Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State Basketball Hosts Home Opener Friday
11/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Long Beach, Calif. -
Game: Cal State Los Angeles at Long Beach State
Date: Friday, November 11, 2016
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Arena: Walter Pyramid (4,200)
TV: None
TV Talent: None
Radio: KBEACH.org; HD 88.1-3
Radio Talent: Anthony Masterson
Webcast: Beach Vision
Live Stats: beachlivestats.com
RIGHT AWAY
• Long Beach State has won five straight home openers, and will have the opportunity to make it six when Cal State Los Angeles comes to the Walter Pyramid this Friday. All-time, Long Beach State is 55-11 in openers, and are 7-2 in the opening game under Dan Monson.
• In the all-time series between the long-ago conference rivals, Long Beach State leads 26-22, and have a tremendous 19-6 record at home against Cal State Los Angeles. The teams met regularly shortly after LBSU's founding, starting with two games in 1950-51, but have met just once since 1977, a 97-73 win in the 1992 season in Long Beach.
• Long Beach State was the favorite to win the Big West Conference in 2016-17 as picked by the media panel in the Preseason Big West Poll. The 49ers received 19 of 23 first-place votes to end up placed in front of UC Irvine and CSUN in the top three. UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis and Cal State Fullerton made up the middle while UC Riverside, Hawai'i and Cal Poly rounded out the order.
• Long Beach State returns three starters and four players that averaged over 5.0 points per game last season from a squad that reached the NIT for the eighth time in school history. In all, the 49ers return eight letterwinners from the 2015-16 team that recorded 20 wins.
• 2015-16 marked the third 20-win season for the Beach under Dan Monson, and the 14th in 66 seasons of Beach basketball.
THE PLAYERS
• Juniors Justin Bibbins and Gabe Levin were both named to the seven-player Preseason All-Big West team. Both returning starters, Bibbins was a Second Team All-Big West selection a season ago in a breakout season. His 164 assists were the third-most in a single season at the Beach, and his 85.5 free throw percentage was the second-best in a season for any 49er as well. Averaging 12 points and five assists per game, Bibbins was the second-leading scorer on the team and averaged a team high 31.1 minutes per game. Levin averaged 9.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in his first season at the Beach, earning Honorable Mention All-Big West honors and shooting over 50 percent from the floor and leading the team in blocks.
• Giving Long Beach State a lift will be Loyola Marymount transfer Evan Payne. A junior, Payne sat out last season as a Division I transfer, but averaged 16.7 points per game over his two seasons with the Lions, including scoring 18 points per game as a sophomore. Starting 37 games at LMU, Payne shot 43.8 percent from the field and 34.9 percent from three, scoring nearly 1,000 points in just two seasons.
• Long Beach State will get a big frontcourt boost from three returners who have all started at least 10 games in one season for the 49ers. Temidayo Yussuf is back after missing last season on a medical redshirt after starting 10 games as a freshman. Junior Roschon Prince started 11 games last season for LBSU, averaging 6.5 points per game and 3.5 rebounds while playing both forward positions. Sophomore Mason Riggins started 23 games last season, averaging 3.7 points and 2.6 rebounds in his first full season, while also shooting over 50 percent from the field. The trio give Long Beach State a number of solid returning options on the post.
• One more key returning member is sophomore guard Noah Blackwell. Averaging 5.8 points per game a season ago, Blackwell was third on the team with 72 assists, and finished the year with the best assist/turnover ratio in conference play in the Big West, making 34 assists with just 10 turnovers.
• Another newcomer for the Beach is Barry Ogalue, who transferred to the team following two seasons at Yuba College, where he was a two-time first-team All-Conference selection. Averaging 17.9 points and 6.0 rebounds in his last full season as a sophomore, Ogalue will press for immediate time on the wing.
• Long Beach State will feature four freshman as well this season. Coming off of a redshirt season is the team's tallest player, forward LaRond Williams. He'll be joined by three true freshman in point guard Loren Jackson, shooting guard Jordan Griffin and wing player Javonntie Jackson, a strong recruiting class that all should have an impact in the coming season.
• Three other players for the Beach return for the 2016-17 campaign. The team's lone senior, Anson Moye is back for his fourth and final season, and is joined by another guard in sophomore Alex Rikind. Two-sport athlete Quentin Shropshire will also continue to play forward with the Beach after previously competing with the Big West Champion Men's Track and Field program.
THIS AND THAT
• Head Coach Dan Monson is the winningest coach at Long Beach State, with more victories than basketball luminaries such as Jerry Tarkanian, Tex Winter, and Seth Greenberg who have also coached at the Beach. With 96 conference wins in nine seasons, Monson is four league wins away from becoming just the seventh coach in Big West history to record 100 victories in Big West play. Under Monson, Long Beach State has also made the postseason in four out of the last six seasons.
• The Beach is on a run of six straight seasons with 10 or more wins in conference play, the longest such streak in school history. The streak is tied with Utah State for the longest in the Big West since Utah State had a six-season run from 1999-2000 to 2004-05, and one more season would be the longest except for a seven-year stretch from 88-89 to 94-95 and UNLV's run of 10 straight seasons under Tarkanian.
• Over the past seven seasons, Long Beach State has ranked no lower than sixth in the nation in non-conference strength of schedule, and the Beach has ranked in the top three in each of the last four years, including leading the nation both in 2012-13 and last season.
• The slate isn't any easier in the non-conference schedule in 2016-17 for Long Beach State. The 49ers will play seven teams that played in the NCAA Tournament one season ago, including two No. 1 seeds. On the schedule are games against five teams ranked in the coaches poll, including two in the Top 10. Long Beach State will play three ranked teams in the first week and a half of the year, traveling to Wichita State, No. 6 North Carolina, No. 14 Louisville, and No. 20 UCLA.
• In the last three years, Long Beach State has had a national broadcast of more than 20 games in each year, including a program record of 25 in 2014-15. That's more than any other program in the Big West, and an average of 70% of the 49ers' contests. This season, as many as 25 of the team's regular season games may be broadcast nationally.
