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Long Beach State will take a break of sorts when it plays host to Eastern New Mexico in a nonconference men’s basketball game tonight at 8:05 at Walter Pyramid.

A break as in the 49ers are not playing another highly ranked team on the road. That won’t happen again until Thursday, when Long Beach takes on no. 8 Xavier in the first round of the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu.

The Greyhounds are 9-3, but their schedule has been the opposite of the 49ers’ in that their victories have come against the likes of Southeastern Oklahoma State, Oklahoma Panhandle State (twice), New Mexico Highlands and Northern New Mexico, to name a few of the nondescript teams.

Still, Long Beach coach Dan Monson is not taking Eastern New Mexico lightly. The Greyhounds have the ability to score some serious points, and that is not lost on the fifth-year coach.

“Again, I think it’s one of those things where they are a very good offensive team, and like Boise State, if you let them come in and get comfortable, they have a capability of beating you,” said Monson, whose team beat Boise State 72-62 on Nov. 22. “They have scored over 100 points several times this year. if I remember right, three times already this year.

“We’ve gotta come in and again continue to have a defensive mindset.”

Eastern New Mexico is averaging 83.1 points. The Greyhounds are led in scoring by Reggie Nelson, a senior guard averaging 14.9 points. Stefan Mirabal, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, is averaging 12.3 points and has made a team-high 26 3-pointers.

Senior guard Casper Ware was asked last week about Eastern New Mexico. But he was more concerned with the 49ers, who are 1-3 against ranked teams on the road. they won at then-No. 9 Pittsburgh; they lost by 13 to no. 6 Louisville; and had solid chances to beat no. 13 Kansas and no.4 North Carolina before losing by eight and six points, respectively.

“We haven’t really started studying yet,” Ware said when asked about the Greyhounds, “because right now, we are trying to work on ourselves. we just want to clean up some stuff that we need to clean up to win some of these big games we have been losing.”

Such as?

“Just mental mistakes,” Ware said. “Unforced turnovers, rotating to the right spot, calling for subs and not trying to stay out there too long so it would turn into a mistake.”

Housekeeping necessary

Ladies first

The Long Beach women’s team led wire-to-wire as it defeated Western Michigan 76-56 on the first day of the Beach Classic at Walter Pyramid.

LBSU won its second consecutive game to improve to 5-7 overall and it also stayed perfect at home with a 4-0 mark.

The 49ers’ 76 points were a season high as they shot an impressive 50.8 percent from the field while holding the Broncos to 32.7 percent. LBSU also owned a 38-33 advantage in rebounding.

Lauren Spargo led the 49ers with a career-high 18 points and seven rebounds. Mary Ochiltree added a career-best 17 points, while Tipesa Moorer and Alex Sanchez finished with 13 points apiece. Sanchez also had a game-high eight rebounds and eight assists.

Long Beach State raced out to an 9-0 lead following Sanchez’s 3-pointer at the 17:30 mark. Western Michigan (2-7) eventually scored its first field goal with 14:47 on the clock and the Broncos then went on to cut the deficit to 12-6. The 49ers answered with an 11-5 spurt, capped by a pair of free throws by freshman Chantel Dooley, to pull ahead 23-10 with 9:19 remaining.

LBSU continued its aggressive play on both ends of the floor, going up by as many as 17 before taking a 39-26 lead into the break.

Maria Iaquaniello paced Western Michigan with 22 points, while Jazmine Windham chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds.

Long Beach State will take on Wichita State, a 90-64 winner over Texas-Arlington, in the championship game today at 5.

robert.morales@presstelegram.com