Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State Opens Advocare Invitational Thursday Against Missouri
11/21/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Long Beach, Calif. -
See attachment for complete Long Beach State Game Notes 
Game: Long Beach State vs. Missouri
Date: Thursday, November 23, 2017
Time: 11:30 a.m. ET
Location: Orlando, Fla.
Arena: HP Fieldhouse (5,000)
TV: ESPN2
TV Talent: Mike Morgan, Tim Welsh
Radio: HD 88.1-3, 22 West Radio
Radio Talent: Jason Schwartz
Webcast: WatchESPN
Live Stats: BeachLiveStats.com
RIGHT AWAY
• Long Beach State will continue their participation in the Advocare Invitational with a Thanksgiving special, opening competition in Orlando against Missouri with a game tipping off at 8:30 a.m. PT this Thursday on ESPN2. The Beach is guaranteed three games in the tournament, with the other two opponents, times and television depending on results throughout the weekend.
• Missouri and Long Beach State have met twice, including once in the Dan Monson era. The Beach traveled to Columbia in 2014, falling 69-59 as Tyler Lamb led the Beach with 17 points. The teams have played one other time, a neutral-site game as part of the Silversword Classic in Maui during the 1986-87 season.
• On Friday, Long Beach State will face either a rematch with Oregon State or take on St. John's, followed by a Sunday game against the opposite half of the bracket which includes West Virginia, Marist, UCF and Nebraska. Every game of the tournament will be televised on the ESPN family of networks.
• Senior Gabe Levin continued his habit of performing at his best against ranked opponents. Levin picked up his first double-double of the year at No. 23 West Virginia, scoring 23 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Last season, Levin put up back-to-back double-doubles in road games at No.12 Louisville and No. 5 North Carolina. Levin has seven double-doubles in his career, and is averaging 14.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in 2016-17.
• Bryan Alberts has topped his career high in scoring in three straight games, adding one point each time, culminating in his first 20-point game Monday against West Virginia. Now averaging 16.5 points per game, the Gonzaga graduate transfer is leading the Beach in scoring this season. In his third season in Spokane last year, Alberts played in 24 games and reached the National Championship game, which is the furthest any player to wear an LBSU uniform has gone in the postseason.
THE PLAYERS • Two players for Long Beach State earned preseason honors, as both Temidayo Yussuf and Gabe Levin were selected for the six-player Preseason All-Big West team, selected by the media covering the conference. Both have previously earned All-Big West honors, and look to anchor the team this season as both begin their fourth year at the Beach.
• Yussuf went on to earn second-team All-Big West honors last season, joining Levin as returners who have earned the honor, as Levin won in 2015-16. Despite this being the fourth year in the program for both players, the two have yet to play a Big West game together.
• In 2016-17, Temidayo Yussuf led the Big West in field goal percentage over conference play at .578 and averaged 13.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game over league action, ultimately earning second-team All-Big West honors. Yussuf is the top scorer that finished the season among returners for the Beach, averaging 9.4 points and 4.6 rebounds on the year.
• Senior Barry Ogalue has been one of the main scorers for the team in 2017-18, averaging 13.5 points per game. Ogalue is also averaging 4.5 rebounds as he plays a key role that began in a second-half turnaround last season for the senior that saw the Yuba CC transfer go from limited minutes to starting both games of the Big West Tournament and beginning this season in the starting five.
• Mason Riggins has missed just two shots in 2017-18 after starting all four of the team's opening games. The junior has started 31 games in his career, and is a 11-for-13 (.846) this season after shooting a 54.5 percent from the floor one year ago.
• Jordan Griffin began the 2017-18 season with a hot hand, starting the season 9-for-14 from behind the arc and is averaging 8.0 points per game. Griffin is part of a trio of sophomores who will be counted on to continue to contribute this season, joining LaRond Williams and Javonntie Jackson. Williams is tied for the team lead with three blocks, while scoring six points with six rebounds against SFSU.
• Deishuan Booker has begun the season as the starter at point guard, and with 10 assists against San Francisco State, joined Justin Bibbins and Casper Ware as the only two players to record double-digit assists for the Beach since 2010. The junior college transfer from Nevada is averaging 6.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
• Edon Maxhuni has also impressed at the point guard position, as the true freshman scored in double-figures in two straight games, including scoring 16 at Oregon State, and was one of the surprises of the preseason. Maxhuni has extensive international experience, playing for the Finland Youth National Team in multiple competitions, and is settling well into Division I basketball.
• KJ Byers got off to a quick start, showcasing his athleticism in the season opener against the Dons. Byers had the most complete stat line of the night, scoring eight points with six rebounds while adding two assists, two blocks and two steals while making just one turnover and shooting 6-for-6 from the line. On the year, Byers is averaging 3.3 points and 4.5 rebounds while tying for the team lead with four blocks.
• A slightly delayed start didn't slow down freshman Jordan Roberts in his first action with the team on Tuesday. The CIF Division II Player of the Year out of Ridgeview High School in Bakersfield, Roberts scored eight points in his debut for the Beach against San Francisco State after missing the opener against San Francisco.
• Senior Quentin Shropshire continues to contribute in a bench role, as the former track and field athlete at the Beach continues his two-sport story after ending the 2016-17 campaign in the rotation. Others rounding out the roster include his high school teammate Breamon Richard, and two expected redshirts in Milos Apic and Jaice Gardner.
THIS AND THAT
• Through 67 seasons of Long Beach State Men's Basketball, the program has recorded 988 wins, leaving the 2017-18 team needing 12 more wins to record the 1,000th victory in program history.
• For the last four years, Long Beach State has had over 20 games broadcast nationally through its TV partners, and set a record last season with 27 of the team's 34 games being available on national television. In 2017-18, Long Beach State may have as many as 16 games televised in the regular season, and will have every other game available to view via live stream.
• Long Beach State is continuing its partnership with 22 West Media (formerly KBEACH) to provide online and HD radio broadcasts of every single game this season. In addition, LBSU has also entered into an agreement with AM 830 to broadcast 12 games this season over-the-air, the first time in over ten years that Beach Basketball has regularly been on AM radio in Southern California.
• 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. He is also one of just active coaches nationally to begin the year as his program's wins leader. Now with 105 conference wins in 10 seasons, Monson is the 7th coach in Big West history to record 100 conference wins. Under Monson, Long Beach State has also made the postseason in four out of the last six seasons.
• Over the past eight 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 four in each of the last six years, including leading the nation both in 2012-13 and in 2015-16.
• Long Beach State will once again play a tremendous non-conference slate, facing three teams that began the season in the Top 10 in Michigan State, Arizona and West Virginia all on the road. The Beach will also face Missouri in a neutral site game on Thanksgiving. The Tigers began the season receiving votes.
• While the schedule is still tough, the travel is very different. Last season, Long Beach State traveled over 23,000 miles in the preseason, and the team's nine-game road swing totaled over 15,000 miles. LBSU's total travel in the non-conference in 2017-18 is less than that trip alone, with its longest travel swing just under 7,000 miles as part of the Advocare Invitational in Orlando.
• Long Beach State's win over San Francisco was the team's first road win to open the season since the 1986-87 season. Under Dan Monson, however, the team has generally opened the season at home, as Friday's contest was just the third time in 11 years the 49ers have started away from the Walter Pyramid.
