Game Day Essentials: Game #7 vs Long Beach State

Lon Beach State

Head Coach: Dan Monson
Location: Long Beach, CA
Conference: Big West Conference

Nickname: 493rs
Mascot: Prospector Pete
Last time out: Beat Oregon St
Typical Rotation Depth: 10+
Line: Nebraska by 7
4 Factors

Tempo: Shoot quickly

Style: Multiple zones, man vs man, or whatever he comes up with on the John. Offensively, quickly get to the rim.

Impress your friends fact: Dan Monson got his start at Gonzaga and is the son of long time coach Don Monson 

Impress your friends fact: Monson coached at Minnesota and when he quit mid-season in 2006, his then assistant Jim Molinari took over as coach

Impress your friends fact: Due to scheduling, LBSU has played Oregon St twice already

Player to watch:  Gabe Levin

The 6'7" 240 lb Sr is the 49ers leading scorer and one of three guys in double figures. What really sets him apart is he's the only guy averaging over 4 rebounds a game (8.3)

The Skinny: The Huskers have thus far played in a pattern of bad game followed by good game with Eastern Illinois being bad enough for us to still be 4-2. This is a 49er team punchy enough to knock off a Power 5 team that isn't bringing it, especially from defense, as they showed vs Oregon St.

On offense the 49ers are fast strike, often taking the first available shot. They're mostly trying to drive to the hoop but they're also not afraid to work the ball around a jack up a 3 or whatever the situation. Long Beach St is pretty sloppy with the ball so the name of the game is simply getting set on defense and blocking a lot of their junk to the rim. Most of the 49ers are capable of taking a 3pt shot but the guy to watch out for is Bryan Alberts as he's taken 43 of their 124 attempts.

Defensively the Huskers need to not be too mesmerized by the constantly changing defenses.  I saw Long Beach run some 3/4 court pressure that they'd occasionally trap with and that fell into a 2-3 zone. I saw a 1-3-1, man, and that was just during the 10 minutes of game I scrolled through. Nebraska needs to continue to rotate the ball around, get Issac and Jordy working inside, get Palmer driving, and Watson hitting shots. The defenses might be varied, but they haven't really been stopping anyone. There should be plenty of offense from fast breaks and FTs to augment an off shooting day here.

Do the Huskers finally break their pattern of following up great games by tanking? 

Prediction: Nebraska 80 - Long Beach St 65