By snoadmin
In its second road game on a four-game road trip, the Long Beach State men’s basketball team will face No. 1 UCLA tonight at Pauley Pavilion.
The 49ers (2-2) are coming off a 79-61 road loss to USC. In a losing effort, Aaron Nixon, who is averaging 17.8 points per game, was held to 13 points and two assists.
Tim Island had a career-high 12 points and Dominique Ricks had six points and a team-leading 13 rebounds. Forward Sterling Byrd, who is averaging 12.8 points per game, was held scoreless.
UCLA, a Final Four team last season, is off to a fast start. After winning their season opener, the Bruins won the EA Sports Maui Invitational in Hawaii last Wednesday.
With an 88-73 win over No. 12 Georgia Tech in the tournament championship game last Wednesday, the Bruins (4-0) moved from No. 5 in the nation to No. 1 in the AP poll and No. 2 in the coaches’ poll.
“UCLA is the best team in the country, so we are going to have to play a near-perfect game to compete,” said LBSU head coach Larry Reynolds. “Everyone is going to have to be able to shoot the ball. We have struggled lately and we will need to do much better.”
LBSU will try to repeat what the 1993 49ers did, when it beat No. 1 Kansas 64-49 on the road. However, the 49ers have not beaten a ranked opponent since 1994, losing the last nine.
