86-73 Kentucky, FINAL – The #3-ranked Wildcats just pulled away at the end, but overall this was a fantastic performance by the Long Beach State; the first time in four games against a Top 25-ranked team that the 49ers played to their full potential and competed hard for a full 40 minutes. Our courtside correspondent Tucker Savoye out it best in a text message just a few minutes ago:
Fought real hard, in the end just not enough size in the middle.”
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73-62 Kentucky, 4:30 remaining – The Wildcats have thrown their knockout punch and we’ll see now if the 49ers can stop the bleeding and make a run of their own. Long Beach is still playing tough and doing everything they needed to do to stay in this game, and if Kentucky takes over and wins because they’re just a superior team then there’s nothing wrong with that. But let’s see if Monson’s boys have a little more magic left…
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49-49, 14:00 remaining – The fear was that Kentucky would come out running and blow the lead wide open in the second half, since we were tied at the break with two of the Wildcats’ best players sitting out much of the first half. But John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins are back in and Long Beach still holds onto a lead. They’ve been able to accomplish this despite shooting poorly from the field in three distinct ways:
- Cut down on turnovers
- Limit Kentucky’s second chance opportunities
- Limit Kentucky’s fast break opportunities
Long way to go, but let’s see how the 49ers continue this encouraging performance!
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37-37, Halftime – The 49ers got off to the hot start that they needed as Larry Anderson really stepped up and played like the offensive force that we all know he is capable of being. The sophomore sunk two big free throws at the end of the half to tie us up. Can Long Beach sustain this level of play for the next twenty minutes? Keep in mind that Kentucky’s fantastic freshmen John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins sat through the latter portion of the first half, but at the same time Kentucky’s depth advantage didn’t overwhelm the 49ers. Coach Monson is heated as he’s already been handed a technical foul and Long Beach is obviously not backing down. Take a bathroom break and get ready for the second half!
Text message from Savoye, courtside at Rupp Arena: “20 mins left but LBSU has to be real pleased. Just like at ND they need to weather the storm the first five minutes after intermission cause the ‘Cats will come out hot.”
Indeed. Here we go!
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32-31 Long Beach, 2:00 – Long Beach shooting just over 30% from the field which is understandable because Kentucky lays stifling defense, but if the 49ers want to keep up they’ll need to shoot better than 50% from the free throw stripe. That said, Anderson is making a statement and Long Beach takes a lead.
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30-27 Kentucky, 3:19 – Kentucky begins to make a run while their starters sit. Does that fact tell you enough about Kentucky’s depth? Or Long Beach”s lack thereof? That’s one thing that may come back to haunt the 49ers time and time again this season, but at the same time you have to be encouraged by the way Long Beach has played thus far. The problem they’ve had with Top-25 teams this year is sustaining this level of play for 40 minutes. Ware and Robinson are doing their parts but Long Beach could really use a strong effort from Larry Anderson right now. Gilling has three 3-pointers at the moment, great sign to see him get going early.
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19-19, 9:10 – More text messages from Savoye, courtside at Rupp Arena:
- “If you thought John Wall looked fast on SportsCenter he is a blur courtside.”
- “I’ve never seen so much blue in my life. It’s like a bad dream where I woke up at Dodger stadium. But worse.”
- “The boys are not intimidated.”
So there you have it. Kentucky fans getting restless as the 49ers are putting up more of a fight than the Wildcat faithful expected. We’re currently tied at 19.
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15-14 Long Beach, 13:00 – We’ve reached our first media timeout of the game and a few notes to mention. Despite some poor shooting to begin the game, Long Beach is hanging tough behind a few quick buckets and 8 rebounds (already!) from T.J. Robinson, who at this point in the season is unquestionably Long Beach’s best player. Robinson is essentially the key factor to the 49ers playing well, followed by Casper Ware penetration. Just as I type that, Ware drives in to give Long Beach the lead!
A text message from our on-scene correspondent Tucker Savoye: “Casper to the rack! Blows right by Wall!“
Have we got ourselves a game?
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We’re less than an hour from tip-off, so let’s speculate a little bit, shall we? The 6-5 Long Beach State 49ers come into today’s game following a tough overtime loss at the hands of a very talented Loyola Marymount team; a game Long Beach could have won but allowed to slip away with poor decision making down the stretch. Today, they’ll face their fourth Top 25 ranked opponent of the season in #3 Kentucky, a squad streaking out to a 12-0 start that became the first program in the country to reach 2,000 total wins in history with an absolute drubbing of Drexel earlier this week. So there’s a bit of a contrast.
Truthfully, Kentucky may have the most raw talent of any team in the nation, and if Long Beach abandons their offensive schemes and tries to outrun the Wildcats and win this game on three-pointers – as they sometimes devolve to against high caliber teams (see: Syracuse, West Virginia) – they will get run directly out of Rupp Arena.
If the 49ers stick to their offensive gameplan and run efficient, movement-heavy offense and take advantage of quality looks, they’ll at least give themselves a chance and have a good showing against one of the nation’s definite Final Four contenders.
On defense, though, there isn’t much the 49ers can do; they’ll pretty much be at the mercy of the Wildcats professional-caliber superstars. You should all know about freshman phenom John Wall by now, but Long Beach simply does not have an answer for Kentucky’s powerful interior duo of Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins.
If Long Beach can play consistent, tough defense and avoid foul trouble – and ditch the press! – while Casper Ware looks to penetrate, Larry Anderson plays to his potential, Stephan Gilling can get an open look or two from the outside and T.J. Robinson can continue his stellar play inside, Long Beach State may be able to stick with the ‘Cats.
We’ll be right here for you as the game gets underway. What are your thoughts? Feel free to leave your two cents in the Comments section below!
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Can’t see or hear the game? We’ll be updating our live blog throughout the 49ers’ road contest against Kentucky. Check this story after tipoff at 10am Pacific time.