. Kris Wilkes added 17 points.The 49ers led 59-58 on Deishaun Booker's career-best fifth 3-pointer, but the Bruins took over and appeared on their way to putting the game out of reach.They outscored Long Beach State 23-5 to lead 81-64. David Singleton came off the bench to hit two 3s as part of his 10 points during the spurt.But the 49ers weren't done.They scored 12 unanswered points, getting four straight free throws by KJ Byers and consecutive 3-pointers by Bryan Alberts, to trail 81-76 as fans groaned.But then Brown dunked and Chris Smith made a pair of free throws as UCLA kept control over the final 2:21.Booker finished with a career-high 31 points for Long Beach State in its season opener. He made all eight of his free throws.After twice trailing by seven, the Bruins rallied over the final 5:44 of the first half, outscoring Long Beach State 23-11 to lead 45-41 at halftime.Jaylen Hands had two 3-pointers in the spurt, the last one coming at the buzzer to give UCLA its largest lead of the half.Temidayo Yussuf and Breyon Jackson each committed flagrant-1 fouls on Brown, who made 3 of 4 free throws over the final four minutes.Byers had a flagrant foul late in the game.The 49ers led most of the first half. They shot 48 percent from the floor and controlled the boards 22-14.BIG PICTURELong Beach State: The 49ers have just two home games this month and a tough road schedule. After UCLA, they play at Arizona State, at No. 18 Mississippi State, host Oregon State and visit Southern California. Last season, they beat Oregon State on a neutral court and beat Stanford at home. The 49ers have six seniors, but four of them have transferred in from the junior college ranks.UCLA: After winning their opener by 25 points over Fort Wayne in a game in which they led all the way, the Bruins struggled with their shooting, rebounding and 3-point defense. They have two lesser opponents to improve against before facing No. 10 Michigan State on Nov. 22.UP NEXTLong Beach State: Hosts Menlo on Saturday in a game that begins less than 24 hours after its tipoff against the Bruins.UCLA: The Bruins have a week off before hosting Saint Francis on Nov. 16.---More college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/-Top25)
Nov 08, 2018Long Beach State makes the short trek north to Pauley Pavilion on Friday for its season opener against No. 21-ranked UCLA with a tall task ahead of it.Seven-feet tall, to be exact.UCLA (1-0) began the 2018-19 season Tuesday with a 96-71 rout of Fort Wayne, and 7-foot freshman center Moses Brown made quite the debut. Brown scored 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the floor with 17 rebounds."When you think of first college games, 19 and 17 --and, again, only 10 shots -- Mo's just special," UCLA coach Steve Alford said in his postgame press conference.The only facet of Brown's game that didn't shine in his debut was his 1-of-4 free-throw shooting."You don't make free throws, the fouls are going to get harder," Alford said he warned the freshman.Beyond banking on missed foul shots, slowing UCLA will take an inside-out effort from a much smaller Long Beach State team replacing its low-post star of a season ago. All-Big West Conference Gabe Levin is gone, leaving the 49ers to replace output of 18.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game."Last year, we really kept the ball on the strong side a lot, and relied on Gabe and (Temidayo Yussuf) a lot," Long Beach State coach Dan Monson said in his season preview via the Long Beach State website. "We're trying to get more pace and space this year." Long Beach State's retooled offensive approach made an impact in the 49ers' Oct. 27 exhibition win at Cal State Bakersfield. Six-foot-eight sophomore wing Jordan Roberts built off his productive finish to the 2017-18 campaign by scoring 14 points with 10 rebounds.Coinciding with his efforts to introduce a more perimeter-oriented offense in 2018-19, Monson's team also debuts a defense he described as applying more pressure. The 49ers needed a shake-up on that side of the ball, ranking No. 254 in adjusted defensive efficiency a season ago per KenPom.com metrics.An aggressive, ball-pressure strategy may be Long Beach State's best hope of an upset, with the Bruins acclimating sophomore Jaylen Hands as full-time point guard.Hands ran the point in stretches a season ago, but more often played off-the-ball with Aaron Holiday at point. The Bruins also lack depth at the position, due to the season-ending knee injury freshman Tyger Campbell sustained last month.Nevertheless, Hands debuted as starting point guard Tuesday with seven assists against just two turnovers. His 18 points were third-most among Bruins, behind Brown's 19 and guard Kris Wilkes' career-high 27.At 13.7 points per game, Wilkes is UCLA's top returning scorer. The sophomore wing credited the Bruins' offensive output to having Brown in the post to exploit defensive rotations off of penetration."It's pretty good when you get down to the paint and have nowhere else to go, you just throw it up to Mo'," Wilkes said in the postgame press conference. "That helps out a lot." Facing UCLA sets the tone for Long Beach State's typically difficult nonconference schedule, which has become something of a program signature under Monson. The 49ers faced West Virginia, Arizona and Michigan State on the road last season, and draw UCLA, Arizona State and Mississippi State in three of their first four this season.
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