Long Beach State University Athletics
Beach Looks For Third Straight Win At UCLA Today
12/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Long Beach, Calif. -
Game: Long Beach State at UCLA
Date: Sunday, December 6, 2015
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Arena: Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
TV: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Roxy Bernstein, Steve Lavin
Radio: KBEACH.org; HD 88.1-3
Radio Talent: Anthony Masterson
Webcast: Pac-12.com/live
Live Stats: uclabruins.com
RIGHT AWAY
• Long Beach State closes its busiest run of the season, four games in six games, by heading north to face UCLA in Pauley Pavilion on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Pac-12 Networks.
• LBSU has played three times since last Tuesday. The 49ers dropped the first game at home to San Diego State, but have won two straight, beating Colorado State in Fort Collins before stifling New Mexico State in a home win.
• Over the three-game stretch, senior Nick Faust is averaging 21.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, while Justin Bibbins is averaging 10.3 points and 5.7 assists per game. Travis Hammonds, A.J. Spencer, and Gabe Levin are also all averaging over eight points per game this week.
• UCLA leads the all-time series against the two programs 13-1. The teams met in three straight NCAA Tournaments during the 1970s, and Long Beach State, under Dan Monson, won the only other neutral-site meeting between the teams 79-68 in 2009. The Beach has never won at Pauley Pavilion, and UCLA has never played LBSU in Long Beach.
• Balanced scoring has been the strength of Long Beach State in 2015-16. While it had been three full seasons since LBSU had five players score in double-figures, this squad has already had five players finish in double-figure scoring twice: Once in the opener against BYU-Hawaii and a second time against Oklahoma State in Charleston.
• Justin Bibbins has been filling up the stat sheet in the early part of the season after replacing three-time All-Big West selection Mike Caffey at the point for LBSU. Bibbins entered the weekend ranked 31st nationally in turnover/assist ratio and 16th in total assists, averaging 6.0 per game for the Beach while adding 8.9 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
THE PLAYERS
• For the first time since the 2006-07 season, entering head coach Dan Monson's first season at the Beach, the 49ers return no starters from the previous season. LBSU has four starters with former DI experience however. Senior Nick Faust transfers in from Maryland, and the Beach gets a pair of sophomores in Gabe Levin from LMU and Roschon Prince from USC, along with 2013-14 LBSU starter A.J. Spencer who missed 2014-15 with a knee injury. Combined the foursome averaged 33.8 points per game in 2013-14, and that number has gone up to 41.4 points per game in 2015-16.
• Nick Faust blew past 1,000 points scored with a big week in Charleston. The senior has scored in double-figures in all seven of his games at the Beach, and the Baltimore, Md. native leads Long Beach State in scoring at 16.2 points per game as well as in minutes, averaging 31.4 per game.
• The Beach has featured very balanced scoring this season however, with seven players averaging over six points per game in 2015-16. In addition to Faust, Travis Hammonds is also averaging double-digit scoring this season at 10.4 points per game, while A.J. Spencer (9.1), Justin Bibbins (8.9), Roschon Prince (8.3), Gabe Levin (7.8), and Noah Blackwell (5.9) are also being strong contributors this season.
• Long Beach State has gotten good production from its bench early in the year. With Travis Hammonds, Branford Jones, Noah Blackwell and Mason Riggins all playing good minutes, the foursome is averaging 23.9 points per game this season.
• On the bench for the Beach, junior Anson Moye, two-sport athlete and LBSU Track and Field High Jumper Quentin Shropshire and redshirt freshman Alex Rifkind have each played in two or three games this season. Sophomore Temidayo Yussuf is on the sidelines for an extended period following a second injury this season.
• Looking ahead, Long Beach State has one more Division I transfer in Evan Payne. The junior point guard must sit out the 2015-16 season after averaging 16.7 points per game over two seasons with Loyola Marymount.
THIS AND THAT
• With each win in 2015-16, Dan Monson increases his own record of career wins at Long Beach State. Monson, in his ninth season, passed two legends of the game and of LBSU last year, passing Seth Greenberg and Jerry Tarkanian to move into the top spot among the winningest coaches at the Beach.
• As usual under Dan Monson, Long Beach State will likely again have one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in the nation. Four teams the Beach will play currently rank in the Top 25, as the Beach faced Virginia (#6) in Charleston and still has Duke, Arizona and Oregon on the schedule. Also receiving votes are two of the four opponents for the Beach this week in San Diego State and Colorado State, while UCLA defeated Kentucky on Friday.
• Over the past six seasons, Long Beach State has ranked no lower than sixth in non-conference strength of schedule, and the Beach has ranked in the top three in five of the last six years, including leading the nation in non-conference strength of schedule in 2012-13.
• Over the last two seasons, Long Beach State has broken its previous television exposure record - playing 21 games on TV in 2013-14 and then a program-record 25 in 2014-15. This season, the Beach is scheduled to hit the airwaves as many as 22 times entering the postseason. The TV journey began with ESPN's Tip-Off Marathon, which saw the 49ers host BYU on ESPN2 in a 66-65 win.
• Long Beach State picked up back-to-back wins against Top 100 RPI opponents early in the season. The Beach defeated BYU 66-65 in a defensive struggle at home, and then outscored Seton Hall 80-77 in the opening game of the Gildan Charleston Classic to hold on to what should be two impressive wins down the road.
• LBSU opened the season 2-0 for the first time since 2011-12 -- the last time the Beach went to the NCAA Tournament. The 2015-16 season also marks the first time the team has opened the year 3-0 since the 1993-94 campaign.
