Pittsburgh Basketball: Long Beach State Provides Another Upset for Wild Season

I want my NBA, but I will take the zany stuff that is going down in college basketball any day. 

The hits keep coming as another basketball giant was sent packing by an underrated team. Long Beach State controlled the game Wednesday night beating No. 9 Pittsburgh 86-76. 

This was the second upset dealt to a hopeful top 10 program in the last week. The then-No. 7 Vanderbilt Commodores were pummeled by Cleveland State on Sunday in a regional game in the Legends Classic. 

Cleveland State dominated Vandy from start to finish. No team is safe from such precipitous plunges,  as Pittsburgh met the same fate that should see them tumble the same way Vandy did down the rankings. 

The Panthers shared the ball well as four starters ended with double-digit point production. The real mess was on their bench and on the defensive end. 

At this point in the season, both things can be forgiven—to a point. While Panthers point guard Ashton Gibbs struggled with 8-for-21 shooting, the 49ers stud PG Casper Ware had no such issue. 

Ware had a game high 28 points, shooting 10-for-18 with six assists. Top 10 teams beware, those lesser squads are not about to roll over and die. 

Sure, we may be without NBA action for yet another night, but with results like this who really cares? The game started with a flurry and by halftime the 49ers had a comfortable lead and never relented. 

The last thing to come to a team is defense as the chemistry take a couple weeks to really be infused onto the court. So it's no surprise that Pittsburgh and other big-time squads have had a hard time stopping teams from scoring. 

That being said, you have to like Long Beach State and their chances of putting together a solid season after an already amazing start.