A trip to Brigham Young and Wisconsin was not expected to yield much for the Long Beach State men’s basketball team.
But a 10-point loss to BYU on Friday and a very close 68-61 loss to No. 21 Wisconsin Sunday afternoon shows how far this team has come in a very short time.
Wisconsin senior Marcus Landry was the second super-forward to doom the ‘Niners in as many games.
After BYU All-American Lee Cummard took it to LBSU two days ago, Landry controlled the game for the Badgers (1-0) on both ends of the floor.
He had 23 points, four rebounds and three huge blocks. No three points were bigger than the long-range triple he knocked down with the shot clock winding down and Wisconsin up one with 30 seconds to play.
The three gave Wisconsin a 65-61 lead and LBSU (0-2) couldn’t recover.
Donovan Morris missed a three-point attempt from the left corner with just over a minute to play and a chance to give LBSU a two-point lead.
Morris led a balance ‘Niners attack with 12 points. He kept them in the game with a scoring spurt mid-way through the second half. Morris scored 10 points on five consecutive possessions, taking an eight-point deficit down to two and forcing a Wisconsin timeout.
Arturas Lazdauskas provided a spark off the ‘Niners bench. He scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds, including three offensive boards.
Wisconsin led 36-33 at the half despite trailing most of the way. Long Beach came out of the gate on fire, knocking down five of their first seven 3-pointers to take control of the game early. They led by as many as six, including a 31-25 margin with four minutes left in the half, before the Badgers closed out the half on a 11-2 run.
Ten different 49ers scored in the first half and all 11 that got on the floor registered at least two points when Maurice Clady knocked down a late jumper.
The ‘Niners did a nice job of taking care of the ball, committing only eight turnovers. They were whistled for 22 fouls to only nine for Wisconsin.
After starting the game 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, LBSU went 0-of-11 from long distance the rest of the game including 0-of-8 in the second half.
Wisconsin is 108-7 at the Kohl Center under head coach Bo Ryan.
LBSU returns to the Walter Pyramid for its home opener Saturday against Weber State at 4 p.m.