Game info

Matchup: Long Beach State (3-4) at Arizona (3-3)

Where: McKale Center

When: 6 p.m. Wednesday

Watch: Pac-12 Networks

Listen: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM

Probable starters: Arizona

Probable starters: Long Beach State

How they match up

The series 

Arizona is 6-0 all-time against the 49ers, though all games have been at McKale Center. The Wildcats are 3-0 in the semi-regular series the teams have had under coaches Sean Miller and Dan Monson, with the last meeting the closest: An 85-70 UA win on Dec. 22, 2015, when Allonzo Trier scored 20 points and Ryan Anderson had 11 points and 14 rebounds. Four other UA players scored in double figures.

Long Beach State overview

The 49ers annually play one of the nation’s toughest nonconference schedules, which is one reason Arizona has invited them back frequently — LBSU’s RPI is usually strong as a result, so the Wildcats won’t hurt theirs by playing the 49ers.

LBSU eased up a bit this season, but still has already traveled to Oregon State, West Virginia and played a tournament in Orlando, where it beat Oregon State but lost to Missouri and Nebraska. They also have plans to play at Michigan State next month.

The problem the 49ers have this year is that the tough schedule comes on top of some major roster change. After they underachieved to a 15-19 record last season, five players left the program early, including second-team all-Big West point guard Justin Bibbins, who left as a grad transfer to Utah (Arizona will see him on Jan. 4).

LBSU went from having three point guards to none, though pass-first JUCO transfer Deishuan Booker has been serviceable. They aren’t huge up front but Temidayo Yussef, a second-team all Big West can skillfully use his 265 pounds when he comes off the bench. LBSU plays with one of the faster tempos in the country. Opponents have shot 44.8 percent and averaged 81.4 points against them.

He said it

“They’re the fastest tempo team we’ve played. It’s going to really challenge our transition defense. They’re battle-tested. They play the hardest nonconference schedule in the world. ... So it’s not like they’re going to walk into here in McKale and worry about anything.” — Miller

Key player: Gabe Levin

Chances are, the transfer from Loyola Marymount via Marquette (though he never played for the Eagles), won’t be intimidated by McKale Center. Levin dropped double-doubles on North Carolina and Louisville last season before suffering a season-ending knee injury — and had 22 points and 16 rebounds against Nebraska on Sunday.

Key player: Alex Barcello

The Wildcats need a dependable backup point guard, and didn’t have one in the Bahamas last week when the freshman from Phoenix appeared to lose confidence and was 0-6 from the field with four turnovers to his one assist. The home atmosphere might revive him.

Back to normal

One of the few bright spots for Arizona in the Bahamas was the reemergence of freshman wing Brandon Randolph, who scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half Friday against Purdue to keep the Wildcats from further embarrassment during an 89-64 loss.

Randolph scored 10 points through the first 12 minutes of the second half to put the Wildcats back in the game, hitting two straight jumpers to cut the Boilermakers’ lead to 71-59 with 7:57 left.

“I feel like I’m back to my normal self,” Randolph said Tuesday, at UA’s weekly news conference. “After the concussion we haven’t had a real live practice but I’m getting back in the rhythm and I think that last game allowed me to get my flow back. I was a little tentative, a little nervous.”

Rawle Alkins still a question mark

Rawle Alkins will be nine weeks removed from surgery to repair his broken foot Wednesday, but Miller said he still doesn’t “completely” know when the sophomore wing will return, including whether he might be available for UA’s Dec. 5 game with unbeaten and ninth-ranked Texas A&M.

“If we were in a single-elimination NCAA Tournament, Pac-12 tournament game, he might be able to play,” Miller said Tuesday. “But we want to be really cautious and make sure we give him time. He’s able to do things for noncontact (drills) and we’ll steadily increase that. What I would hope is sometimes in the near future he’ll be close to being able to play.”

Zags forever

Monson left Gonzaga 18 years ago, after taking the Bulldogs to their breakthrough Elite Eight appearance in Phoenix back in 1999, heading to Minnesota and then Long Beach State. But when the Zags finally broke through to the Final Four last season, Gonzaga coach Mark Few, who served as an assistant under Monson, made sure he was included.

“He called me and said, ‘Hey, here’s a number to call. We’ve got hotel rooms, buses and everything set up. I want you to be a part of this,'" Monson said. “I said ‘Mark, it’s been 18 years since I was there’ but he said, ‘This is not a team accomplishment, it’s a program accomplishment, a brick-by-brick accomplishment.'"

Monson was invited to attend staff meetings and be around the team while he said Few even converted a hotel room the NCAA provided for players to have as a game room instead into one where coaches and former coaches’ kids could hang out.

Everybody bonded as a result: Monson said his kids have Snapchatted Few’s kids every week since then. “Nobody can take away that maybe you have a small piece in it,” Monson said, “but Mark Few made that week special.”

On-the-court learning

Because Long Beach State stacks a “fall break” into the three days before Thanksgiving, and because only one of its players has a Friday class, Monson was able to pull off a scheduling oddity earlier this month: His team left Long Beach on Nov. 17, and didn’t return until Monday morning — a full 10 days on the road — yet they didn’t miss an entire day of class, except for one player. Then they turned around Tuesday afternoon and flew to Tucson.

“We’ll miss more school for the Arizona game than the last five,” Monson said. “It’s a very challenging schedule but one in which I feel we can get better,” Monson said. “All these games give us a chance to improve. This is a true preseason. Our season starts when we hit league. We’re excited to come play against Arizona.

Numbers game

0

Field goals made combined by Barcello and Emmanuel Akot on seven shots over three games last week.

10

Of 54 3-pointers made by Arizona over three games in the Battle 4 Atlantis, with Dylan Smith going 1 for 9 and Allonzo Trier 3 for 16.

42.2

Percent 3-point shooting by Arizona opponents in the Battle 4 Atlantis games.

43

Straight Arizona nonconference home wins, the third-longest nationally behind Duke (136) and Baylor (45).