LBSU Men's Basketball Back In Walter Pyramid Monday Night

12/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Dec. 19, 2016

Long Beach, Calif. -

Game: Long Beach State vs. The Master's
Date: Monday, December 19, 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 is back in the Walter Pyramid Monday, as the Beach hosts The Master's of the NAIA. The Mustangs have compiled a 9-1 record against NAIA competition, but have four losses against NCAA competition this season after playing UCLA, Southern Utah, CSU Bakersfield and Azusa Pacific.

• LBSU's victory against Oregon State in the team's last game marked ninth win in 10 seasons over a Power 6 program for Dan Monson's 49ers. The win was the first road win over a Pac-12 opponent for the program since 1995, and gave the Beach wins over OSU, UCLA and USC during Monson's tenure.

• Roschon Prince had his best game as a 49er in the win in Portland. Coming off of the bench, the junior scored 12 points and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds in his first double-double. Sealing the win with two late free throws, Prince played a team-high 34 minutes and also had a career high three steals.

• Junior Gabe Levin has had an outstanding start to the season, putting up three double-doubles, the most in the Big West, including two against back-to-back ranked opponents in North Carolina and Louisville. Scoring in double-figures in ten games, Levin is leading the team in points scored and rebounding, averaging 12.2 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per contest.

• A transfer from LMU, Evan Payne has helped carry the scoring load in the early part of the season, leading the team in scoring seven times and averaging 14.0 points per game, best on the team. Payne passed 1,000 points scored between his time at LMU and LBSU in week one, and is the career leader in Division I scoring on the team.

• LBSU's first return to the Walter Pyramid came after a nine-game road swing that totaled 15,125 miles in travel, and featured games against four teams now ranked in the Top 15: North Carolina, Louisville, UCLA and Kansas. In all, Long Beach State will travel over 23,000 miles in the course of the non-conference slate with just one game remaining on the road -- at Eastern Michigan on December 29.

• 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.

THE PLAYERS
• Junior point guard Justin Bibbins is third on the team in scoring at 10.0 points per game, while averaging 4.2 assists per game and adding 3.6 rebounds per game, third on the team despite his 5-8 height. Bibbins is also on the Lou Henson Award watch list, an honor presented at the end of the year to the Mid Major Player of the Year. Both Bibbins and Levin were named to the preseason All-Big West team prior to the season.

• Long Beach State's underclassman guards are contributing at a high level so far this season. Sophomore Noah Blackwell is averaging 6.2 points per game while shooting 34.7 percent from three, second best on the team behind Payne. The pair is followed closely followed by Jordan Griffin, a true freshman averaging 5.5 points per game and shooting 34.1 percent from behind the arc.

• While the team has rotated its starters outside of Bibbins and Levin, Temidayo Yussuf has started eight games, averaging 6.1 points per game along with 2.8 rebounds after missing all of last season on a medical redshirt. Freshman Javonntie Jackson has started nine games, averaging 3.0 points and 2.2 rebounds per game while providing a steady defensive presence.

• Other key contributors this season include junior Roschon Prince and sophomore Mason Riggins in the frontcourt, while freshman Loren Jackson is averaging 4.6 points per game as the backup point guard. Redshirt freshman LaRond Williams is tied for the team lead in blocks and averaging 2.2 points in just 8.4 average minutes per game so far in 2016-17.

• Among the reserves, the team's lone senior, Anson Moye is back for his fourth and final season, and is joined by another guard in sophomore Alex Rifkind. 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. Junior college transfer Barry Ogalue is also averaging 3.3 points per game while averaging 6.6 minutes per game on the season.

• Long Beach State announced the signing of Jordan Roberts in November period; a 6-8 guard out of Ridgeview High School in Bakersfield. An athletic wing player with Ridgeview High School, Roberts averaged just under 14 points and nine rebounds per game while adding 3.6 assists and 2.7 steals per game for the Central Section finalists that finished the 2015-16 campaign with a 28-3 overall record.

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 by New Mexico State 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 four ranked teams, including two in the Top 10. Long Beach State has finished the games against all four however, playing at North Carolina, Louisville, UCLA and Kansas.

• 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 27 of the team's regular season games may be broadcast nationally, with 22 guaranteed.