Last Saturday before Long Beach State's game against UC Santa Barbara in the Big West Tournament Championship, Casper Ware had "that look in his eye," according to his head coach Dan Monson.
"He just had a look and it was contagious," Monson said. "It was a look of 'we're doing this.'"
When Ware has that look, it normally spells doom for the opposition, as it did for the Gauchos last Saturday.
Ware scored 33 points, including 14 in the first 7:30 of the second half to lift the 49ers past UCSB and into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years.
The 49ers were on the heels of two straight losses to UC Santa Barbara in the Big West title game. They finally got past the Gauchos thanks to Ware's heroics --he was named tournament MVP.
The look is one of determination. Of focus. Of pure will, which has come around from time to time throughout Ware's career. It's a look he knew he had to have if he was going to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his career.
"I just took it upon myself not to let my team lose," Ware said of his play in the Big West final. "Anything that my team needed I just had my focus that I was ready to do it."
Ware is one of the top point guards in the country. In the last year he's won two Big West Conference Player of the Year awards, Big West Defensive Player of the year, and last summer he was named MVP of the historic Drew League in Los Angeles.
As the 49ers enter March Madness, Ware will now step onto the national stage. It's a place his coach thinks he deserves to be.
"I didn't want Casper Ware laying on the couch when he's my age not ever having that experience (of playing in the NCAA Tournament)," Monson said. "He's been too good of a team guy, too good of a player, too good of a person and deserves it."
As Ware puts the finishing touches on his collegiate career, he'll do so as the all-time leader in assists and tied for the all-time lead in steals at Long Beach State with teammate Larry Anderson. Ware was named the USBWA District IX Player of the Year, joining Derrick Williams, James Harden, Kevin Love, Arron Afflalo, and Adam Morrison as winners of the award.
He is a finalist for the Lou Henson Award given to the top Mid-Major player in Division I Men's college basketball, and he can now add NCAA Tournament participant to his resume.
"This is what you play college basketball for, to get to the NCAA tournament," Ware said. "All the accolades and all that don't mean nothing if you don't get to this tournament. That's what we preached to each other as seniors and it just meant a lot to finally hear that buzzer go off and know we were going to the tournament."
He's a dynamic playmaker and will undoubtedly be a marked man by the 49ers' second round opponent New Mexico.
The Lobos just better hope he doesn't have that look in his eye.
