Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State Finishes Road Swing With Trip To Arizona
11/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Long Beach, Calif. -
Game: Long Beach State at Arizona
Date: Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Time: 6:00 p.m. MT
Location: Tucson, Ariz.
Arena: McKale Center (14,644)
TV: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Roxy Bernstein, Steve Levin
Radio: HD 88.1-3, 22 West Radio
Radio Talent: Jason Schwartz
Webcast: Pac-12 Live
Live Stats: BeachLiveStats.com
RIGHT AWAY
• Long Beach State will play the last of six straight games away from home this Wednesday, traveling to face Arizona on the road in Tucson. The game will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks, and is scheduled to tip at 5 p.m. PT.
• Both programs are coming off of "Feast Week" tournament appearances. Long Beach State defeated Oregon State at the Advocare Invitational on the way to a sixth-place finish, while Arizona was stunned at the Battle4Atlantis, going 0-3 to drop from No. 2 in the nation to unranked in the latest polls.
• Deishuan Booker had outstanding passing numbers at the Advocare Invitational, tying the tournament record with 27 assists over three games. Booker became just the sixth player in the nation this season to record two straight double-doubles with assists in the process, finishing with 12 each against Oregon State and Nebraska.
• Booker is the first player since Long Beach State great Ed Ratleff to have 11 or more assists in back-to-back games, and is the first player since Billy Walker to have two games with 12 or more assists in his career. Walker is second behind Casper Ware in career assists at the Beach, graduating in 1988.
• 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, and then had a monster game against Nebraska, finishing with 22 points and a career high 16 rebounds. Levin has eight double-doubles in his career, and is averaging 15.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game this season, leading the team in both.
• Long Beach State's win over Oregon State was the program's 10th win over a major conference opponent in Dan Monson's tenure, and marked the second time in three tries that the Beach has defeated the Beavers.
• Booker and Levin became the first two players to each record a double-double in the same game since the 2012-13 season, as Levin finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds and Booker had 15 points with his 12 assists.
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.
• Yussuf made his debut for the Beach in 2017-18 against Missouri, and played a big part in Friday's win over Oregon State, scoring nine points with seven rebounds, while playing a role in limiting Drew Eubanks to six points after the Beaver big man scored 26 in the team's first meeting.
• Bryan Alberts 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 12.59 points per game, the Gonzaga graduate transfer is second on 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.
• Senior Barry Ogalue has been one of the main scorers for the team in 2017-18, averaging 9.7 points per game. Ogalue is also averaging 3.3 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 started the first seven games of the season for Long Beach State, and has now started 34 games in his career. Overall, the junior from Whitewright, Texas leads the team in shooting percentage at 68.8 percent, and is averaging 6.9 points per game.
• Jordan Griffin began the 2017-18 season with a hot hand, starting the season 9-for-14 from behind the arc and is averaging 7.3 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.
• Deishuan Booker has anchored the point guard position, starting every game for the Beach so far. Hitting a late three against Oregon State helped push the Beach over the top against the Beavers, and the junior transfer is averaging 8.7 points and 6.3 assists 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 5.2 points and 4.0 rebounds while making six 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 989 wins, leaving the 2017-18 team needing 11 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 also faced Missouri to open the Advocare Invitational, played Oregon State twice, and ended their time in Orlando against Nebraska. LBSU currently ranks sixth in the nation in non-conference strength of schedule.
• 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.
