The Long Beach St. 49ers have one of the toughest non-conference college basketball schedules in the country. On Monday night they travel to Kentucky to face Rick Pitino and the No. 6 Louisville Cardinals at the KFC Yum! Center in a nationally televised game on ESPNU.
The 49ers (3-2) face five teams ranked in the top 17 of last week's Associated Press poll before Christmas, all on the road. Long Beach State already won at Pittsburgh, then ranked ninth, and after Louisville they have scheduled road games against Kansas (December 6), North Carolina (December 10), and Xavier (December 22).
The Cardinals (5-0) are led by Kyle Kuric, averaging 13.0 points per game so far this season, and forward Chane Behanan, who is averaging nearly a double-double with 9.2 points and 9.0 rebounds per contest. This is the first-ever meeting between Long Beach State and Louisville.
Long Beach State stumbled on Saturday in Montana against the Grizzlies, blowing a halftime lead to lose 73-71. Senior forward T.J. Robinson scored 25 points and pulled down 13 boards against Montana, his third double-double in five games this season. Robinson is averaging 14.4 points and 11.6 rebounds this season.
Monday night's 4:02 p.m. PST game will be televised by ESPNU.