After a short two-game homestand, the Long Beach State 49ers hit the road for their three final non-conference games before Big West Conference play begins on Jan. 2 at UC Riverside. Long Beach State opens the three game road swing tonight at Loyola Marymount, who already boast wins over USC (67-59) and Notre Dame (87-85).  The Lions are led by the sophomore forward transfer from Oregon, Drew Viney. The Villa Park native is averaging 17 points and 7 rebounds per game.

It only gets harder at the end of December for the 49ers as they jump on a redeye after the game at LMU and travel to Kentucky for a meeting with the No. 3 Wildcats on Wednesday. After a short break for Christmas, The Beach is back on the road facing No. 7 Duke on Dec. 29.

Long Beach State heads into Monday night’s game with a RPI of 28 (according to realtimerpi.com on Sunday) thanks to a non-conference schedule that has seen The Beach opponents win 71 percent of their games through Saturday. Among that group are three undefeated teams (West Virginia, Texas, Kentucky) and five double-digit win teams (Notre Dame, Green Bay, Clemson, Texas, Kentucky).

Come back to LBPOSTsports.com tonight for a LIVE Blog from Gersten Pavilion @ 8pm

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