State Northridge Matadors go up against the Long Beach State 49ers at the Honda Center.

Ridge Shipley scored 15 points in a balanced attack and seventh-seeded Cal Poly used two big first-half runs to crush second-seeded Santa Barbara 69-38 in the opening game of the Big West tournament on Thursday.

Mike Caffey scored 14 points and No. 3 seed Long Beach State beat sixth-seeded Cal State Fullerton 66-56 in the first round of the of the Big West Conference tournament on Thursday.

The fourth-ranked Florida State sand volleyball team defeated reigning AVCA National Champions and third-ranked Long Beach State, 3-2, marking the Seminoles' biggest win in school history.

The No. 14 Penn State men's volleyball team is headed to the west coast this weekend for a pair of non-conference clashes at the Active Ankle Classic.

LONG BEACH, CALIF.>> Hawaii picked up its first Big West tournament victory since rejoining the conference in women's basketball in a 52-49 second-round defeat of Long Beach State on Wednesday night.

The top eight teams in the Big West descend upon the Honda Center in Anaheim, and even with the regular season champion going 13-3 in league play this shapes up to be a highly competitive three days.

Well, add Casper Ware's name to the list of guys the Sixers are working out that I've never heard of.

The surging Long Beach State volleyball team avenged an early season loss to No.

The bad news for the Long Beach State women's basketball team is that it'll have to take the very long route to a Big West title this week.

The 49ers will enter Thursday's Big West Tournament as the No. 3 seed and will face either Cal State Northridge or Cal State Fullerton, teams that have both defeated the 49ers over the past eight days.

Long Beach State led 34-22 at halftime and by as many as 19 in the second half as the 49ers snapped a two-game skid.

A Cougar comeback attempt fell short Friday, as No. 2 BYU fell 4-1 to No. 3 Long Beach State on the road.

The Matadors shot 51 percent from the field and went 34 of 39 from the free-throw line.

No. 2 BYU men's volleyball hits the road again for matches against No. 3 Long Beach State on Friday and Cal State Northridge on Saturday.

Vanderbilt's Kyle Fuller, from Moreno Valley Rancho Verde, drives to the basket in a recent game against Auburn.

On Thursday, Travis Hammonds knocked out Hawaii with a 3-pointer in the final seconds for a 65-63 win.

GAME NOTES: With three games remaining on the regular season schedule, the Long Beach State 49ers will be looking to extend a three-game win streak and move up the Big West Conference leaderboard, and they'll start with the Cal State Fullerton Titans at Titan Gym.

The Long Beach State men's volleyball team picked up a critical MPSF victory on Friday evening, defeating Stanford in four sets, 25-27, 25-23, 25-18, 25-23.