By GORDON VERRELL
Staff writer

Long Beach State's men's basketball team gave nationally ranked Utah a stern test Saturday night at the Pyramid before a loud crowd of 3,536, but 49er coach Wayne Morgan found little consolation in a much-closer-than-expected 61-54 defeat.

"We lost," he said. "My kids are upset. They played to win."

They just might have if their tallest player, 6-foot-11 Mate Milisa, hadn't gone down just two minutes into the second half with a sprained left ankle, severe enough to render him doubtful for the 49ers' next game, Wednesday night at Southwest Missouri State.

"I'd have liked the opportunity to have seen what would have happened if we hadn't lost Mate," Morgan said, wistfully.

What truly did in the 49ers was the remarkable second-half play of Utah senior guard, Andre Miller, a pre-season All-American.

"He's a great player," Morgan said of Miller. "He's supposed to be the best point guard in America. In the second half he showed why."

Miller, a product of Verbum Dei High, was restricted to just five points in the first half, when the clubs left tied, 23-23.

In the second half the 6-2 Miller went on a tear, scoring 24 points to finish with 29, his career high.

"He played his butt off," Utah coach Rick Majerus said of Miller, who came in averaging 17.8. "We don't win the game without his offensive performance."

No. 21 Utah (4-3), the national runner-up last season, is the highest-ranked team to play in the Pyramid, yet the Utes never led by more than five points until the final 6 1/2 minutes. With 3:40 left, Miller rebounded his own missed free throw and tossed it back in - his 10th consecutive point - to give Utah a nine-point lead, 52-43.

The 49ers (3-4) responded with a 6-0 run, capped by Antrone Lee's driving layup and subsequent foul shot, getting to within 52-49. But the 49ers never got any closer.

They got it to three again, 57-54, on Rock Lloyd's jam. But Miller finished with four consecutive free throws.

It wasn't a pretty game, Majerus noted, but hard-fought. "Long Beach played extraordinarily hard," he said.

The 49ers' zone troubled the Utes, as have all the zones they've faced so far, but Utah still managed to penetrate it early on. And in the second half they no answer whatsoever for Miller.

"I told Andre at the half to do more," Majerus said.

Andre listened. After taking only two shots the first 20 minutes, Miller was seven for 10 in the second half.

The taller Utes worked over the 49ers on the backboards, especially after Milisa was lost for the evening, out-rebounding Long Beach State, 45-34, including 21 on the offensive end.

The Utes also were cited for just 16 personal fouls to the 49ers' 24, which Morgan found to be especially annoying, saying, " . . . and on our home court."

Lloyd led the 49ers with 15 points and Richie Smalls had 11. Alex Jensen was the only other Ute in double figures, with 15.