Long Beach State University Athletics
Black And Blue Rivalry Coming Up Thursday In Walter Pyramid
1/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Long Beach, Calif. -
Game: Long Beach State vs. UC Irvine
Date: Thursday, January 14, 2016
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Arena: Walter Pyramid (4,200)
TV: Fox Sports Prime Ticket
TV Talent: Mark Rogondino, Corey Magette
Radio: KBEACH.org; HD 88.1-3
Radio Talent: Anthony Masterson
Webcast: Fox Sports Go
Live Stats: longbeachstate.com
RIGHT AWAY • The Black and Blue Rivalry returns, featuring one of the marquee matchups in the Big West this season, as the Beach hosts UC Irvine Thursday on Fox Sports Prime Ticket at 7:30 p.m.
• The game features two teams unbeaten in Big West play, and two of the favorites to win the conference this season. Both teams also rank in the Top 100 in the RPI, with the Anteaters sitting at 55 and the Beach holding the 92 spot. Over the last ten meetings, the teams have split evenly at 5 and 5, including one win each in the Big West Tournament and two road wins for each school.
• Nick Faust continues to lead the way for the Beach in 2015-16. After transferring from Maryland for his final season of eligibility, Faust has scored in double-figures in every game for the Beach this season, and is leading the team in scoring with 16.1 points per game. Faust is 39th in the nation in 3-point percentage at 43.8%, and also ranks in the Top 100 in the nation in total scoring.
• Justin Bibbins has been one of the best distributors in the nation this season. Bibbins is ranked 37th nationally in turnover/assist ratio and 22nd in total assists, averaging 5.7 per game for the Beach. The sophomore has also upped his scoring, averaging double-digits on the season and 18.0 points per game in league play, while adding 3.2 rebounds per game.
• The Beach has been one of the nation's best teams with the ball this season. The 49ers rank 35th in the nation in assists per game and are 35th in assist/turnover ratio, and have shot extremely well from 3-point range as well. The Beach is shooting 40.1 percent as a team, which ranks 16th in Division I.
THE PLAYERS
• LBSU has four starters with former DI experience, making up for having no returning starters in 2015-16. 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 42.1 points per game in 2015-16.
• Nick Faust was named the Big West Player of the Week after a tremendous week for the Beach on December 7. Over the course of four games in six days, Faust averaged 21.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting over 50 percent both from the floor and from three to earn the award, the first for the 49ers this season.
• The Beach has featured very balanced scoring this season, with eight players averaging over five points per game in 2015-16. In addition to Faust, Travis Hammonds and Justin Bibbins are both also scoring in double-digits at 10.1 points per game, while Gabe Levin (9.3), A.J. Spencer (8.9), Roschon Prince (7.8), Noah Blackwell (6.9), and Branford Jones (5.1) are also being strong contributors this season.
• 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 three: Once in the opener against BYU-Hawaii, a second time against Oklahoma State in Charleston, and the team's last non-conference home game against Tampa.
• Additionally, Long Beach State has seen eight of its nine regulars score in double figures this season, with all eight hitting the 10-point mark on at least two occasions.
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.
• The Beach finished their 2015-16 non-conference schedule with a record of 6-9, which for the second time under Dan Monson was rated as the most difficult non-league schedule in the nation by Ken Pomeroy as well as Jeff Sagarin. The Beach picked up Top 100 RPI wins over BYU and Seton Hall, as well as wins over Colorado State and New Mexico State while playing three teams ranked in the Top 15 in Virginia, Arizona and Duke.
• 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 six of the last seven years, including leading the nation in non-conference strength of schedule in 2012-13 and this year.
• Long Beach State begins conference play with a Top 100 RPI, one of four teams in the Big West to start league play with an RPI that high. That's a strong start for the conference as a whole, as the Big West rates as the No. 12 conference in RPI out of 32 conferences in Division I.
• 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 21 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.
• Picked to finish fourth in the Big West, Long Beach State has won at least ten games in conference play over the last five seasons, and opened the 2015-16 campaign with back-to-back wins.
• 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.
