After surviving a tight contest with UC Irvine in the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament on Thursday, the No. 1 seed Long Beach State 49ers will face the No. 7 UC Riverside Highlanders today in the tournament semifinals. The game will take place at 6:30pm at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

The 49ers beat Irvine, 79-72, behind 23 points from conference Player of the Year Casper Ware. At one point, he made four consecutive 3-pointers to pull Long Beach out of an early hole and take a lead into the half. But Irvine did not submit and had a 61-57 lead with under six minutes to play. Irvine pushed until the final minute, but Long Beach unleashed a 22-11 run to end the game. Clutch baskets by Ware and All-First Team guard Larry Anderson sealed the outcome. The victory was Long Beach’s tenth straight.

In the second round, head coach Dan Monson & Co. will face Riverside, who advanced after upsetting No. 2 Cal Poly in a 70-66 overtime game. Highlanders guard Kareem Nitoto scored 23 for the win. In two previous meetings this season, Long Beach defeated Riverside twice, a 68-55 home win and an 82-76 road victory.

In the other semifinal game, No. 3 Cal State Northridge will play No. 5 UC Santa Barbara. Despite their lower seed, the Gauchos are surely the more dangerous of the two to Long Beach’s championship hopes. Northridge blew out Fullerton on Thursday, while Santa Barbara took down Pacific.

We will provide live game updates on Twitter at the handle @LBPOSTSports. We will also have a game recap and photos following the game.