Young Long Beach 49er Team Looking to Surprise BYU In Early Season Tipoff Game

The Long Beach State 49ers have rolled into Provo, looking to spoil BYU's home debut.  Dan Monson, hired this off season, is bringing a young Long Beach team in the Marriott Center.  The Marriott Center has been a daunting home field advantage for BYU, winning the last 47 games, one of the longest home winning streaks in the nation.

The 49ers are led by sensational Senior, Donovon Morris.  Listed as a guard, Donovon is their do everything leader.  As a junior he averaged 21.2 ppg while averaging 5.2 rpg.  Donovon though is going to need some help from Freshman point guard Caspar Ware and 6-6 forward Larry Anderson.  Coach Monson has recently coached at Minnesota in the Big 10, and began his head coaching career at Gonzaga.  He's guided his teams to 7 trips to the post season, finishing in the Elite eight with his Gongzaga squad in 1999.

BYU has finished post season play and is ready to start the season tonight.  The projected line up with most likely be, Lamont Morgon Jr as point guard, Jackson Emery or Jimmer Ferdette at shooting guard, Lee Cummard and Jonathan Tavernari at forwards and Chris Miles will start at center.

Cumamard will probably draw the task of guarding Donovan Morris, while Morgan or Ferdette will get 5-9 Pg Caspar Ware.  BYU should dominate in the paint, Long Beach does have have one player at 6-10, but will be starting three guards in the front court. Long Beach will need a fast start, which means Donovan Morris will need to heat up the nets early and often.

It'll be a big challenge for Coach Monson and his 49ers to beat BYU in the Marriott Center.  The key's for Long Beach will be to control the tempo early.  Hope that BYU is lethargic and tentative, and then hope to keep pace with BYU's bench depth throughout the remainder of the game.  The more likely scenario is BYU stretching their home court winning streak to 48, and extra minutes for BYU's younger players.

Game starts at 7:00 PM MST, and will not be broadcast on TV.  Tickets should be available at tip-off.